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Hi Adam,

I'm pleased that our conversation was cause for thought. My point wasn't that you should feature one artist or the other, it was that, as a representative of Welsh music that it was inappropriate for you to choose to selectively ignore Welsh artists based on your own taste. That you are such an 'heart on your sleeve fan' is fantastic and an endearing aspect of your personality and you should feature the bands you love as you see fit. You should also, though, be prepared to play bands that you don't 'like'. As a broadcasting bastion in the Land of Our Fathers, with that rarest of all things afforded contemporary broadcasters, the ability to set your own playlists, you have 'the power' to extend the reach and influence of Welsh artists. Because of this, I would suggest that you have a duty to be supportive to artists whose work you don't enjoy, if their endeavours are culturally and commercially 'successful' and bring benefit to Wales and it's music community.

I reiterate that in my opinion you are a great broadcaster and your show is vital for Wales' music community and I thank you for your honest discourse.

Diolch

Colin

Hello Colin,

You're inferring that I don't understand the responsibility incumbent in this position - I do.

Fundamentally someone, somewhere has to make editorial decisions about what does / doesn't get played on the show. I have 3 hours a week to provide the best platform I can for new Welsh music. I play what I think is most interesting; that's not always synonymous with what I like the most.

I thought the artist in question - I believe you produced / co-produced at least some of that particular album... but I could be wrong* - were nothing more than mediocre (I did, however, play a track from their last album). They hadn't submitted any music I deemed more worthy of support / airplay than the tracks that were featured during that period.

If I played tracks purely on the basis of sales - which I believe was part of your original argument for the band you were advocating - the whole foundation of the show would shift. The show's remit is to support the most interesting, new Welsh music that gets submitted to me. 'Most interesting' is subjective, of course, and it's my job to make those decisions... and they're not made lightly, and I'd like to think that they're made purely on the basis of the each individual track.

Putting a playlist together - any playlist - is entirely the process of 'selectively choosing Welsh artists'... not always, but for the most part, based on my own broad tastes. There really is no other way to do it.

Your qualifications about music that is "culturally and commercially 'successful'" are exactly the kind of considerations that come into play when music that isn't, personally, to my taste gets airplay.

I was being facetious bringing our conversation from back then up in this context, and I am sorry - and embarrassed - for doing that. The general argument that I'm making for Future of the Left is - broadly - similar to the one you were making for the other band. We both felt / feel strongly that the music we respect and value should get more support / attention than is currently the case. I listen to other music shows and wonder why some of the artists I admire the most don't get as much airplay as I think they deserve. If I'm listening to 6Music, then it's a demarcated playlist chosen by committee, with individual presenters' choices included [so, subjective]. If it's a web station, the playlist is usually entirely the domain of the presenter concerned.

That's how radio is 'made'. It's how you would have operated as a journalist, I'm sure - OK, not a publicly funded one, and that is -- if I'm right -- the key point here.

I'm publicly funded to make an interesting radio show. I'm not publicly funded to provide democratic representation to every band / musician in Wales. The ideal falls somewhat in-between, of course. But it's still more of a subjective exercise than an objective and scientific filtration process. Either that, or we have passionless radio via plastic funnels.

I'm appreciative of the positive things you've written about me / the show. I respect your work and your point of view. I wouldn't have carried that particular 'conversation' around with me for so long if I didn't.

Thankfully, my show isn't the only outlet for Welsh music on radio. I try to direct artists elsewhere, where possible, if I can't accommodate them in my show.

Soon, hopefully, Radio Wales will have a publicly accessible music policy that includes details of what each show supports / is looking for, and where / how artists should submit their music.

Radio Wales plays more Welsh music now than ever before. And its support is only going to increase over the coming years. I'd hope that the audience can trust those of us who make the decisions as to what gets played / and what doesn't get played, to choose our music with passion, integrity and fairness. That's certainly my aim / modus operandi. I hope I'm not failing in those areas.

[current show stats for this year: 810 unique songs/ 989 Total. 509 Artists in 27 shows since 1st, Jan '12 (~songs per show:37, unique artists per show:19) Welsh:95%]

Thanks for your fair reply,

Adam