Beldon Haigh was inspired to write ‘Need My Local Radio’ after discovering the intended cuts to jobs and programming at BBC radio Humberside. He then took it upon himself to record and release a protest song to all of his followers nationwide, and it is certainly making an impact. Featuring in the Daily Express and London Daily as well as others in UK media so far, ‘Need My Local Radio’ has a fun-filled tone but with a very serious message underneath it all.
Emerging artists all over the country will be blocked by these nationalised cuts to BBC radio stations, which has seen acts such as Jake Bugg, Self Esteem and many more launch their careers through BBC Introducing.
He says “I was born in Hull and go back often, we’ve got a lot of family in the area. I’ve always felt great affinity with Hull, but that’s me anyway, I have always connected more with towns and smaller cities, communities and local regions rather than the big smoke.
It saddens me deeply when I see more and more decisions and creative work and content and jobs being sucked back to a metropolis, migrating into the hands of fewer people. Need My Local Radio speaks to that. It speaks to a trend of moving power, creative decisions and voices away from regions, communities and local places and into the metropolis, run by small powerful groups. These small powerful groups end up with tremendous control and influence, but they have less connection and less investment with and in local communities. They’ve often never lived in a small town or smaller city, so how can they say they understand them and make decisions on their behalf. It doesn’t just happen on the radio. I’m sure that many people in all sorts of jobs and industries have witnessed something similar.”
Check out the video for it here:
