Radio Scotland goes ahead with plans to scrap non-mainstream music programmes covering piping, jazz and classical music it will be a “dereliction of duty”.
“Currently there are lots of live sessions and recordings of piping competitions but they are talking more about a DJ style type of programme where they are just playing recorded music,” he said. “There is an argument, too, about whether we should be looking at it in terms of listening figures or rather in terms of cultural relevance because these programmes are playing an archiving role,” said Byrne.
Part of that could be down to money being scarce due to the rocketing cost of living but, because of the Covid pandemic, people have also perhaps lost the habit of going into spaces other than their workplaces, homes and shops, Byrne believes.