The Asian Network should have worked

Mar 8 2010 By Ammo Talwar

So where have we gone, all of us Desi divas? Is there a secret station in Southall, staffed by Masonic Indian brothers, that only we know about? The answer – for Asian listeners at least – is that the digital dial is crowded out. We’re all of us online 24/7 now; surfing stations that speak to us in our mother’s mother tongue. We tune into Mumbai drivetime and Delhi downtempo. And of course, the demographic that really matters is the youth; and they’re busy playlisting bootlegged Desi tracks onto their smartphones via YouTube. For kids today, that’s their Asian Network.

The closure of a national radio station is no small thing in our current economic climate. One hunded-plus media professionals are today hoping that their nightmare won’t come true – that the door hasn’t shut forever on their careers.

But for some there will be a dream they dare not speak aloud - that this is their moment, that the mainstream is ready for them; that a ladder will come down from above. But is a Desi Asian radio professional going to be climbing up to a mainstream drivetime or syndicated breakfast show anytime soon? Let them dream on.

Many young bloods won’t remember, but “mainstreaming” is the word that haunted the emerging Asian media business, during the big Bhangra crossover of the eighties - the one that never happened.

But aren’t things different today? Contemporary Asian media pundits argue that Bollywood has successfully crossed over to the UK’s big time media. What they can’t or won’t see is that it plays as a cocktail party cliche; just as the US mainstreamed Latin sounds into “Mambo Italiano” fakery of the 1950s; stripped of its grace and pathos.

The fact is that only people in the media think that contemporary music benefits from being bracketed by big name DJs, quizzes and chatter. What people want to hear is new, fresh music and classic tracks that continue to hit the spot and light up their day. When, as now, programming and scheduling appear desperate and convoluted, it’s proof positive that station management have little confidence or understanding in the sounds that go out over the air.

Our campaign must be, not just to save the Asian Network, but to turn it into a flagship for the new, hot and popular music that draws deep from the well of Asian culture and can engage every listener in the UK. It’s all about the music.