6 Music’s Samantha Moy, Steve Lamacq and Nick Grimshaw on future-proofing the award-winning station | Media

BBC Radio 6 Music reclaimed its Radio Station title at the Music Week Awards last week. 

The digital station has dominated the category in recent years, though it lost out to Radio 1 in 2024.

The Music Week Awards win was followed by another good RAJARs result for Q1, which showed that 6 Music remains the biggest digital-only station on 2.57 million listeners.

It’s been a busy year for the station with the 6 Music Festival and a schedule shake-up in the mornings, with Nick Grimshaw taking over at breakfast as Lauren Laverne moved to the later morning slot. And there’s more to come at the end of this month.

Here, station head Samantha Moy, veteran presenter and Music Week Awards nominee Steve Lamacq and new recruit Nick Grimshaw speak about what makes 6 Music so important for artists… 

Congratulations. How does it feel to reclaim this award?

Samantha Moy: “Oh, it’s always a treat, isn’t it, when you win an award. But we don’t do it for the awards. We do it for the love of playing music on the radio, that’s the truth.”

How’s the new schedule shaping up?

Samantha Moy: “I think schedules always evolve over time. It’s amazing that we still have Steve – who wanted to make a change in his life – on air. The Monday show is incredible. He’s still playing the best music that he has ever played, still has as many sessions [as possible] and he was nominated for an award.”

6 Music sells records, sells tickets and it supports artists who are trying to be adventurous

Steve Lamacq

Steve Lamacq: “Here’s the thing about 6 Music, when it first started there was an idea of what it was going to be, which was somewhere between Radio 2 and Radio 1. And over the years, it found a new audience. 6 Music has had a profound effect on the British music industry in its inclusivity of people from all different musical backgrounds, but age as well; the whole demographic that you see at gigs now has completely changed. I think that’s partly down to 6 Music. And the thing that 6 Music does is it sells records, it sells tickets and it supports artists who are trying to be adventurous, and it’s about an enthusiasm for music. 

“And the changes that have been made over the course of the last five years are all to almost future-proof the station, to show that we’re not the sort of station that just does the same thing and becomes complacent. The fact that Nick’s joined us is one of the most amazing things that’s happened to us. Because you can see that we’re taking the enthusiasts and the people from different generations who have different musical knowledge bases and skills and relationships with listeners. But we’re always bringing people into the gang, and I think that’s what 6 Music has always been and will continue to be, which is a gang.” 

If people once thought of 6 Music as an indie radio station, that doesn’t feel like it’s the case any more…

Steve Lamacq: “No, the only reason it was an indie station in the early days was they were the only bands that would ever talk to us.” [laughter]

Samantha Moy: “Also, because the foundation of 6 Music was Peel Sessions, really, so it’s that spirit in terms of music and things that are alternative and different. You can be an alternative R&B or rap act, you don’t need to play in bands”.

Steve Lamacq: “The thing that 6 Music retains is this authority really. When you get free choices to play something you want, you feel the responsibility to get it right, because the trust with the listener is the really important thing – and if you break that trust, then you’re nothing. I think we’re very conscious of that, and particularly ever since we were threatened with closure. I’ve never worked on a radio station that’s been closer to its listenership than 6 Music, and I think that’s because we know at some point that they helped save the network. And even now, our relationship with the listeners is so much closer and so much more intimate in a way.”

It does feel like 6 Music has that connection with the live music, including the festival and the grassroots sector during Independent Venue Week. Has that been quite central to your thinking for the station recently?

Samantha Moy: “We celebrate independent venues with Steve and Huw at the beginning of the year. We actually explore the real issues – it’s not simple, it’s complex and it’s part of a much bigger picture. But it’s important that we shine a light on it, because it’s a training ground for artists. If they’re not there, how are they going to develop their craft?”

It’s important that we shine a light on independent venues, because it’s a training ground for artists

Samantha Moy

Steve Lamacq: “I mean I’m biased, because I’m also chair of the live music trade body LIVE now. Our commitment is to try and make sure that there are grassroots venues open for the next generation. But, again, I think it comes down to the fact that we are so integral to some of the young artists and what they can achieve. Nick will play a new record by a new band on a breakfast show on a Monday, and that will help sell 30 to 40 tickets for their gig on a Wednesday night in Hull or Leeds or somewhere. We are so integral to young artists and emerging artists and how they connect with an audience. That’s why 6 Music is really key – whatever the genre, whatever the age group, whatever sound the artist is making, we’re the pointer in the middle that takes it to whichever fans will like it. That’s what we deliver, that’s the amazing thing. That’s why we’ve become a bedrock for the record industry.”

Finally, as the new recruit at breakfast, Nick, how are you enjoying life at 6 Music as a permanent presenter?

Nick Grimshaw: “Honestly, I can’t get over how much I love it. I always listened to 6 and I got asked to cover at Glastonbury for three days. And two days were with Annie Mac, and then one of the days she forgot she booked a gig. So I was charged with finding a co-host in the form of Beth Ditto, who I wanted to take it quite seriously and do a good job, because I’d never been on 6 before. It was live at Glastonbury and the pressure was on, but Beth Ditto didn’t give a shit in the best way possible. So I thought I’d never, ever be asked back again; I thought maybe that was that.”

Steve Lamacq: “Actually, that’s the best job interview ever, isn’t it?”

Nick Grimshaw: “Then I got asked to cover [breakfast] for a week. It was kind of a tricky cover because, you know, it’s the station that I love and listen to, and Lauren was such a massive part of our morning routine. But I felt really supported, really loved. Sam was saying, ‘Can you do a week?’, and then it became two weeks and then three weeks. It’s something that I just love more and more every day.”

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