Madonna isn’t banned – she just needs some better songs

When Madonna (seen here at the 2015 Brit Awards) learned her latest single had not made it on to the BBC Radio 1 playlist, she claimed to be a victim of age discrimination.

The 56-year-old singer said she was “shocked” that Living For Love would not be played on the station, saying: “Wait a second. houldn’t it be to do with whether you wrote a good, catchy pop song?”
 
According to the head of Radio 1, that was exactly the issue. The station did not play Madonna’s new record because it wasn’t very good.
 
Ben Cooper, Radio 1’s 45-year-old controller said: “I love Madonna. I’ve been to see her concerts several times, and I’ve bought several of her records. I’ve even got a signed front cover of The Face magazine that she was on, on my wall. There’s nothing personal about Madonna. It’s just about the merit of the music an artist is creating at the time. We haven’t banned Madonna. If she comes back with another track…”
 
Mr. Cooper acknowledged that Madonna was no longer as relevant to the station’s young audience as other artists.
 
He said: “We have one of the most democratic playlist committees in the world. It has worked for Madonna for the last 20-odd years. But with this current record – when it’s a choice between that and, say, Wolf Alice [a 20-something British band] or a new up-and-coming artist, you go, ‘Which is more relevant to a young audience?’”