CRITICISM of BBC Radio Scotland is mounting as new figures show a marked drop in the station’s support for Scottish music.
The station previously spotlighted the country's unsigned and undiscovered talent, but according to figures from Culturalvandalism.info, in the last six months, 56% fewer emerging Scottish artists have been played.
The live figures are measured across the station from January 1 to the present day over 2026 and the same period in 2025. The numbers also suggest that 49% fewer female-led emerging artists are being played.
This week, the BBC's new director-general informed staff that up to 2000 jobs will be cut in the coming months to deliver £500 million of savings – with a quarter of these set to come from the corporation's "news and nations" divisions.
This includes BBC Scotland, which has already come under question for its decision to cancel several radio shows.
Singer-songwriters Emma Pollock, Dean Owens, Iona Fyfe Findlay Napier, Kim Edgar, Carol Laula, James Grant and Kris Drever have all spoken out in light of Radio Scotland's new boss's plans giving its late-night programmes “broad mainstream appeal”.
Tens of thousands of people signed a petition to reinstate The Iain Anderson Show, described as a "cultural lifeline" for Scottish music and culture.
Scottish Music Industry Association aired its concerns in February of this year, saying they were worried about a 67% drop in Scottish independent artists being featured on the station.
They added: "This is not taste shifting gradually or one presenter favouring a different sound. It is a structural drop in how often new work is being put in front of listeners.
"When that happens in the only part of the schedule that regularly introduces new Scottish artists, the effect is immediate and severe.
"The figures matter because they show, very clearly, that the space where new Scottish music used to appear has been significantly reduced, not just reshaped. This is public service broadcasting. These spaces should not be treated as disposable."
Speaking exclusively to The National this week about the announced cuts, broadcaster Stuart Cosgrove said: "I think one of the things I’d say, and it makes me hugely unpopular when I say this within the BBC, is that they’re not well managed.
"I don’t think it’s an organisation that’s had dynamic management."
Cosgrove, who was previously an executive at Channel 4, went on to say that BBC Scotland was suffering from problems in "editorial leadership".
"Whether the BBC like it or not, Scotland now has a very long settled period for the constitutional issue – whether it should be independent or part of a union with the other nations of the issue – and when you look at that debate, frequently it’s 50% plus for independence.
"That is not reflected in the BBC’s output," he said.
