Exclusive: BBC DG says I’m behind the music cuts
NewsTim Davie, director general, has responded to yesterday’s reasoned protest by Ryan Bancroft and other BBC conductors. Here’s his message:
Dear Ryan
Thank you.
I will talk to Charlotte (Moore) and Simon (Webb) to see what we can make work. I do understand the concern around attendees but Simon is fully empowered to make the calls and we work closely together as one team on the plans. Importantly, the proposals were not simply driven by an edict from above but (by) listening very carefully to Simon and the Content team. However, let’s see what works as we are always open to feedback.
Meanwhile, we remain utterly committed to ensuring the BBC plays a central and critical role in growing the impact, quality and relevance of classical music in the UK.
Best wishes,
Tim
Growing, huh? What’s the W1A meaning of that word?
O-oh….Looks like the “apparatchik” is already being singled out to clean up his own do-do.
“Meanwhile, we remain utterly committed to ensuring the BBC plays a central and critical role in growing the impact, quality and relevance of classical music in the UK.”
Nothing to see here.
Is Director General a title pompous enough?
How about letting the Executives go, instead of singers and musicians?
Orwellian Newspeak.
Cutting is Growing.
This is so much horsetwaddle from higher up – we’ll believe it when we see it.
Growing the impact and relevance of classical music in the UK is achievable and measurable, and also probably essential for its survival here, and certainly essential to justify its continuing public funding.
Growing the quality – ? It’s hard to see how redundancies and increased use of freelancers can grow the quality. Except perhaps in the sense of making it much more easily possible to diversify and enrich the musical range of the performing groups?
I think ‘growing’ is akin to ‘pissing on’- “I’m pissing on your flowerbed in the hope of growing it’.
Au contraire, I don’t see Davie admitting he’s behind the cuts at all, at least not in the sense of making the call.
Indeed, I thought I detected a Webb being thrown under a bus… although without the slightest hint of reconsidering the policy of cultural vandalism.
Having watched W1A on iplayer (as kindly suggested) and in particular Series 3, Episode 3 (still available last night…) you wonder if DG Davie also watched it, as his reply here is exactly of the same non committal ‘management speak’ as aired satirically a decade ago.
Except this time, the current BBC musical vandalism suggested by W1A current ‘suits’, is no longer a laughing matter, but could be a realistic tragedy unless the MU and ISM can talk some sense into these morons before it is too late.
or King Charles might be approached to sub the Beeb and keep the otherwise redundant musos?
Good luck with getting KCIII to fund anything of genuine use from the royal coffers… And anyway, he’ll be too busy at the moment working on his response to the nascent fascism in Westminster, erm, I mean working on arrangements for his hat-fitting ceremony…
There was once a culture of Directors General and heads of departments being members of the company that ascended through the ranks. By the time they reached the top, they had learned the value of the entire organization and would seek to further its excellence. This is no more.
Davie, Webb, Moore, et al are suits who have been hired for one reason and one reason only: they’re really really good at filling balance sheets. No appreciation for the cultural importance of the BBC, they simply exist to fill a spreadsheet and log expenses and revenue. They’re simply machines designed to make the automatic cuts that justify maintaining their outrageous ExCo salaries whilst the workers underneath them max out at 20-40k a year.
It’s a crime against humanity that these ensembles are being hacked to the bone but still expected to deliver top quality results. It’s a crime against humanity that the BBC Concert Orchestra and Symphony Orchestra will be merged under one management, whilst being expected to maintain the current output of vastly differing repertoire. It’s a crime against humanity that workforces within the BBC are being forced into voluntary redundancy and their positions are being closed, yet the workload doesn’t get thinner. And it’s especially a crime against humanity that Simon Webb will not be getting a pay cut for his now dwindling responsibilities, he may even get to keep the “choirs” part of his title despite the BBC Singers being gone.
And what was the response to this? A strongly worded letter? From conductors who hold either chief or principal guest positions elsewhere and will have no issue maintaining active diaries in the wake of this loss?
Or how about a protest in front of Broadcasting House? Surely we don’t really expect Simon Webb and Tim Davie to actually be present in their offices when these protests might occur. Do we really think that this will change their minds?
I hear that change.org petition is gaining traction, but do you really think Webb, Moore, Davie et al will be bothered by it? They have no humanity, they don’t care. They get their salaries and piss off to the Bahamas periodically during the winter on private jets.
Nothing that is currently being done about this will have any real impact. I would expect that the conductors in that letter have some kind of moral high ground and choose to boycott the Proms. Would any of the guest orchestras from outside the UK do the same in solidarity? How about whichever famous soloist they line up for the Last Night?
Furthermore, how come there doesn’t seem to be any solidarity on the part of Non-music BBC branches? We don’t hear a peep from the newscasters, the producers, the artists affiliated with the BBC’s mass output of television series. Would the stars of the new Dr Who series care to speak out? Maybe they can hold off on airing the 60th anniversary special until Webb gets his head back on right and undoes this damage?
I was pretty much with you until that last paragraph. Do really think the very people you’re calling out – newscasters, producers, television crews, the cast of Dr. Who, etc. – care the slightest about the difference between the BBC Concert Orchestra and Symphony Orchestra, or even know what it is the BBC Singers do?
Just to pick you up on a small point of detail: Webb is not “good at filling out balance sheets”. During his senior management career he’s been a mediocre administrator, lacking basic management and planning skills and getting by on charm and ambition (and occasionally intimidation) while relying on his subordinates to bring order to the chaos he creates.
Why must it always be growth?
I suggest shutting down all BBC ensembles, including the admin departments, and reemploying competitively around the limited resources.
Through such a Darwinian process, only the most committed musicians and employees would remain active.
Anyone who is not satisfied with a lower salary would be kindly asked to take up another profession or, depending on age, retire after a moderate severance pay.
If no ensembles come back together again, then there is also no need to pay for any managers and the residual funds should then go towards charities educating the next generation of modest and austere musicians from throughout the Commonwealth – with Harry and Meghan as patrons.
Subtle trolling. Not.
How about entertaining the possibility that Charlotte, Simon and the content team may have made a catastrophic error of judgement here. Would that work?
“ the proposals were not simply driven by an edict from above”
That “simply” indicates that there was such an edict. What did Davie mean by “from above”? Himself as DG, or the DCMS? If the former, then he’s surely being disingenuous. If the latter, why is the Government trying to influence how the BBC chooses to allocate its resources. As others have pointed out, the sums of money aren’t even that huge in comparison with the salaries of the highest paid presenters.
Headless chickens comes to mind. Not too surprising since the chickens running the BBC are driven by a moronic government who, to quote a familiar phrase, know the cost of everything and the value of nothing – save the value in retaining their seats on the gravy train.
The BBC has long forgotten its original remit to entertain, to inform and to educate. Time to move on. Would it be possible to get together a group of commercial sponsors for the Singers and the Concert Orchestra? Can the latter swiftly rename itself the London Gay and Lesbian Orchestra with Disabilities so that nobody dares defund it? Can BBC management help the ENO find its market in service stations, carparks, pubs and pop-up conveniences?
Sounds like McKinsey is still hiding inside the BBC