FEATURE:
Station to Station
PHOTO CREDIT: Stylist
I am spotlighting amazing broadcasters who have made a significant impact on radio. In future editions, I will look across the airwaves and include iconic D.J.s and those a bit newer on the blocks. Annie Mac might be new to some people, but she is a veritable legend of the airwaves! She presents her Future Sounds show on BBC Radio 1, and this is what her profile declares:
“Radio 1’s champion of new music, the successor to Zane Lowe and John Peel, Annie Mac now presents the primetime weekday evening show from Monday to Thursday as well as her primetime specialist Friday night Dance Show, while maintaining huge success as a live DJ in demand from stadiums to superclubs”.
The reason Mac is such a champion of the best new music across the spectrum is one reason why she should be honoured and followed. You can follow her on Twitter and keep on top of her recommendations and happenings. In this era, we often ignore tastemakers, because there are so many playlists; we all curate our own playlists and do not rely on music quite the same way as we used to. Whilst fan-picked songs do help artists, we cannot underestimate people like Annie Mac and how important they are. On stations such as BBC Radio 6 Music, there are a few pretty impressive and reputable tastemakers – including Steve Lamacq and Mary Anne Hobbs.
I will feature Lamacq down the line but, right now, I want to throw some love the way of Annie Mac. I will mention gender parity soon. Rather than this being a feature that highlights how Mac has opened the door for women and is helping equality happen on the airwaves, I wanted to discuss her as a broadcaster – and not attach gender tags. Naturally, Mac has paved the way for women, and she is a shining example of why we need more women on the radio. Mac has been in the business for a while but, every year, she seems to get more influential and important. I don’t think there are many more important D.J.s around right now, such is the role Annie Mac holds. Her first BBC Radio 1 show was broadcast in 2004. Before then, Mac was working as a producer. Another reason why Annie Mac is so vital is because she backs artists across multiple genres. Also, since 2015, Mac has presented the Lost & Found Festival, which takes place on Malta during May. She curates the line-up and this four-day event is divided between a number of night and day parties. As Mac is a mother, I wonder where she gets the energy and stamina. That might be a silly question for anyone who knows her and can appreciate how passionate she is about music. Not only does she want to bring people together and play the biggest tracks to the masses; Mac is determined to celebrate the finest musicians from every corner of the land – from the hot new bands to bedroom-produced singer-songwriters.
Whilst Annie Mac is on BBC Radio 1 right now, I wonder whether she might move to a station like Beats 1 or BBC Radio 6 Music. It seems like she has her home at BBC Radio 1, so one cannot imagine her shifting anytime soon. I turn in when I can, because I love Mac’s enthusiasm and knowledge. She has an incredible interview style and, when it comes to uncovering future gold, there are few as skilled as her. Annie Mac is one of the hardest-working broadcasters around, and one can see her broadcasting for decades to come. I want to slip in some interviews, just so one can get a better impression of Annie Mac and her career arc. This first interview is from 2015; just a few weeks after Mac took over Zane Lowe’s slot on BBC Radio 1:
“When we first speak, Annie is just three weeks into her new job at Radio 1. She bagged her first show on the network in 2004, aged 26, specialising in dance. She still delivers her Friday night show to over a million listeners - “Bonkers,” she says – but after holding a specialist role for a decade, on 15 February it was announced that Annie would inherit the Monday to Thursday nightly programme, previously fronted by Zane Lowe and with a lineage that goes back to John Peel. It’s a big job.
“My first reaction was, ‘Fuuuuuuuck!’” says Annie, who still refers to the slot as “Zane’s show”. Her main fear was that Radio 1’s audience wouldn’t think she’d be up on her new bands. It may surprise people that, in fact, this dance evangelist spent much of her 20s moshing in the rock venues of Camden Town. “I told my boss years ago, I’m more than just the ‘dance girl’,” she recalls. To reinforce the point, Annie opened her first ‘Zane show’ with London grungers Wolf Alice”.
Having the perspective of a club DJ gives Annie a different currency on radio. She builds momentum by “placing one song next to another” the sequence of music as important as the songs. “Zane would play Bring Me The Horizon then Laura Marling, get his Kaoss pad out and go: ‘Z-z-zane Lowe-Lowe’, but I’m not that broadcaster,” she says. “I still play every type of music but when Matt says: ‘Play this next.’ I say: ‘Babe, we need to get there.’ Getting there is my whole vibe.”
While her choice of music is inclusive, that doesn’t mean Annie doesn’t have her own way. She can play a song she likes three times over and is largely free from the constraints of a playlist. She is also vocal about the music she doesn’t like, which instantly sets her apart from the stereotype of the relentlessly enthusiastic Radio 1 presenter who has exclamation marks for eyeballs. The most obvious contrast is with her predecessor Lowe and his fannish manner. “I’m slightly different from Zane,” she says carefully. Annie spent an early part of her career as Lowe’s assistant producer. She’s understandably cagey when prompted on his uncontroversial style where EVERYTHING! IS! AMAZING! But her own style of presenting is quite different”.
The best way to get a feel for the artists Mac champion is by tuning into BBC Radio 1 weekday evenings. I said I would not mention gender parity too much. When thinking about Annie Mac and how she campaigns for change, one really does have to mention the subject. For the last couple of years especially, Mac has been very vocal regarding inequality at festivals and how there needs to be change. When she spoke with The Independent last year, Annie Mac discussed festivals and the artists she is vibing to:
“Everyone in charge in the music industry at large is a white male,” she nods. “I read this Grayson Perry book where he talks about the ‘default man’ being white, upper/middle class, and subconsciously we don’t even see it, in law, politics… everyone in positions of power.
“It applies to the music industry as well. Apart from Emily Eavis at Glastonbury, pretty much all the major festivals are booked and run by white men. I feel like they just don’t see what’s missing, a lot of the time, because they don’t have to. It’s about having them in positions of power where they can make an impact on the major decisions that happen in the industry.”
She was one of the most vocal critics of Wireless festival when it was pointed out, following their lineup announcement, that just three artists on the billing were women, next to 34 male acts; branding it “appalling” and “so so embarrassing” on Twitter, and writing a response piece for Grazia.
Asked what new music she’s keen on right now, she rattles out a bunch of tracks by great artists including Dream Wife, Yaeji, George FitzGerald, and the DJ duo Floorplan – which consists of Robert Hood and his daughter Lyric. When she started out at Radio 1, she says she sniffed a little at the idea of having a person, or team, filter which music she received. “Now I get it,” she laughs. “There are oceans of f***ing dance music promos that come from all over the world. It’s quite overwhelming in trying to keep on top of it. So many different genres – and I play everything.
She cackles when we talk about the constant hand-wringing over radio “having less influence”, the “death of bands” and how “streaming is ruining the music industry”.
“It’s all very easily contradicted isn’t it?” she grins. “‘Bands are dead’ = lie. There are loads of bands, new ones I’m so excited about”.
Annie Mac, through her championing of new artists and highlighting of inequality in the industry is a key role model for so many women. She presents one of the best slots on one of the country’s biggest stations and is held in very high esteem. Rather than talk about Annie Mac in the context of being a woman in radio, it is best to see her as this powerful campaigner and crucial voice who wants to see women given proper dues and opportunities, not only at festivals but in the industry as a whole. I will wrap this up very soon, but I want to bring in another interview, where Annie Mac’s role as an ambassador for change was highlighted:
“One of the most prolific DJs in the UK, Annie Mac is a long time host on BBC Radio 1 and has performed live sets around the world for over 15 years. For any women looking to break into the music industry, there’s no doubt that she serves as a role model. In partnership with Smirnoff, Annie has today announced the launch of the Equalising Music Pledge - a campaign that challenges every person in the music industry to ‘do one thing’ for gender equality this year.
In a statement released today, Annie Mac shared her passion for the campaign and her concern for the catalyst behind it:
“The music industry is still embarrassingly lopsided when it comes to gender parity. There is still so much work to be done in terms of fighting for women of all ages to be embraced and championed by this industry, both in front and behind the scenes. I’m delighted to be a part of it and I’m genuinely excited to see the impact women will have on this industry.”
Keychange’s aim is to build awareness of the issues that women - both behind the scenes and on stage - still face and is currently working with 150 festivals to ensure a 50/50 gender balance across their lineups.
The Equalising Music Pledge comes as part of Smirnoff’s Equalising Music initiative, a global campaign launched in 2017 to eliminate gender inequality within the industry. After seeing the power that small changes can make, Smirnoff is turning to the professionals of the industry to get to work. This doesn’t just stop at artists, either - the campaign is encouraging everyone from venue bookers to PRs to make efforts to be more inclusive.
Head of Smirnoff Sam Salameh shared his support for Equalising Music after witnessing the music industry “sidelining female talent for far too long.”
Being "the only female on the line up" more often than not when DJing, Annie has had plenty of gender imbalance experience herself and suggested that the music industry needed to find more ways to "open" itself up to female professionals in the future.
"I believe that the pledge can really help to instigate change. I want to see equal gender line ups as the absolute normal. I want to see less women dropping out of the industry after they have families. I want to see more women having the courage to own their ideas. To start their own businesses. To do it their way. The more this conversation is being pushed forward the more chances the next generation of music lovers have in being able to work in an industry that is open to everyone. I’m excited for what that will look like".
Things are slowly improving regarding gender equality, but there is still a very long way to go. Having people like Annie Mac calling for change is key. She is someone who knows the music industry is at its strongest and most inspiring when there is parity. As one of the jewels in the radio crown, Annie Mac is a treasure. You can check out her recommendations, and get involved with her Dance Party on Fridays. I think tastemakers are as important now as they have ever been; Annie Mac is one of the very best. She is a role model to so many people out there; a shining light to young broadcasters who hear the fantastic work she is doing and want to…
REACH the same levels.