Possibly False Madonna Radio 1 Ban Story Produces Outrage Over Ageism

The Daily Mail gleefully announced this weekend that Madonna was “past it” because the U.K.’s Radio 1 had banned Madonna for being too old and irrelevant. The British tabloid even quoted a supposed “insider” about Madonna‘s alleged ban.

“At the end of the day it’s all about relevance. It’s natural that as an artist gets older their audience goes elsewhere and Radio 1 has to reflect that. The station has a duty to meet the needs of younger listeners. I don’t think the audience is losing sleep that it is not playing Madonna in the same way that it used to.”

However, a spokesperson at Radio 1 today believes this story could have been completely fabricated.

“First of all, there is no ban on Madonna. Her single ‘Living for Love’ might have been available since December, but the record company didn’t start pushing it until recently. We have played the song — I think more than once. It may not be played a lot on Radio 1 right now and may not be played at all in the future. But to say the song was ‘banned’ is an incredible lie and one that some are pushing to promote an obvious agenda against Madonna.”

The story has been cheered by some media outlets as a way to bash Madonna for being “too old.” However, it has caused absolute outrage on Twitter.

The decision by @BBCR1 to not play @Madonna's music for being "old and irrelevant" is a disgusting example of societal #ageism and #sexism.

— Aquarius Solrac (@Carlos214Carlos) February 16, 2015

On Radio 1’s Facebook page, listeners — many who are young — decried the station’s supposed decision not to play Madonna’s new song “Living for Love.” Many of the posters said that the station’s blatant ageism towards Madonna is just as bad as racism and homophobia. Others mocked Radio 1 for being irrelevant itself. Others just used the opportunity to promote Madonna’s upcoming album Rebel Heart.

Speaking of Madonna being “too old” to make music, radio stations in the United States certainly don’t agree. According to Headline Planet, Madonna is making some great inroads on top 40 radio, especially since this weekend.

“Thanks to a big Valentine’s Day push, Madonna’s “Living for Love” now registers as one of the fifty most-played songs at pop radio. The song, which made an underwhelming pop radio impact last week, registers at #49 on Monday’s edition of the rolling Mediabase pop radio chart. That #49 position is attributable to the 427 spins ‘Living for Love’ received between February 9 and 15. Reports indicate that 205 of those spins came on Valentine’s Day.”

Ageism against Madonna certainly hasn’t prevented “Living for Love” from being played several times over the past few days on huge radio stations such as KIIS FM in Los Angeles, Z100 in New York City, and even Y100 in Miami. The song is also gaining traction at popular stations in Atlanta, New Jersey, North Carolina, and Arizona. It’s quite possible that there could be some sort of “radio deal” going on. In the old days, it was called “payola.” However, the airplay pattern doesn’t quite follow a typical radio deal.

It’s quite obvious that the Daily Mail‘s attempt to age-shame Madonna with a possibly false story is backfiring. Madonna hasn’t responded to the story and will probably let her fans do the battle for her.

[Photo Credit: YouTube Screen Capture]