The band was scandalously overlooked by radio and TV, a critical requirement for the sale of records. I can remember only one Beta Band TV performance, on Jools Holland’s Later show last year. But it is radio airplay that is so vital in exposing music to the public at large, and with the heavy emphasis on playing only the manufactured, big budget acts, real talent has to be satisfied with the micro-crumbs (if they’re lucky).

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Perhaps the band was not happy to perform alongside Busted on TV shows geared to fanatical child fans, and who can blame them. The fact is that the UK is becoming a graveyard for the best talent through lack of electronic media airplay and it’s killing off the acts with real potential to create waves overseas, and particularly in the USA. It’s a mess and it’s getting worse. Ultimately, both the public and the talent are being horribly short-changed and especially by the BBC whose public service obligation is supposed to be to provide entertainment for the whole population on mainstream radio and TV channels.

There are of course a few exceptions. Katie Melua’s phenomenal record sales success (I’m told she has over £2 million sitting in her bank account) stemmed from Terry Wogan featuring her on his BBC Radio 2 programme. The power that people like Wogan possess in making or breaking acts cannot be underestimated. Another example is Radio 2’s patronage of the once little-known, deceased Eva Cassidy that sent her record sales soaring to become one of the biggest selling UK artists.

Until the electronic media accepts responsibility for promoting our most genuinely talented artists on the airwaves, and record companies become more aggressive in promoting the best in their charge, then the casualty list will lengthen until we are left with the most radio-friendly, over-hyped rubbish. Many would argue that we have already reached this perilous point. A couple of years ago we tried to help Ireland’s top band get airplay on the back of a wonderful album. The Frames is Ireland’s best loved band and for good reason; live quality is astounding, while songs are both mature and highly accessible. We sent the album to a particular BBC radio DJ who loved it but admitted that a previous Frames album (which was also brilliant and released several years earlier) was found unopened (and loved on discovering it).

It seems to me that radio DJ’s have lost the will to live and are taking down real talent with them. The country’s radio station owners and executives have a lot to answer for. The Internet now offers an alternative direct and effective route to an international music-loving audience. With the significant number Beta Band’s loyal and enthusiastic fans out there, and cutting out the numerous cash-hungry middle-men, I’m convinced that the band would have had a rock-solid future. Producers like USA’s Steve Albini have a realistic record-producing philosophy (see his feature here entitled The Problem With Music) that effectively cuts recording costs to the bone, while getting records manufactured or copied costs peanuts. This strategy remains open to the guys while still providing the opportunity for them to do their individual things (like many USA band members increasingly do). There are also examples of home-produced records (David Gray) that have sold their socks off, albeit many months after initial release and with substantial radio airplay.

Throughout this piece I have featured photographs taken of The Beta Band’s great live performance at the recent Move Festival in Manchester where the guys shed their silly garbs and provided a show to remember. The plan is to play a final tour in the autumn and then disappear. My advice to the band is to take a fully independent route, stay in touch with fans, and to generate enough funds to continue a formidable recording career. The UK cannot afford to lose The Beat Band.