Probably to start really promoting R1 Anthems now it's been approved for DAB. Might sound weird if you're used to them only going back about 5 or 6 years outside of the Ten Minute Takeover etc but maybe we'll get used to it and let's face it, lots of songs from then could easily come out today and vice versa, music hasn't changed that much over the past 20-25 years or even longer.

Most of the dance/indie/rock songs could have come out decades ago and as much as I like Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan, it's hardly game-changing futuristic pop. In fact, is there that much on the playlist you feel could have only come out in the 2020s apart from certain rap stuff? This probably goes some way towards explaining why they can never get rid* of 42-year-old pop pensioners like me who always want to hear the newest most exciting bangers everyone's talking about and still feel completely comfortable listening to R1 - feel much more 'at home' than when I hear R2 playing the new one by the Stereophonics or some other spent force.

Just hope they don't do it too much as I think most of us prefer the 'past few years' formula we have known and loved for a very long time and dropping in too many songs from 2002 for no reason other than to promote R1 Anthems could compromise that, no matter how well they have aged. There have been times when they've played songs from 2017 outside of nostalgia features recently and I've thought 'hmmmm' cos it kind of messed up the 'contemporary' feel a bit.

Just kind of throws me a bit.

*Not sure how much they are trying to these days anyway, Aled doesn't say 'our young audience' in press releases anywhere near as much as he used to

Edited April 20, 2025Apr 20 by HiyaLuv!

Feels like it's no different to Lockdown 2020 where they recognised people wanted the nostalgia so were playing tracks right back to the 90s in amongst the normal playlist.