BBC - Radio 1 - Help - Frequently Asked Questions

Can you link to my sponsorship page or promote it on air?
We get asked this a LOT, which shows how charitable Radio 1 listeners are. As part of the BBC, Radio 1 has to be plainly fair and equal in which charities we support. So we support Comic Relief, Sport Relief and Children in Need.

We hope you understand we don't promote any individual sponsorship requests because we get so many and we couldn't be fair about it. We always wish you good luck though in however you're raising money.

Complaints

How can I complain about a BBC programme?
If you have a complaint about Radio 1 or the BBC then please submit it via our central complaints website to be guaranteed a reply. Please visit www.bbc.co.uk/complaints where you can find full details of the BBC's complaints procedure.

Downloading

Why can't I download Essential Mix/ Live Lounge etc?

Lots of listeners ask us this. The answer is, we can't make the music available to download because we don't own the copyright on the music - so it's not ours to give away. The music belongs to the artist and record label, so that's why we can't give it away for listeners to keep.

Listening

What's Radio 1's FM frequency?

We're between 97-99 FM, depending where you are in the UK. Look up the precise frequency for your area.

Can I listen live on the iPhone?

Yes you can! Go to http://www.bbc.co.uk/mobile/iphone/

When you've got a WiFi connection you can also download our podcasts.

If you fancy being informed of all the newest developments with iPlayer, you can join iPlayer Labs free of charge and you will be among the first to know.

Mobile

Why doesn't Radio 1 have an iPhone app?

Right now, we can't deliver any applications to the iPhone/iPod Touch but this is something the BBC is focused on. The issues we are trying to resolve are that the iPhone is a unique case compared to other mobile devices and can't support any of the audio formats the BBC currently has available.

Also the terms of Apple's App Store are focused on commercial business and so unfortunately aren't the kind of rules the BBC can agree to. We are in negotiations with Apple to resolve these issues and very much hope to develop an app.

If you're interested to see the BBC's latest iPlayer developments before they are released, you can sign up to iPlayer Labs free of charge.

What's the number to text Radio 1?

81199. If you want to text a DJ, make sure you text while the show is live on air.

iPlayer

Why isn't this show working?

At Radio 1 we're not qualified to give technical support so the best place to go is the iPlayer help pages.

You can ask a question and contact the dedicated iPlayer support team directly.

To send a message to the iPlayer tech team:

Try entering your question on the Ask a question field at the top of the iPlayer help pages

Select any of the answers

If they don't answer your question - scroll down to Did this answer your question?

Select No, can you help me?

Use the dropdown menu and make your enquiry there

Why do shows take so long to arrive in iPlayer?

We are aiming to improve turnaround times for shows in iPlayer. Currently we can't guarantee exact times between show end and its appearance on iPlayer. We are working to address this and deliver shows within 2-3 hours of broadcast. We are sorry we can't get this show to you when you want it, but thank you for raising the problem - it is good to know how important this issue is to our audience.

I'm listening live on the iPlayer but it's poor sound quality (sounds warbly/underwater)

If you experience temporary loss of sound quality while listening live to Radio 1 online, you may be suffering from problems with your internet connection. In this instance, your internet service provider may be able to help. If the problem seems to be limited to iPlayer and you've eliminated a connection issue, please refer to iPlayer Help.

Can you show 'Now playing' info in the iPlayer console?

The iPlayer technical team are working to put 'Now playing' information back into the iPlayer console along with some extra new features. They tell me they hope to have this up and running by October 2009.

Podcasts

I am outside the UK, why can't I download podcasts?

The legal complications over music rights mean that for now, we're unable to offer podcasts which feature music outside the UK. Our Introducing music podcast is available to download all over the world, because it features only unsigned acts. You can also subscribe to our stories, entertainment news and some of our DJs' podcasts

Although we would love to make our podcasts available worldwide, some BBC podcasts are restricted to users in the UK. This is mostly because of very complicated music rights agreements which prevent us from making the podcasts globally available.

Radio 1's Introducing music podcast is available to download all over the world, because it features only unsigned acts. You can also subscribe to our stories, entertainment news and some of our DJs' podcasts

Sessions

Can I watch/listen/download old sessions?

We're glad to say the BBC is currently working on a project to make our archive of sessions available. It's a long term and complex project due to legalities and music rights but the team are working on resolving the issues. Keep an eye out!

Texts

What's the number to text Radio 1?

81199. If you want to text a DJ, make sure you text while the show is live on air.

How much profit do you make on them?

We don't make any profit from the texts we receive. It will cost you 10-15p to send us a text message. That charge is made by your service provider and the cost depends on which one you're with.

Tracklistings

Where are tracklistings?

The tracklistings for every show now appear on the episode page for that particular show - where you can also listen in iPlayer. So if you go to the date of the show you want, you can scroll down the page and see the tracks there.

After the show has expired in the iPlayer (7 days after broadcast) the tracklistings will stay on the page.

So for example Pete Tong's tracklistings for the 27 November show are onthis episode page

If you go to http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/petetong, all Tong's old-style tracklistings for shows (before we relaunched the website) are clickable on the Tracklistings archive 2002-2009 link on the right.

Again on http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/petetong, his new-style tracklistings can be found by clicking on Tracklists and finding the date of the particular episode you want.

Demos

How do I send you my music to listen to?

There are three ways:

1. Upload it to the BBC Introducing website
http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/introducing/uploader/

It will go to your local BBC radio station first. Please read all the terms and conditions.

The music uploader is only for artists in the UK, so we can manage the volume of music.

You can also get good advice on the BBC Introducing site if you're a new act.

2. Email the relevant show with a link to hear your music.

Click 'Contact' at the top of all our DJs' pages for their email addresses.

Here are a few tips:

a. Listen to our shows and identify which DJs are most likely to play your music. Then send your music to the relevant show.
b. Include your contact details (email, phone number etc)
c. Include some biographical information

If your music is selected for play the show's production team will get in touch asking for more details, such as a link to an artist photo or packshot.

3. Post a CD to:

[DJ name]
BBC Radio 1
London
W1W 6AJ

Video

Why does this video say 'Not available in your area'?

We would love to make our video content available worldwide. At the moment most of our music performance videos (like the Live Lounge) are restricted to the UK. It's because of the costs of streaming video globally and the legal complexities of music rights around live performances.

We have to make the BBC good value for the British public who fund the BBC via the licence fee they pay. We hope to offer video around the whole world in future though.

I'm in the UK but it says I'm not

Sometimes even though you're in Britain you may see a message saying you're not. This could be because your computer is on a foreign-based network, or is routed overseas (sometimes the case with work connections if your employer is not UK-based). Some programs, such as web accelerators, can cause your IP address (your computer's individual identity) to appear as if it is outside the UK. Occasionally it may simply be a network error, so it's worth closing your browser or router and reopening, as a new IP address is allocated which may be UK-based. This is something your internet service provider is usually best-placed to fix.

Charts

What charts do you publish?

We currently publish 13 weekly music charts to the Radio 1 website:

UK Top 40 Singles (updated live, 4-7pm Sun)

UK Top 40 Albums (updated live, 4-7pm Sun)

UK Top 40 Singles Update (updated live, 3.30-4pm Weds)

UK Top 40 Albums Update (updated live, 3.30-4pm Weds)

UK Top 40 Compilations (7pm Sun)

UK Top 40 Dance Singles (7pm Sun)

UK Top 40 Dance Albums (7pm Sun)

UK Top 40 Indie Singles (7pm Sun)

UK Top 40 Indie Albums (7pm Sun)

UK Top 40 RnB Singles (7pm Sun)

UK Top 40 RnB Albums (7pm Sun)

UK Top 40 Rock Singles (7pm Sun)

UK Top 40 Rock Albums (7pm Sun)

The information for the charts is licensed to the BBC by The Official UK Charts Company.

What happened to the DVD charts?

At the end of June 2011, we took the decision to stop publishing the DVD charts on bbc.co.uk. Following a review we concluded that the publication of these charts on the website no longer aligned with the on-air output of Radio 1 (as they are not mentioned in any programme) and it was unnecessary to duplicate them on our website.

The information for the charts is licensed to the BBC by The Official UK Charts Company and is freely available on their website:

http://www.theofficialcharts.com/dvd-chart/

http://www.theofficialcharts.com/music-video-chart/

Misc.

Why is your webcam just still photos?

We appreciate the webcam is a bit old school, being still photos which update every so often. We are introducing more live streaming on the webcams - like BeckyCam and certain Live Lounges, like Lady Gaga but we don't have the resources to make the studio webcams a 24-hour operation at the moment.

Why is this page so out of date?

If you've arrived at one of our webpages via a search engine, in some rare instances you may be viewing archived content which is now out of date. If this is the case you'll usually see a large banner across the top of the page to make this clear. If, however, you find an out of date page when browsing the Radio 1 website, please do contact us.

How do I get a job/work experience placement/DJ position at Radio 1?

You can search and apply for BBC job and work experience opportunities at http://jobs.bbc.co.uk.

How do I request a track or shout out?

If you'd like to request a track or shout out, please contact the individual show you're interested in. Simply browse to the relevant show page and look for the show's Contact section.

I want to know more about text votes

Read about text votes here

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