"We've helped persuade two leading supermarket chains, Tesco and Sainsbury, not to broadcast music in their aisles," Rodgers said. "And I suppose our greatest victory to date has been persuading Gatwick Airport to desist after a passenger survey found that 43 percent disliked it, 34 percent didn't and the rest were neutral. But other fights we've lost, including Marks & Spencer's, so there's a long way to go. And it's why we support No Music Day, although for us, one day a year isn't enough."
But that one day will be significant this year in Scotland, with BBC Radio's decision to abstain from music. The producer responsible, David McGuinness, said it would mean "no songs, no bands, no orchestras."
"But it will also mean no music in trails and no jingles to introduce the news, which will make a qualitative difference to the little bits of sound furniture that make up a radio station," he said. "We're also closing down for the day the BBC Scotland music Web site, which is a huge music portal. And to get the message on the streets we're sending out a No Music Day squad to effect citizen's arrests of people wearing headphones."
In other words, a stunt.
"No, absolutely not." McGuinness said. "Of course there's an element of fun, or I hope there will be. But we want people to realize how ubiquitous music has become, how it invades their lives in ways they don't realize, and we want to challenge them to stop and think what that means, to consider how they might become more informed in their choices."
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