Why do they do it?

I've never been a great fan of what has been called 'popular' or 'pop' music although, I must admit, out of perhaps a hundred songs or pieces put out, there might be just one which catches my ear.

Mainly the stuff comes in two main groups - tolerable and stomach turning.

Nowadays, I listen to BBC Radio 2 of a morning and sometimes during the day. I have certain programmes where the presenter gives me something worth listening to. Unfortunately, the music they play tends to be perhaps 50 percent that I ignore, 25 percent that I can hear without distress, 20 percent that irritate and the rest that make me want o reach for the off switch, some of the latter group that actually do produce that very reaction.

The saving grace for these programs is the presenter and their close interaction with their listeners, banter, stories, funnies, jokes and so on. These are the only things worth listening to.

Now, the BBC has something called a 'playlist' where someone somewhere decides what shall be played when and where. There is a policy that whenever some screeching pop diva or pop kid whose balls haven't dropped yet, comes out with a new record, then it has to be played, and played, and played, and played, and played.

This generally means that I get to hear it each time I listen to my favourite presenters. One day not so long ago, I heard one bloody song, Britney? five times in one day!

What do I do now when they come on? I switch off.

How can I get them to understand that if I - and there must be many many more like me - wanted to hear this particular song over and over again, and if I was so keen on it, I'd willingly go out and buy the bloody thing?