Thriller wrote:How weird that they've dropped some of the biggest hits around right now and some that have only just entered the chart, and straight from the A-List too - I'd expect them to be relegated before being dropped completely
The whole point of Radio 1's music policy is pushing & promoting
new music. ie. Once a song enters the charts and starts getting played on commercial radio, there's no need for Radio 1 to promote it any more. Their work is done, effectively. That's why songs get dropped.
So take, for example, Little Jackie's song. R1 have been playing that for well over a month, maybe two. The fact that commercial radio are a bit more behind the times doesn't really make a difference. The song becomes a bit stale once you've been playing it for so long. By the time it gets released, people can buy it for themselves if they want to keep listening to it, but R1's commitment to playing it ends there so that people don't get sick of it. There's always going to be newer, fresher music to play!