Jeff Smith, head of music, for Radio 2 and 6 Music has told Music Week that the Live In Hyde Park line-up represents the diverse range of genres supported by the station.
“That is the key point of what we do with a festival in a day, because the idea of that kind of concept is to represent what we do across the station with our music,” said Smith.
“Whether it be what Jamie [Cullum] does in his jazz programme via Gregory Porter or LeAnn [Rimes] in terms of country music, or what Mark Radcliffe does in his roots and folk show.”
The one-day festival, set to take place on Sunday, September 11 features Jamie Lawson, Porter, Rimes, Madness, Andreya Triana, Status Quo and Travis with a headline set from Elton John. The event will be broadcast live on Radio 2 and via BBC Red Button, BBC iPlayer and the Radio 2 website.
“We’re also representing the big stars that we play across our output, he added. “We actually play new music by these artists. You’ll hear new Elton John and Madness records alongside the classics which you won’t get on other radio stations.”
This year’s event sold out within a week, according to Smith, which he said is ”comparable to last year”, in terms of ticket sales when Rod Stewart and Bryan Adams were on the bill, but added that the 2014 event featuring Jeff Lynne’s ELO sold out within three hours.
“That was a really unique year and I don’t think we, or even I, because I’ve been a fan of ELO, realised that it would move quite as fast.
In this world nowadays with live events it’s tough to get to that audience that quickly, but we did it within a week this year.”
FOLLOW 
