Chris Price to head music at BBC 1 and Xtra in executive shuffle

Chris Price contributor logo canvasIn an executive shuffle along the newly established migratory path between radio and streaming, Chris Price of thought-leading consultancy New Slang Media will join BBC 1 and Xtra as Head of Music, replacing George Ergoutadis. Ergoutadis is joining Spotify in the newly-created role of Head of Content Programming for the U.K.

Chris Price told RAIN News that he starts his new job at the beginning of March. George Ergoutadis was at Radio 1/Xtra for 10 years.

Price has been gaining renown as a leading researcher of the so-called playlist era, analyzing the extent to which major influence listening in Spotify. (See his contributions to RAIN News here.)

It is not Chris Price’s first stint at BBC; he was a music programmer for BBC 1 between 2000 and 2006. After that he was Director of Music Programming at MTV UK & Ireland, followed by the Head of Music role at Last.fm. He started New Slang Media, self-described as “where broadcast and webcast collide,” in 2009.

“Radio 1 & 1Xtra’s Head of Music is the greatest music discovery job on the planet,” Chris Price said. “I’m thrilled to be joining the BBC to continue the incredible work it does breaking new music, as well as steering the networks’ music strategy into the next phase of its digital future.”

Brad Hill