Needle time

Needle time was created in the United Kingdom by the Musicians' Union and Phonographic Performance Limited to restrict the amount of recorded music that could be transmitted by the BBC during the course of any 24-hour period. The number of hours per week allowed gradually increased over the years from below 30 hours in the 1950s. Until 1967 the BBC was allowed to play only five hours per day of commercial gramophone records on the air. It continued to affect BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 2 and the Independent Local Radio stations until 1988.

The result was that the BBC had to use "cover" versions of popular songs by groups such as Shane Fenton and the Fentones recorded at the BBC studios, or orchestral versions by one of the in-house orchestras, to fill in the hours.

The term "needle time" comes from the use (at the time) of gramophone records as the main source of recorded music, which were played on gramophone record players using a gramophone needle.

Unlike American records, British records at the time carried a warning message around the edge of the record label in the centre of the record itself to the effect that: "Unauthorised public performance or broadcasting of this record is strictly prohibited."

Although the record industry in Britain wanted the public to buy its records, it had to give them some airtime so that the public could find out about their existence. To that end the record industry used the commercial nighttime signals from Radio Luxembourg whose powerful AM signal could be heard in the UK. The "208" shows on Luxembourg were mainly fifteen minutes to thirty minutes in length and presented under names such as the Decca Records Show or the Capitol Records Show. These prerecorded programmes resembled what later became known as Infomercials, because they normally only featured a little over half of the record, with heavy plugging for title, artist and label.

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