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Comedian and BBC Radio One DJ Matt Edmonson has defended the station against recent playlisting criticism, arguing that what they play "is not decided by age". 

The station have come under fire from many critics in recent years for letting their focus on a young demographic to unfairly discriminate against DJs and artists of an older age - in particular La Roux, Robbie Williams and others.

Now, Edmonson has addressed the claims in an interview with Digital Spy - adding that each song is judged on its own merit.

"Not everything can make it onto the playlist and I think certain people will always be upset with some decisions," he said. "La Roux, who is 26 I think, didn't make it onto the playlist on her last single. But then Nicole Scherzinger also didn't make it onto the playlist for her last single.

"I don't think it's to do with artist or age or anything like that. "I think it's really to do with the record, and whether or not Radio 1 thinks it will sit well amongst the other 40 records that they're playing that week."

He continued: "I think it's a tough gig for anyone, being in the world of music. I don't think people like Robbie Williams can take it to heart too much if a single doesn't get played because Robbie may release a song - an absolute smash next year.

"You look at someone like Pharrell Williams who's probably the same age as Robbie - he's had six tracks on the playlist in the last year. So it's not an age thing - it's very much an 'is the record right?' thing."

Watch the video for 'Let Me Down Gently' by La Roux below

The argument was sparked last month when The Sun reported that 26-year-old La Roux had "been deemed ‘elderly’ and shunted off to Radio 2” when her single did not make the cut for the youth station’s daytime playlist. A spokesperson for the station has since disputed these claims, issuing a statement outlining that "Each track is considered for the playlist based on its musical merit and whether it is right for our target audience, with decisions made on a case-by-case basis.”

La Roux herself is yet to comment on the situation, though in recent weeks Radio 1 has been criticised by fellow popstar Lily Allen, who claimed “Nobody knows what the fuck they’re doing” when asked about the station in a recent interview.

La Roux is touring in November, for more information and tickets visit here. The full list of tour dates are below.

Wed November 05 2014 - GLASGOW O2 ABC
Fri November 07 2014 - LEEDS Metropolitan University
Sat November 08 2014 - BIRMINGHAM Institute
Mon November 10 2014 - BRISTOL O2 Academy Bristol
Fri November 14 2014 - NORWICH UEA
Sat November 15 2014 - OXFORD O2 Academy Oxford
Sun November 16 2014 - MANCHESTER Ritz

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