What is "needle time"

n. The limit on the amount of airplay of recorded music in any given 24 hour period.

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.