David Ferguson, chairman of the BACS, which represents UK's songwriters and organises the annual Ivor Novello awards for music writing, told a Music Tank forum that there were "serious concerns" over the impact of national playlists and content syndication.
He warned radio executives that the range of music on radio has been in "continuous decline". He added: "As consolidation has taken place in the commercial market, you can almost quantify the decline in range that is available."
Ferguson told BBC News Online that programming on many commercial stations is designed to persuade people not to switch off or change channels, rather than present them with something new and interesting.
Classic Gold, owned by UBC Media Group, recently temporarily suspended Tony Blackburn after he played Cliff Richard, who was not on the station's playlist. Richard may not be a new artist, but the case highlighted how stations do not like any deviation from agreed playlists.
Ferguson cited the BBC as a vital entry point for new music in the UK. He criticised Radio 1's current playlist, on which, he says, more than half of the songs are from US artists.
However, Ferguson agreed with radio executives on the point that the growing popularity of digital and online radio stations could provide listeners with access to new music. Earlier this week, the government said that it would this year announce a switch-off date for analogue radio. Official radio body, the RAB, has also said that it believes technology enhancements will increase choice and lead to an increase in listeners.
However, Matt Deagan, group corporate development executive at GWR, defended commercial radio stations, citing Classic FM's track record in promoting new music, as well as the company's other local FM stations. He said that GWR stations, such as Trent FM in Nottingham, had regularly promoted local bands to its listeners.
The BBC recently announced a radical overhaul of its daytime and evening schedules, instigated by controller Andy Parfitt, in order to bring new music to a wider audience and encourage new talent. Presenter Zane Lowe has had his hours increased in the daytime and claimed that he was going to be a "music missionary" for the station, for listeners who may not know about exciting music they are missing out on.
Lowe was poached from Xfm, which has a policy of playing new and unsigned bands, earlier this year. It has recently helped acts like Snow Patrol and Franz Ferdinand break through into the mainstream.
However, even niche stations like Xfm face commercial pressure. Owned by radio giant Capital Radio, the station has admitted that it has had to amend playlists for daytime and evening, with the more breakthrough artists featuring on evening shows.
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