Music stars across the country have responded with shock and dismay to the axing of music programming on the Radio National, calling on ABC Managing Director Michelle Guthrie to overturn the decision.

Artists including Paul Kelly, Missy Higgins, Kate Ceberano, Sarah Blasko and John Butler added their name to an open letter addressed to Ms Guthrie and the ABC board under the banner Save RN Music, with the hashtag #saveRNmusic taking off on social media.

The open letter said the decision delivered a “fundamental blow to diverse, vibrant and independent sectors of the Australian music industry, which receive minimal national radio coverage elsewhere”.

"RN Music plays a vital role in developing Australian songwriters,composers and musicians"- @paulkelly #SaveRNMusic https://t.co/ioyLpjYAH7 pic.twitter.com/ffuBgHOKya

— SaveRNMusic (@Save_RN_Music) November 30, 2016

Singer Katie Noonan, in a public statement, said: “I simply cannot fathom how anyone would have thought this was a good idea for the Australian people.”

Speaking to The New Daily, singer-songwriter and actress Deborah Conway said programs like The Daily Planet, The Inside Sleeve, The Live Set, The Rhythm Divine and Jazztrack were an essential part of the Australian music industry.

“There’s a real chunk of the Australian music industry that actually needs these curated programs,” Conway said. “They’re beautifully crafted by people who care.”

Worried that a lot of music would fall through the cracks, Conway noted that digital radio stations such as Double J weren’t necessarily widely accessible in regional Australia and that the Save RN Music campaign was a clear signal it was an unpopular decision.

“The ABC has to be mindful that there’s a significant part of the population that they are letting down,” Conway said.

Multiple ARIA-winning singer and composer David Bridie said he was very disappointed to hear the news.

“Radio National is a platform for alternative voices in a whole lot of areas, whether it be literature, international politics or music, dealing with issues other stations don’t,” he said.

“Their coverage of the arts is vital, I would have thought.”

Singer Katie Noonan ‘cannot fathom’ why the cuts are taking place. Photo: Getty

Bridie was worried by several developments at the ABC, including the disbanding of the Australia Network, which he enjoyed while living in Papua New Guinea.

“I’m a little suss on Michelle Guthrie and what her plan is and the kind of appointment that the government has made.”

Paul Kelly has lent his name to the open letter protesting the cuts. Photo: Getty

Like Conway, Bridie isn’t sure digital-only stations such as Double J can pick up the slack, part of Radio National’s official response to the Save RN Music open letter.

“I think they’re trying to be a bit tricky about saying they’re all over the new formats,” Bridie added.

“Most people would only hear Double J on their TV and most people don’t listen to radio that way, unless it’s really late at night or you’re stuck in a hotel room.”

Indigenous singer-songwriter Archie Roach, who appeared on Radio National’s Life Matters program last month, told The New Daily the station had supported him many times over the years.

“It would be a shame to lose all of that,” he said. “I don’t see why you would shift the music elsewhere when it’s fine where it is. It’s not broken, so don’t fix it, there’s no need to muck around with it really. It’s a bad decision.”

‘Morally and spritually bankrupt’

The ABC also recently cut its popular Fact Check division and science program Catalyst.

ABC radio broadcaster Robyn Williams responded by labelling ABC management “morally and spiritually bankrupt”.

Meanwhile, Dr Karl Kruszelnicki told The New Daily of the cuts: “More music and science brings us closer to a more balanced individual, and on a wider scale, society.”