Hello, it's Tom Robinson here with this week's BBC Music's Introducing Mixtape - currently broadcast on Sundays from 1-2am on BBC Radio 6 Music. It features an hour of handpicked tunes uploaded to the BBC Introducing website, featuring this week:
OYA PAYA, OPERATION LIGHTFOOT, PINS, HOWARD KAYE, DUTTY MOONSHINE BIG BAND, SONS OF SOUTHERN ULSTER, SPQR, JIM PEARSON, AMY HOPWOOD, AZZ, PARISA, A BAND BY ANY OTHER NAME, BANFI, ELA NEDRA, HELMHOLTZ RESONATORS, ORLA GARTLAND, JIM, and ROBO DUKUN
How to Listen...
This is the episode broadcast at 1am on Sunday 10th May 2020. You can listen again for 30 days after broadcast on BBC Sounds via this link.
Podcast
Alternatively to receive the show automatically every week as a podcast, subscribe to "BBC Music Introducing Mixtape" wherever you get your podcasts from. And if you enjoy the show please do rate and review us - for instance on iTunes - it'll help other people discover all the new music we feature each week.
All tunes have been sourced from BBC Music's Introducing Uploader and start times below are for the podcast version of the show...
OYA PAYA - Kobi [starts 00:00]
https://oyapaya.com
OPERATION LIGHTFOOT - Of The Earth [starts 00:00]
https://www.facebook.com/OperationLightfoot
LAUNDROMAT - Humans [starts 00:00]
https://www.laundromat.band
PINS - Ghosting [starts 00:00]
http://www.wearepins.co.uk
HOWARD KAYE - Preacher [starts 00:00]
https://www.howardkayeofficial.com/
DUTTY MOONSHINE BIG BAND - Fianca [starts 00:00]
http://www.facebook.com/duttymoonshine
SONS OF SOUTHERN ULSTER - They Say I Live in the Past [starts 00:00]
http://www.sonsofsouthernulster.com/
SPQR - Love's Summer [starts 00:00]
http://www.spqrmusic.com
JIM PEARSON - Shelf Stacker [starts 00:00]
https://jimpearson.bandcamp.com
AMY HOPWOOD - Sea Fever [starts 00:00]
http://www.amyhopwood.co.uk/
AZZ - I'm Not Ready [starts 00:00]
https://azzmusic.com
PARISA - Toss & Turn [starts 00:00]
https://www.facebook.com/itsparisamusic
A BAND BY ANY OTHER NAME - Unicycle Boy [starts 00:00]
https://soundcloud.com/user-633073384
BANFI - So Bright [starts 00:00]
https://www.facebook.com/banfimusic
ELA NEDRA - Live It Up Slow (Spanish Version) [starts 00:00]
https://soundcloud.com/elanedra/tracks
HELMHOLTZ RESONATORS - Pens & Paper [starts 00:00]
http://www.thehelmholtzresonators.com
ORLA GARTLAND - Oh God [starts 00:00]
https://www.orlagartland.com
JIM - We're Not Friends [starts 00:00]
https://soundcloud.com/user-303032428
ROBO DUKUN - Slompy Dockens [starts 00:00]
https://www.facebook.com/robodukun
PS for artists from Tom Robinson...
(1) WARNING: After getting airplay on BBC Introducing, you may get emails out of the blue from radio pluggers who have an impressive list of former clients. They'll say how much they like your record and offer their services. Typically something like:
"Hi - I'm a national radio plugger... I came across 'YOURTRACKNAME' today, I'm a big fan of the single and wanted to find out if you have anyone looking after national radio yet?"
Be warned: they don't actually think your music is special. They just hope you're inexperienced enough - and desperate enough - to give them your money in the hope of getting more airplay. Paying a complete stranger to try and get your music on Radio 1 - just because they happened to send you an email - is NOT a good use of your hard earned cash.
There are over a hundred music PR firms in the UK and they all have impressive client lists. Obviously some pluggers are really good and (equally obviously) some of them aren't. But trust me on this: the really good ones are too busy to spend their time emailing BBC Introducing artists to ask them for money.
In any case emerging artists usually get MUCH better results themselves than a plugger - just by targeting radio shows and DJs direct via social media. For suggestions on how to do your own music promotion see the free advice section at my Fresh On The Net blog (freshonthenet.co.uk).
And in any case radio probably isn't even the best goal to be chasing. One or two extra plays simply won't make much difference to the size of your fanbase, until that fanbase is up in the thousands. This early in your career, building a direct relationship with your audience is far, far more important than airplay. And unlike getting on Radio 1, building a fanbase for your music through Youtube and Instagram is something you can achieve yourself without spending any money at all.
The time to seek professional PR services is when the live crowds you can draw at every gig are in the hundreds, and when your genuine online 'likes' are in the thousands. With that kind of traction, a major investment becomes worth risking to help take the next step up.
The best pluggers and PRs will charge a lot of money because they're good at their job. But (again) just because somebody charges a lot of money doesn't mean they're any good. Tip: check out which indie labels regularly get their releases played on your favourite radio station. Then contact those record companies to find out which PR firm they use.
And however things pan out, don't forget to carry on uploading your new releases to BBC Introducing so that we can carry on supporting you as your career unfolds.
(2) We only get enough airtime on this show to feature artists - even our absolute favourites - about four times a year, however much we love their work. So after you've been been on the Mixtape, please wait 12 weeks before sending me your next brilliant track. This leaves us time to help a load of other deserving artists meanwhile.
The best way of getting a tune direct to me is via Fresh On The Net using Soundcloud. From 10m on Monday mornings anybody is welcome to send us a track and we keep the inbox open until 200 submissions have arrived - so it's best to get in early. We publish all 200 tunes on our Soundcloud each week, and a dozen of us then listen to every single track. And be sure to also upload your tune to BBC Introducing, to make it eligible for Introducing airplay...
Tom Robinson