Hello, it's Tom Robinson with another episode of the BBC Introducing Mixtape from 6 Music - 60 minutes of music from under the mainstream radar, uploaded direct to our network of local BBC Introducing shows by independent UK artists. This week we present:
WILD SPELKS, ALICE BOYD, LIVING BODY, COUPDEKAT, RESTLESS YOUTH, FRÄULEIN, MANTA, PISS KITTI, JESI, DOG RACE, MARSUPIAL SOUP, NATALIE WILDGOOSE, TYCHO JONES, SARA WOLFF, BEN & DOM, BYFYN and NUKULUK
This is the episode released on Monday 6th March 2023 and available via BBC Sounds for 30 days until Wednesday 1 February 2023. After the show drops you can also download & keep the audio permanently using any podcast app, or direct from our podcast page.
With warm thanks to the teams at
BBC Introducing in The West with James Threlfall
BBC Introducing in West Yorkshire with Emily Pilbeam
BBC Introducing in Manchester with DJ Roesh
BBC Introducing in Wales with Adam Walton
BBC Introducing in Sussex & Surrey with Melita Dennett
BBC Introducing in The North East with Nick Roberts
BBC Introducing in York & North Yorkshire with Jericho Keys
BBC Introducing in London with Jess Iszatt
BBC Introducing in Beds, Herts & Bucks with Honor Morrison and
BBC Introducing in Merseyside with Dave Monks
for finding / supporting / forwarding the tunes for today's show:
WILD SPELKS - Black Spores
http://wildspelks.co.uk
ALICE BOYD - Separation
https://linktr.ee/aliceboyd
LIVING BODY - Consumer
https://linktr.ee/livingbodylife
COUPDEKAT - Superglue
https://linktr.ee/coupdekat
RESTLESS YOUTH - The Day The School Burned Down
https://linktr.ee/restlessyouth
FRÄULEIN - Pet
https://linktr.ee/frau13in
MANTA - Manta
https://linktr.ee/Whoismanta
PISS KITTI - Leather Forever
https://linktr.ee/pisskitti
JESI - Sou Lavi Ou
https://linktr.ee/jesidepressi
DOG RACE - Theres A Mouse In My House
https://songwhip.com/dograce/theres-a-mouse-in-my-house
MARSUPIAL SOUP - Suit Up
https://linktr.ee/marsupialsoup
NATALIE WILDGOOSE - Babe of the Moon
https://linktr.ee/Nataliewildgoose
TYCHO JONES - Risk To My Reward
https://lnk.fu.ga/tychojones_risktomyreward-1
SARA WOLFF - Don't Feed The Birds
https://linktr.ee/sarawolffmusic
BEN & DOM - Savage
https://linktr.ee/benanddom
BYFYN - Blue
https://linktr.ee/byfynstagram
NUKULUK - Covered in Gold
https://linktr.ee/nukuluk
PS FOR ARTISTS:
What happens next? Radio airplay is a great affirmation of your work. It's great to be able to mention it on your CV and social media. But radio play won't make as much longterm difference as you may think - it comes, and then it goes. The trouble is that radio can accellerate a career that's already got momentum - but it can't kickstart a career from scratch.
Bulding an audience for your music (and continuing to write great songs) takes time and effort. The good news is that, unlike radio play, it's entirely within your own power to achieve and costs next to nothing. And although this only one man's opinion, you'll find a few suggestions about how to do this this in my closing talk for BBC Introducing Live 2019.
Hiring a radio plugger in the hope of getting more airplay is an expensive gamble - and only worth considering when there's already a buzz about your latest song and a growing audience for your music. But early on in their career, most emerging artists get MUCH better results themselves than by hiring a plugger. 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).
Once an artist's career does start building momentumn - with views, plays and comments growing measurably each week - that's when an expertly run radio campaign can be a great way of putting a foot on the accelerator. Once you do choose to go down that route, the next problem is how to find a trustworthy promo company? One possibility might be to copy and keep the weekly playlists published by your target radio stations every week, and look up which small labels are regularly getting featured. Then google those labels, drop them an email, and ask which radio pluggers they use. [NB bigger labels tend to have their own in-house promo teams.]
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.
AND FINALLY...
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