Tonight (Friday 20 October) BBC Four is airing highlights from the concert at Brixton Academy which was held as part of BBC Music Introducing’s 10th anniversary. Jen Macro takes a brief look at what BBC Music Introducing has done, and continues to do, to help unsigned, undiscovered and under-the-radar artists
I remember a friend, who then worked for the BBC, telling me a number of years ago about a new national initiative to help unsigned bands. Being in an unsigned band myself, I thought, what a marvellous idea to give struggling musicians around the country a helping hand to get noticed and build an audience through local shows and airplay. I have to say however, I was dubious that any success stories would actually come out of the project.
Fast forward to Wednesday 4 October 2017 and said initiative, BBC Music Introducing, is not only celebrating its 10 year anniversary, but holding a celebratory gig at Brixton Academy in London with just some of the very success stories they discovered and have helped over the last decade including Jake Bugg, Everything Everything, George Ezra and Nao.
So how does it work? When an artist/band submits a track to BBC Music Introducing Uploader it is forwarded to the nearest of the BBC's 38 local radio shows where presenters and producers listen. If they like them the tracks could get broadcast on those local stations and even propelled onto the national stage through BBC Radio 1, 1Xtra, Radio 2, 6 Music, Radio 3, Asian Network and World Service or on television and online.
They may even put the band forward to perform at major festivals and showcases such as Glastonbury, Latitude and The Great Escape in the UK and SXSW in Texas and WinterJazz Festival in New York. This year 58% of the acts that performed at this year's Reading + Leeds Festival initially uploaded their music to the BBC Music Introducing Uploader.
BBC Music Introducing artists have gone on to release: 14 UK No.1 singles, 68 UK Top 10 singles. So who might you know who’s come up through the ranks? Glastonbury headliners Ed Sheeran and Florence And The Machine both uploaded tracks to BBC Introducing, as did Mercury Music Prize 2017 nominated Alt-J, The Big Moon, Loyle Carner and Blossoms. Other high-flyers include Slaves, Izzy Bizu, Daughter, Royal Blood and Wretch 32. The list goes on.
No sooner were the plastic glasses cleared away from the floor of the Brixton Academy, than the BBC Music Introducing team were back to work, this time hosting a brand new three-day event at ExCel in East London from 6-8 October. Each day, Amplify was filled with talks by music industry professionals, pioneers and musicians, alongside trade stalls, three performance stages, BBC presenters including Annie Mac and Huw Stephens, plus a feedback centre where budding artists could get advice about the tracks they had brought in.
I dropped in to the event, and If I am honest, I was slightly apprehensive that, at my accrued years of age, I would stand out as the oldest person there, but in fact, much like BBC Introducing itself, the participants were a varied mix of all ages. I felt very welcome from the word go, not only by the folks staffing the event, but fellow attendees. Considering we were all in ‘competition’ with each other to get our music noticed, the camaraderie amongst the people in the queues for the talks and in the sessions themselves was heart-warming, from people giving up their seats, to chatting to the stranger next to them to find out what their music was like.
The industry sessions I attended were clear, well structured, extremely informative and thankfully not void of humour. Often geared to the DIY or ‘bedroom’ artist I was pleased that the speakers were realistic but encouraging, highlighting the fact that there is a lot of good music out there, but that doesn’t mean that yours isn’t just as good or valuable.
I spoke to staff at one of the publishing companies who had run a number of the sessions, they were pleasantly surprised at the huge turnout and eager to be involved in the next one.
So, happy birthday BBC Music Introducing, and keep up the good work.
Jen Macro is Digital Producer, About the BBC
- An hour long show about BBC Introducing and containing highlights of the Brixton gig will be shown on BBC Four on Friday 20 October and will be available on BBC iPlayer for 30 days after broadcast.
- Watch the full BBC Music Introducing Live show
- Find out more about Amplify 2017
- Find out more at the BBC Music Introducing website and follow @bbcintroducing on Twitter.
