As part of BBC Music Day, we've put together some advice, compiled by professionals within the Northern Ireland music industry, for up-and-coming musicians...
DEALING WITH THE MEDIA....
1. Don’t waste your time and money on CDs, let alone elaborate press packages. All we need is your music! Preferably via the Introducing uploader! Just include a short bit of information about the band - your line up, when you formed and any upcoming gigs. If we need any more information, we’ll ask - or seek it out ourselves! On a similar tip - start with a couple of tracks, rather than an entire album. Again, if we like what we hear, we’ll seek out more. But best to lead with two or three tracks that will get undivided attention - rather than an entire album which may only get a skim listen.
2. If you’re chatting to a promoter, a radio presenter, a magazine editor - whatever - make sure do your research on what it is they actually do. So, for example, if someone asks us to play a track ‘ideally on Wednesday or Thursday’ without realising our show is on a Monday - that will of course be a little annoying. If the music is good enough, it will always get featured of course, but you’re off to a bad start!
3. As a general rule - short and sweet is best. This applies to almost everything. If your track has an indulgent 2 minute intro before the good stuff, maybe do a radio edit. Keep press releases concise - just the most important info. If you’re doing a support or a showcase gig - consider keeping your set to a punchy 25/30 minutes, rather than have it drag on. Regardless of how good your band and music is - remember it’s still new to most of us. So you need to get to the good stuff quick and make an impression.
Rigsy - Presenter of Across the Line
IMAGE & BAND NAMES...
Plan everything, visualize what you want to do and just go for it. These days image and branding is crucial (unfortunately!). Choosing a name is very difficult (we're on our second), but don't spend too much time scouring. Find something that you can all agree on, make a quick search on google to make sure you don't run into any future issues (doh!) and go for it. No matter what, good music will always stand out! No matter what the name is...
- Steven, PORTS
GET ON WITH IT....
"This is especially directed to young women wanting to perform: don't think too much about starting a band or embarking on a solo project. Don't wait to be asked - just do it. A lot of people figure out what they're doing along the way. Don't be scared of looking stupid. Make loads of mistakes and always ask for help and support from your peers and those you look up to (they'll be flattered!). Surround yourself with positive people. It's the quickest way to learn."
- Grace, Generator NI
TALK TO EACH OTHER...
Advice to upcoming bands. Most importantly, have fun! 9/10 people will know if your hating every moment. Audiences will feed of your energy. Plus, communication is key. There will be times you'll want to kill each other and get on each other's nerves. So, communicating how you feel about that section in that song or how you think the live set should go, is all part of the dynamics of being in a band. It's a collaboration.
MAKE A FIRST IMPRESSION...
Don't overexpose yourself straight away. Be confident in your sound and songs before sharing them. You only have one chance to make a first impression. It may sound clichéd but it's totally relevant.
- Conchúr, Silences
PUSH YOURSELF....
Push yourself to play gigs in front of audiences who are unfamiliar with your material since this can give you really useful feedback and when you're out and about. Keep your business head on since you never know who may be listening. Introducing Uploader is a great way to get your sound heard by a bigger audience and, lastly, take your music (but not yourself!) seriously.
- Loris
BELIEVE IN IT...
Make sure you do something creatively that you truly believe in. And when gigging or on tour just enjoy the feeling of expanding your life experience over anything else.
- Axis Of
BE BRAVE...
To young bands I say play what you love and play lots. Don't fear being different, be brave and everything you deserve will come to you. In terms of what we are looking for at our label: if there are any politically-minded, unlistenable, white-noise punks out there (must love MC5 & The Stooges) that want a good home - give me a ring.
When Approaching BBC Across The Line & BBC Introducing....
THE UPLOADER
If you listen to Across the Line, you’ll hear us talk about BBC Introducing Uploader quite a bit. It’s the best way to send music to us as well as to other presenters and programmes across the station. We’re always happy to accept submissions in other ways, but digital audio files make it easier for us to pass music on to other Introducing programmes and DJs.
Do think about things like file size if you’re emailing music. Many email clients might restrict files of a certain size, meaning your music might not get through at all! Downloadable links work for us, but really…the Uploader is a wonderful resource and can feed into things like Introducing Stages at festivals too.
PLAN AHEAD
We love to receive music with a little time ‘up front’, in advance of whatever it is you might be working to - be that a gig, a release date or ‘impact date’. It allows us some time to plan ahead, and maybe book you in for a ‘Making of…’ or even a live session. 4 to 6 weeks works well, but you’ll want to consider this in the context of your wider plans and do what feels right for you. Despite that, if we get an amazing track on a Monday we’ll always consider playing it on that night’s programme.
QUALITY
We get a lot of music though the Uploader and from other sources – which is great, as it’s what our programme is based on. And with every year the quality of recording and production seems to get higher. So it’s worthwhile making sure that your track is as good as it can be, before sending it into us. Writing a new track can be incredibly exciting and you may want the world to hear it immediately. But if it’s a demo you might be better waiting until you’ve spent more time getting the recording quality up to scratch, or maybe even marking the track as a ‘demo’ so as we know it’s not the finished track. Basically, sending the music when it’s as good as it can be can’t hurt!
KEEP PEOPLE UPDATED
Short emails letting people know about any new developments are always welcome. New gigs, new recordings on the way, new releases planned…think about letting people know in advance, maybe just a little message on social media.
Across the Line is just one of many radio programmes, alongside many thousands of blogs who might feature your music. Check them out, explore who might feature you on their site or play you on-air and find out how they like to receive music too.
Jimmy Devlin, Producer Across the Line
