Hello, it's Tom Robinson with this week's BBC Introducing Mixtape - broadcast on Monday 28 February 2021 on BBC Radio 6 Music. You can listen again for 30 days after broadcast via this link. It features an hour of handpicked tunes uploaded to the BBC Introducing website, consisting this week of:
GAG SALON, FLORIE NAMIR, JAMES LEONARD HEWITSON, MAZ O'CONNOR, PERFECTPARACHUTEPICTURE, PHOENIX RISE, VINCENT BURKE, FREYA ROY, BEAUTY SCHOOL, ROSE BETTS, MEMES, RAVELOE & TAMARA VAN ESCH, PROPS, GEN AND THE DEGENERATES, THE SCRIBES feat RISKI, TINYUMBRELLAS, HAPPY AS YOU LIKE, and FIEVES
Why Subscribe?
This mixtape is available as a radio show on BBC Sounds, but you can also download it permanently as a podcast - which drops every Monday morning across all platforms. If you subscribe on BBC Sounds (or by searching "BBC Introducing Mixtape" on any podcast app) the show will be waiting on your phone when you wake at the start of each week.
Why buy?
If you fall in love any of these tunes why not lash out a pound or two and buy them direct from the artist pages below where possible. The last two years have been tough for everyone making independent music - and bills still have to be paid. For many of these artists, literally every quid you can spare will make a difference.
Playlist
GAG SALON - Horses [starts 00:13]
https://linktr.ee/gagsalonband
FLORIE NAMIR - Far, Far Away [starts 05:04]
http://www.florienamir.com
JAMES LEONARD HEWITSON - Stable [starts 08:50]
https://soundcloud.com/jamesleonardhewitson
MAZ O'CONNOR - When it Comes for You [starts 11:31]
http://www.mazoconnor.com
PERFECTPARACHUTEPICTURE - Don't Bow [starts 16:05]
https://www.perfectparachutepicture.com
PHOENIX RISE - Close To You [starts 18:43]
https://linktr.ee/phoenixriseuk
VINCENT BURKE - A Conversation With Fate [starts 20:58]
https://www.vincentburke.co.uk
FREYA ROY - Calling My Name [starts 23:50]
http://www.freyaroy.co.uk
BEAUTY SCHOOL - Pawn Shop Jewels [starts 27:09]
https://linktr.ee/beautyschool
ROSE BETTS - Driving Myself Home [starts 30:32]
https://lnk.to/DrivingMyselfHome
MEMES - Second Thought [starts 33:42]
https://aimplay.club/memes
RAVELOE & TAMARA VAN ESCH - Figures [starts 36:02]
https://found.ee/OnARedThursday
https://linktr.ee/tamaravanesch
PROPS - Dream On [starts 38:36]
https://lnk.bio/26LW
GEN AND THE DEGENERATES - Girl God Gun [starts 42:07]
https://www.genandthedegenerates.com/tour
THE SCRIBES (feat RISKI) - The Shipwreck [starts 45:31]
https://linktr.ee/thescribes
TINYUMBRELLAS - Please Dont Make This Weird [starts 48:37]
https://linktr.ee/tinyumbrellas
HAPPY AS YOU LIKE - Chance [starts 51:57]
https://happyasyoulike.bandcamp.com
FIEVES - Cigarette Stories [starts 56:53]
https://linktr.ee/yvesjones
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
