Bethan Elfyn sits in this week to curate the BBC Introducing Mixtape, with a handpicked selection of favourite new tunes from her weekly shows on BBC Radio Wales. In this episode you can hear:
GRETA ISAAC, BUZZARD, THE PITCHFORKS, RACHEL K COLLIER, NITEROOMS, UPBEAT SNEAKERS, HVNTER, JOEL AVAIENT, DAN BETTRIDGE, RYE MILLIGAN, Y CLEDRAU, VINCE JAMES, THE HANGMEN, NAMES, ARGRPH, BRYONY SIER and HOULT
How to Listen...
This is the episode broadcast on Monday 23 Oct 2017. You can listen again for 30 days (until Wed 23rd November) on our programme page via this link, using the BBC iPlayer Radio App on your mobile device, or as a rich playlist on the BBC Music app and web pages.
Best of all...
You can receive the show automatically every week as a podcast by subscribing via iTunes or the Podcasts app on your mobile device: just search "Tom Robinson Introducing". If you enjoy what we do on our podcast please consider giving it a five star rating on iTunes - or wherever you get your podcast from - it helps other new music fans find the show.
All music has been sourced from the BBC Introducing Uploader and start times below are for the podcast version of the show...
GRETA ISAAC - Tied [starts 00:21]
http://www.facebook.com/gretaisaac
BUZZARD - Last Night in Sweden [starts 04:33]
https://facebook.com/buzzardbuzzardbuzzard
THE PITCHFORKS - Afflictions [starts 07:36]
https://facebook.com/thepitchforksuk
RACHEL K COLLIER - Rust [starts 11:47]
https://facebook.com/RachelKCollierOfficial
NITEROOMS - Headway [starts 15:03]
http://facebook.com/niterooms
UPBEAT SNEAKERS - Pot, Kettle, Black [starts 18:46]
http://upbeatsneakers.com
HVNTER - Ghost [starts 21:49]
https://facebook.com/iamhvnter
JOEL AVAIENT - Someone I Don’t Know [starts 26:17]
https://facebook.com/JoelAvaientMusic
DAN BETTRIDGE - Blame [starts 29:26]
https://www.facebook.com/danbettridge
RYE MILLIGAN - This is Love [starts 32:48]
https://ryemilliganmusic.com
Y CLEDRAU - Swigen o Genfigen [starts 36:32]
https://facebook.com/ycledrau
VINCE JAMES - The Man I Want To Be [starts 40:03]
https://soundcloud.com/vincejamesmusic
THE HANGMEN - Penny Sits Alone [starts 42:32]
http://www.facebook.com/thehangmenuk
NAMES - Limb by Limb [starts 45:18]
https://facebook.com/musicnames
ARGRPH - Llawn [starts 49:00]
https://www.facebook.com/argrph
BRYONY SIER - Rolling Stone [starts 53:03]
https://facebook.com/officialBryonySier
HOULT - Pharmacy [starts 56:20]
https://www.facebook.com/houltuk
PS from TR
ARTISTS! Some important words of warning... After being featured by BBC Introducing you may receive emails from PR companies with impressive client lists. These emails will say they like your music and want to help you get further radio airplay. Please be aware this does NOT make you unique or special - it simply means they want your money. Large numbers of artists we play receive these emails from companies seeking new customers for their paid services.
Hiring a professional radio promotion team - just because they happen to send you an email - isn't necessarily the best use of your money at this point in your career. In our experience emerging artists often achieve the same results as a plugger - sometimes very much better - by simply contacting radio shows and DJs themselves 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)
If you do decide to pay a PR firm to do this work for you, there are over a hundred to choose from in the UK. Most of them have impressive-looking client lists - but just because somebody once did promotion on a record by a famous artist doesn't mean they did a great job. Before paying for promotional services of any kind, ALWAYS get an independent endorsement from a couple of their clients before parting with you hard-earned cash. You can find the management, record company or booking agent for most artists using Google.
It's true that further down the line - as your career gathers momentum - you may want to invest serious money in a professional PR campaign. The most effective pluggers charge a lot of money because they're good - these things can't be done on the cheap. But once again - be careful! All effective pluggers charge a lot of money, but not all pluggers who charge a lot of money are effective.
So if you do plan to invest several thousand quid on radio promotion at some point in the future, here's my advice. Do some research and find out which indie labels regularly get their artists played on your favourite radio stations. Then make friendly contact with whoever runs that record company to find out which PR company they would recommend.
Finally, whatever route you choose, don't forget to carry on uploading your new releases to BBC Introducing so that we can carry on supporting you as your future career unfolds.
Tom Robinson
