Our good friends Jess Iszatt and Andy Backhouse from the BBC Introducing In London team sit in for me this week to showcase their favourite new tunes from across the capital. This is the episode broadcast on BBC Radio 6 Music at 2am on Mon 17th Sept 2018 and in this edition you can hear
ZOLA BLOOD, JADE BIRD, TIRZAH, HOPE TALA, KOATES, JACK JONES, TERTIA MAY, OSCAR, JVCK JAMES, HUSKY LOOPS,KID BRACER, P-RALLEL,DAHLIA SLEEPS, HONEY MOON, RUN CHILD RUN and RUBY FRANCIS
How to Listen...
This is the episode broadcast on Monday 17 Sept 2018. You can listen again for 30 days (until Wed 17 October 2018) on our programme page via this link, using the BBC iPlayer Radio App on your mobile device, or as a podcast.
You can receive our podcast automatically every week by subscribing via iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts from: just search "BBC Introducing Mixtape". And if you enjoy the show please consider giving us a five star rating on iTunes - or wherever you get your podcast from - which will help other new music fans find the show.
All music has been sourced from BBC Music's Introducing Uploader and start times below are for the podcast version of the show...
ZOLA BLOOD - Nothing (Starts: 00.46)
https://facebook.com/ZolaBlood
JADE BIRD - Uh Huh (Starts: 05.17)
https://facebook.com/JadeBirdMusic
TIRZAH - Devotion feat. COBEY SEY (Starts: 08.56)
https://facebook.com/TirzahMusic
HOPE TALA - Valentine (Starts: 13.30)
https://facebook.com/hopetalamusic
KOATES - Escalators (Starts: 16.20)
https://facebook.com/koatesmusic
JACK JONES - Swim Up (Starts: 21.17)
https://facebook.com/trampoleneofficial
TERTIA MAY - Monsters In Your Bedroom (Starts: 24.10)
https://www.facebook.com/tertiamay
OSCAR - 1up (Starts: 27.56)
https://facebook.com/oscarmusicuk
JVCK JAMES - Wine (Starts: 31.27)
https://facebook.com/jvckjames
HUSKY LOOPS - 20 Blanks (Starts: 35.43)
https://facebook.com/huskyloops
KID BRACER - Maintain feat. SVGA (Starts: 39.27)
https://www.facebook.com/KidBracer
P-RALLEL - Cherry Wine (ft. J.A.E.) (Starts: 41.58)
https://www.facebook.com/p.rallel/
DAHLIA SLEEPS - Breathe (Starts: 45.34)
https://www.facebook.com/dahliasleeps
HONEY MOON - Yours, Girl (Starts: 47.56)
https://www.facebook.com/honeymoonuk
RUN CHILD RUN - Can’t Catch Me (Starts: 52.14)
https://facebook.com/RunChildRun/
RUBY FRANCIS - All Of The Time (Starts: 56.45)
https://facebook.com/RubyFrancisMusic
PS for artists from Tom Robinson...
(1) WARNING: After getting airplay on BBC Introducing, you may get emails out of the blue from radio pluggers who have an impressive list of former clients. They'll say how much they like your record and offer their services. Typically something like:
"Hi - I'm a national radio plugger... I came across 'YOURTRACKNAME' today, I'm a big fan of the single and wanted to find out if you have anyone looking after national radio yet?"
Be warned: they don't actually think your music is special. They just hope you're inexperienced enough - and desperate enough - to give them your money in the hope of getting more airplay. Paying a complete stranger to try and get your music on Radio 1 - just because they happened to send you an email - is NOT a good use of your hard earned cash.
There are over a hundred music PR firms in the UK and they all have impressive client lists. Obviously some pluggers are really good and (equally obviously) some of them aren't. But trust me on this: the really good ones are too busy to spend their time emailing BBC Introducing artists to ask them for money.
In any case emerging artists usually get MUCH better results themselves than a plugger - just by targeting radio shows and DJs direct 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).
And in any case radio probably isn't even the best goal to be chasing. One or two extra plays simply won't make much difference to the size of your fanbase, until that fanbase is up in the thousands. This early in your career, building a direct relationship with your audience is far, far more important than airplay. And unlike getting on Radio 1, building a fanbase for your music through Youtube and Instagram is something you can achieve yourself without spending any money at all.
The time to seek professional PR services is when the live crowds you can draw at every gig are in the hundreds, and when your genuine online 'likes' are in the thousands. With that kind of traction, a major investment becomes worth risking to help take the next step up.
The best pluggers and PRs will charge a lot of money because they're good at their job. But (again) just because somebody charges a lot of money doesn't mean they're any good. Tip: check out which indie labels regularly get their releases played on your favourite radio station. Then contact those record companies to find out which PR firm they use.
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.
(2) 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
