Melita Dennett sits in this week to curate my Introducing Mixtape on BBC Radio 6 Music with a cross-section of the most exciting new talent currently coming out of BBC Introducing: The South. In this episode you can hear:
KID IVY, FOUNDLINGS, BLACK FUTURES, LIL NATH, YUMI AND THE WEATHER, LITTLE GRIM, EKU FANTASY, FOXE, ISABELLE BROWN, THE BREAKS ,JDA , JETSTREAM PONY, SECOND HAND POET, DEAD MENACE, CIRCE, BOXTAPE, SCREECH BATS and REMI MILES
How to Listen...
This is the episode broadcast on Monday 27 Aug 2018. You can listen again for 30 days (until Wed 26 September 2018) 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 our podcast 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...
KID IVY - Ego [starts 00’25]
https://www.facebook.com/KidIvyBand
FOUNDLINGS - Horizon [starts 04:37]
https://www.facebook.com/foundlingsuk
BLACK FUTURES - Riches [starts 07:42]
https://www.facebook.com/BlackFutures
LIL NATH - Change [starts 11:26]
https://soundcloud.com/nathan-kelleher-1
YUMI AND THE WEATHER - Hustle [starts 14:50]
https://www.facebook.com/YumiAndTheWeather
LITTLE GRIM - Hoodie [starts 18:32]
https://www.facebook.com/littlegrimuk
EKU FANTASY - Living On the Outside [starts 22:28]
https://www.facebook.com/EkuFantasy
FOXE - Honeytop [starts 25:45]
https://www.facebook.com/FOXEBAND
ISABELLE BROWN - Hey Romeo [starts 29:01]
https://www.facebook.com/isabellebrownofficial
THE BREAKS - Someone Else’s Bed [starts 31:12]
https://www.facebook.com/breaksbanduk
JDA - That Way [starts 34:24]
https://www.facebook.com/JDAMUSICOFFICIAL
JETSTREAM PONY - Self-Destruct Reality [starts 38:24]
https://www.facebook.com/jetstreamponyband
SECOND HAND POET - Better Than Me [starts 40:47]
https://www.facebook.com/SecondHandPoetMusic
DEAD MENACE - Black Helicopters [starts 43:39]
https://www.facebook.com/deadmenacelives
CIRCE - Under My Skin [starts 46:34]
https://twitter.com/@circeband
BOXTAPE - Some Days [starts 50:08]
https://www.facebook.com/boxtapeband
SCREECH BATS - Just Like You [starts 52:49]
https://www.facebook.com/ScreechBats
REMI MILES - Kiss Chase [starts 56:01]
https://www.facebook.com/remimilesmusic
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
