Hello, it's Tom Robinson with another episode of the BBC Introducing Mixtape from 6 Music - 60 minutes of music from under the mainstream radar, uploaded direct to our network of local BBC Introducing shows by independent UK artists. This week we present:
PORCHLIGHT, ELLIE DIXON, THE JOJO MAN BAND, SURVIBERS, CASSELS, NINA KOHOUT, CUCAMARAS, MESSAGE FROM THE RAVENS, LIFE AQUATIC BAND, BEFORE BREAKFAST, DRELLA, VIRENS, EUAN BLACKMAN, HEATHER FERRIER, VIDEO BLUE, JO HILL, and AURA-KL
This is the episode released on Monday 22nd May 2023 and available via BBC Sounds for 30 days until Wednesday 21 June 2023. After the show drops you can also download & keep the audio permanently using any podcast app, or direct from our podcast page.
With warm thanks to the teams at
BBC Introducing in Cambridgeshire with Rebecca May
BBC Introducing in Coventry & Warwickshire with Brody Swain
BBC Introducing in Hereford & Worcester with Andrew Marston
BBC Introducing in Oxfordshire with Dave Gilyeat
BBC Introducing in Sheffield with Christian Carlisle
BBC Introducing: Sussex & Surrey with Melita Dennett
BBC Introducing in The East Midlands with Dean Jackson
BBC Introducing in The North East with Nick Roberts
BBC Introducing in The South West with Daniel Pascoe
BBC Introducing in West Yorkshire with Emily Pilbeam
BBC Introducing in York and North Yorkshire with Jericho Keys
for finding / supporting / forwarding the tunes for today's show:
PORCHLIGHT - Noel
https://linktr.ee/porchlightporchlight
ELLIE DIXON - Dopamine
https://elliedixon.lnk.to/bio
THE JOJO MAN BAND - If You Were Here
https://linktr.ee/TheJojoManBand
SURVIBERS - Voices Of Jericho [ft Aniff Akinola]
https://www.youtube.com/@survibersmusic1216
CASSELS - About Not Writing
https://linktr.ee/cassels
NINA KOHOUT - Little Butterfly
https://www.ninakohout.com
CUCAMARAS - Cotton Wool
https://linktr.ee/cucamaras
MESSAGE FROM THE RAVENS - Jupiter’s Tears
https://linktr.ee/messagefromtheravens
LIFE AQUATIC BAND - Hello, Good Morning!
https://linktr.ee/lifeaquaticband
BEFORE BREAKFAST - Absorbed
https://linktr.ee/BeforeBreakfast
DRELLA - Divide
https://linktr.ee/Drellaband
VIRENS - Stitch Me Back Up
https://linktr.ee/virensmusic
EUAN BLACKMAN - Cherry Stone (feat Ben Stafford)
https://linktr.ee/EuanBlackman
HEATHER FERRIER - Apple 1
https://linktr.ee/heatherferrier
VIDEO BLUE - Anniversary
https://linktr.ee/videoblue
JO HILL - Off the 45
https://johill.lnk.to/OffThe45
AURA-KL - If I Br3ak
https://soundcloud.com/aura-kl
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
