So as we sit on the cusp of Glastonbury 2015 and people begin to head down to Worthy Farm, the excitement once again is palpable, what new attractions will we find? Which artists will be the big stories of the festival? and who are the next new discoveries...
Discovery… Glastonbury is all about discovery, from the incredible quirks that only this festival provides and the sheer scale and scope of it all, and then the breath taking night-time experiences from Shangri- La, and Arcadia, through to Block9 and so much more.
And what discoveries might you find at our BBC Introducing Stage located at Silver Hayes? Only time will tell…
The stage has been at Glastonbury since 2007 and hosted a range of Glastonbury first timers. Many unheard of artists who have moved on to much greater things. As we look back at the line-ups over the years, it’s been a real journey. In 2007 we had JME, and then the Ting Tings, a global selling act, moving onto Two Door Cinema Club in 2009, at that time all barely heard of.
In 2010 It was a bumper year for the stage with new talent such as Pulled Apart By Horses, Dry The River and then two huge hitters, Jake Bugg - who played to about 30 people, and then headlined the Other Stage at the next Glastonbury, and last but not least Ed Sheeran – who uploaded his music to BBC Introducing Suffolk when unsigned.
Year on year the quality of new talent unearthed and the evolving success stories has just grown and grown. 2013 brought us the unknown George Ezra with his first ever live performance of Budapest on that stage, and now this year playing the Pyramid stage. Over the last two years we have also had artists that are now well on their way to success, ranging from Indiana, Moko, SOAK and Lapsley, through to the Marmozets, Saint Raymond and Port Isla.
For so many artists the journey starts with the Introducing BBC local radio presenters and producers, with their deep passion and commitment for supporting new talent across our local networks. Those local shows are the lifeblood, and the people that nominate these artists for our Introducing festival stages across the UK - and as we have seen, some then progress through our national radio networks , online and onto TV.
The BBC Introducing uploader, where artists submit music for these unique BBC opportunities, now has nearly half a million tracks in the system, a challenge to listen to, but we work hard there to try to get through them all.
This year for the very first time we see a BBC Introducing discovered artist added as a late addition to headline the Pyramid stage – Florence + the Machine – Florence had her first breakthrough opportunity with BBC Introducing in March 2008 performing “Between Two Lungs” for the very first time and then a great first session with Steve Lamacq in autumn of that year:
Do check out our line- up for Glastonbury this year on the BBC, the chances are you may just find the next gem too.
