Welcome to the first instalment of my End Of Year Gift Selection from BBC 6 Music, featuring 23 of the many tunes we've loved on the BBC Introducing Mixtape in 2022, by artists we hope to hear more from in 2023.
This is the episode released on Monday 26 December 2023 and available via BBC Sounds for 30 days until Wednesday 25 January 2023. You can also download & keep the BBC Introducing Mixtape permanently using any podcast app, or direct from our podcast page.
The BBC Introducing Mixtape showcases 60 minutes of music uploaded directly to BBC Introducing by independent artists, this week featuring:
GEMMA ROGERS, JAMES NUMBERE, DEAD ANYWAY, JAMES LEONARD HEWITSON, LAU.RA x RYE RYE, TOM HOUSTON, ROISIN QUINN, TAMU MASSIF, CABLE STREET COLLECTIVE, BINGO FURY, PECQ, SURYA SEN, DEEP TAN, CASSELS, MADDIE ASHMAN, NEL UNLIT, PIT PONY, BENEFITS, AGENT STARLING, HANNAH ASHCROFT, CARSICK, GAG SALON, and THEA GILMORE
You can find all the music and musicians in this week's Mixtape via the links below:
Playlist
GEMMA ROGERS - Stop [starts 00:12]
https://fanlink.to/gemmarogersstop
JAMES NUMBERE feat SOTIEE - Issokay [starts 03:38]
https://jamesnumbere.bandcamp.com
DEAD ANYWAY - None of It [starts 06:01]
http://deadanyway.co.uk
JAMES LEONARD HEWITSON - Stable [starts 08:01]
https://soundcloud.com/jamesleonardhewitson
LAU.RA x RYE RYE - I See You [starts 11:21]
https://linktr.ee/lau.ra.lau.ra.lau.ra
TOM HOUSTON - Gloria [starts 14:06]
https://www.tomhouston.org
ROISIN QUINN - Taking It Back [starts 16:09]
https://linktr.ee/Roisinquinnmusic
TAMU MASSIF - Reaping What You Sow [starts 18:24]
https://www.tamumassif.co.uk
CABLE STREET COLLECTIVE - Tant Pis, Mon Cher [starts 21:26]
http://cablestreetcollective.co.uk
BINGO FURY - Birchall & Kings [starts 23:51]
https://linktr.ee/bingofury
PECQ - Too Far Gone [starts 25:20]
https://linktr.ee/pecqband
SURYA SEN - Buccho Ni Ba Bhai [starts 28:06]
https://ffm.bio/suryasen
DEEP TAN - Rudy Ya Ya Ya [starts 31:16]
https://linktr.ee/deeptan
CASSELS - Pete's Vile Colleague [starts 33:45]
https://linktr.ee/cassels
MADDIE ASHMAN - Coming Home with Roses [starts 36:26]
https://linktr.ee/maddieashman
NEL UNLIT - Mirrow [starts 39:04]
https://nelunlit.com
PIT PONY - Just That [starts 42:03]
https://linktr.ee/pitponyband
BENEFITS - Flag [starts 43:35]
https://www.benefitstheband.com
AGENT STARLING - La Sansonette [starts 45:55]
https://agentstarlinguk.wordpress.com
HANNAH ASHCROFT - Amoeba [starts 48:49]
https://www.hannahashcroft.co.uk
CARSICK - Local Legend [starts 51:33]
https://linktr.ee/carsickofficial
GAG SALON - Don't Eat Stuff Off The Pavement [starts 54:08]
https://linktr.ee/gagsalonband
THEA GILMORE - Hope and Fury [starts 57:41]
https://linktr.ee/theagilmore
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
