How to get your unsigned band on the Radio 1 daytime playlist

BBC Introducing is an initiative set up by the BBC to support unsigned, undiscovered and under-the-radar artists, and from Monday January 10th the Radio 1 playlist will feature a new track from a BBC Introducing artist every week.

Guaranteed exposure on daytime Radio 1 is a significant opportunity for aspiring musicians, with millions of listeners set to hear their music. But it's not just the plays that will make a difference: the Radio 1 playlist is influential on a global basis, with music industry executives and radio programmers around the world keeping close tabs on the tracks we add each week.

So - how are we deciding who gets added? Well it all begins with artists uploading their tracks to us via the BBC Introducing website.

Any UK artist or band can upload their music, which is then listened to by presenters and producers of their local BBC Introducing radio show. Local teams make recommendations to a panel inside Radio 1 that consists of DJs like Huw Stephens, producers of In New Music We Trust shows and members of the Radio 1 playlist team. It's an efficient filtering system with the very best tracks from a wide range of genres ultimately earning a place on the playlist.

It has never been cheaper or easier to make and record music and there are literally thousands of artists around the UK who are striving to be heard. It's a very competitive business, and the biggest difficulty is actually being discovered.

BBC Introducing is proving to be an effective way of surfacing the best new talent and having heard the first batch of artists we are going to support on the playlist, I'm personally very excited. I hope that some of them will follow in the footsteps of previous BBC Introducing stars such as Chipmunk, Marina And The Diamonds and Florence And The Machine. While there's no guarantee of success for anyone in the music business, this opportunity will definitely provide a brilliant first step on the ladder, and listeners hungry for new music will discover some great new artists.

George Ergatoudis is Head of Music for BBC Radio 1

• January 10-16 is BBC Introducing week on Radio 1 - find out what's in store on the Introducing web site.
• The picture shows Oxford band Fixers. They'll be the first act added to the Radio 1 playlist - you'll hear their track Majesties Ranch on Radio 1 from Monday 10th January.
• Watch Fixers performing on the BBC Introducing stage at T in the Park 2010.
• If you're making music, upload your tracks at BBC Introducing.
• Philippa Aylott is producer of the BBC's Sound of 2011. She's written about the process on the BBC Music blog.