Hello, it's Tom Robinson here with this week's Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Music's Introducing Mixtape - the new music podcast and radio show broadcast every Monday from 2-3am on Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 6 Music. In this episode you can hear:
GHOST//SIGNALS, SHYGIRL, JACK COOKSON, PINEY GIR, THE C33s, LAKSHMI, KAPIL SESHASAYEE, JAY MOUSSA-MANN, APOSTLE, MISHRA, PABS, GLENN MALTMAN, THE PAPER SHADES, DITZ, ALFONSE, THE HORSE PUPPETS and CAPTAIN OF THE LOST WAVES
How to Listen...
This is the episode broadcast at 2am on Monday 25th November 2019. You can listen again for 30 days after broadcast on Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Sounds via this link.
Podcast
Alternatively to receive the show automatically every week as a podcast, subscribe to "" wherever you get your podcasts from. And if you enjoy the show please do rate and review us - for instance - it'll help other people discover all the new music we feature each week.
All tunes have been sourced from Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Music's Introducing Uploader and start times below are for the podcast version of the show...
GHOST//SIGNALS - English Fiction [starts 00.11]
SHYGIRL - BB [starts 04.15]
JACK COOKSON - Ironashley [starts 06.58]
PINEY GIR - Little Cop [starts 11.25]
THE C33s - Resurrection Men [starts 13.48]
LAKSHMI - The City [starts 17.05]
KAPIL SESHASAYEE - The Item Girl [starts 19.19]
JAY MOUSSA-MANN - The Ghost Of Sex Workers Past [starts 23.41]
APOSTLE - Lavender [starts 26.44]
MISHRA - Road Dust And Honey [starts 30.26]
PABS - Tears Before Bedtime [starts 34.44]
GLENN MALTMAN - Autumn [starts 36.30]
THE PAPER SHADES - Who Are We [starts 39.51]
DITZ - Total 90 [starts 43.10]
ALFONSE - Splendid Larryo [starts 46.18]
THE HORSE PUPPETS - Which Way To Go [starts 48.44]
CAPTAIN OF THE LOST WAVES - Berlin Between the Wars [starts 53.21]
(1) WARNING FOR ARTISTS
After getting airplay from Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Introducing, artists often get emails out of the blue from PR companies, offering their paid services. Typically the email cites an impressive-looking client list and says 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: this does NOT mean you're unique or special. All it means is that this person wants you to give them money in the hope of getting more radio play.
Buying promotion services from a stranger - just because they sent you an email - honestly isn't the best use of your hard earned cash. Emerging artists can often achieve far better results than a plugger by simply contacting DJs and producers themselves via social media.
For suggestions on how to your own music promotion, see the at my Fresh On The Net music blog (freshonthenet.co.uk).
If you're determined to hire a PR firm, there are more than a hundred to choose from - and every one of them has an impressive client list. But reputable national radio pluggers tend not to spend their time emailing inexperienced artists to ask them for money. If in doubt search the various to see if other artists have had dealings with the firm you're considering.
A reputable plugger will be happy to give you a list of national radio airplay slots they've achieved in the last 6 months, with rough dates. It's easy to scan through the station tracklists and verify these. And when dealing with the music industry always put everything in writing. After any meeting or business phone call, send the other person an email saying "Just to confirm our conversation yesterday, we agreed that..."
And to be honest, getting radio airplay is overrated. Yes it's a badge of status that proves you've arrived - which is always good. But the key to having a longterm career is to build a loyal audience for your music. A few radio plays may help, but not as much as you'd think. Only people listening to that show on that station at that time on that day will hear it, and even then they may have just the radio on in the background.
Actually 1,000 genuine subscribers on YouTube is way more useful for your longterm music career (and way easier to achieve) than a week of airplay on Radio 1.
The time to seek professional PR services is when your audiences at every gig are in the hundreds, and your genuine 'likes' online are in the thousands. Once you've built that kind of traction, it becomes worth risking a major investment to help with the next step up. The best pluggers charge a lot of money because they get results. But not all pluggers who charge a lot of money are good.
With a bit of detective work it's simple to find out the ones actually deliver. Check the tracklists of your favourite radio shows and note which indie labels regularly get airplay for their artists. Then contact those labels and ask which promo firm they use.
And whatever happens, don't stop uploading your new releases to Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Introducing, even if you do hire a plugger. That way we can carry on supporting you as your career unfolds.
(2) YOUR NEXT TUNE
We only get enough airtime on The Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Introducing Mixtape to feature artists (even ones we adore) about four times a year. So after you've been been on the Mixtape, please wait about 12 weeks before sending us 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 any Monday to Thursday - where a dozen volunteers listen to every single track we receive each week. But don't forget to also upload it to Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Introducing, to make it eligible for Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Introducing airplay...
Tom Robinson