Hello, this week's BBC Music's Introducing Mixtape features musical highlights of 2020 from 16 friends and colleagues around the UK: Abbie McCarthy, Adam Winch Furness, Alex Noble, Angelle Joseph, Bethan Elfyn, Christian Carlisle, Danny & Jaguar, Dave Monks, Dean Jackson, Ellen Ellard, Jess Iszatt, Nick Roberts, Rianne Thompson, Rob Adcock, Roesh and Tom Salmon.
Their choices include music from: THE LIZARDS, JODIE NICHOLSON, THE V, K R3MY, CASSIA, MOLLY PAYTON, HAYDEN J BARLOW, PARRIS ROBBO, FALLE NIOKE, VONA VELLA, RED RUM CLUB, PERFECTPARACHUTEPICTURE, MARTHA HILL, AMAROUN, LOW GIRL, and OTZEKI
How to Listen...
This is the episode broadcast at 4am on Monday 21 December 2020. You can listen again for 30 days after broadcast on BBC Sounds via this link.
How To Download...
To receive the show automatically every week, subscribe to "BBC Music Introducing Mixtape" wherever you get your podcasts from. These are difficult times for almost everybody, and all the artists have allowed us to include their tunes in this podcast so that as many people as possible can enjoy them for free.
However...
These difficult times are particularly hard for music artists: live income has dried up, bills still have to be paid. So if you do love any of these tunes as much as we do, please consider buying them direct from the artists via the links below. For musicians operating on a shoestring, literally every pound you can spare will make a difference.
Start times below are for the podcast version of the show...
THE LIZARDS - Plastic Dream [starts 00:11]
https://thelizards.bandcamp.com
JODIE NICHOLSON - Move [starts 04:48]
https://www.jodienicholsonmusic.com
THE V - Freedom [starts 08:55]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BO3GXbWZ5A
K R3MY - Black [starts 13:09]
https://soundcloud.com/anglemusic
CASSIA - Drifting [starts 17:19]
http://www.wearecassia.com
MOLLY PAYTON - Going Heavy (live) [starts 21:56]
https://mollypayton.bandcamp.com
HAYDEN J BARLOW - Flo [starts 25:05]
https://haydenjbarlow.bandcamp.com
PARRIS ROBBO - Gassed Up [starts 28:46]
https://www.facebook.com/ParrisRobbo
FALLE NIOKE - Barké [starts 31:48]
https://fallenioke.bandcamp.com
VONA VELLA - Sun (Live) [starts 35:36]
https://www.facebook.com/vonavella
RED RUM CLUB - Alone Together (live) [starts 38:13]
http://www.redrumclub.com
PERFECTPARACHUTEPICTURE - Working Machine [starts 41:37]
https://perfectparachutepicture.bandcamp.com
MARTHA HILL - Grilled Cheese (live) [starts 45:06]
https://www.marthahillmusic.org
AMAROUN - Highest Head [starts 48:44]
https://www.amarouniverse.com
LOW GIRL - I’m Still Learning (live)[starts 51:41]
https://instagram.com/lowgirllowgirl
OTZEKI - Max Wells-Demon [starts 56:52]
https://www.otzeki.com
PS for artists from Tom Robinson...
(1) WARNING: After getting airplay on BBC Introducing, you may get emails out of the blue from radio pluggers who have an impressive list of former clients. They'll say how much they like your record and offer their services. Typically 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: they don't actually think your music is special. They just hope you're inexperienced enough - and desperate enough - to give them your money in the hope of getting more airplay. Paying a complete stranger to try and get your music on Radio 1 - just because they happened to send you an email - is NOT a good use of your hard earned cash.
There are over a hundred music PR firms in the UK and they all have impressive client lists. Obviously some pluggers are really good and (equally obviously) some of them aren't. But trust me on this: the really good ones are too busy to spend their time emailing BBC Introducing artists to ask them for money.
In any case emerging artists usually get MUCH better results themselves than a plugger - just by targeting radio shows and DJs direct via social media. 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).
And in any case radio probably isn't even the best goal to be chasing. One or two extra plays simply won't make much difference to the size of your fanbase, until that fanbase is up in the thousands. This early in your career, building a direct relationship with your audience is far, far more important than airplay. And unlike getting on Radio 1, building a fanbase for your music through Youtube and Instagram is something you can achieve yourself without spending any money at all.
The time to seek professional PR services is when the live crowds you can draw at every gig are in the hundreds, and when your genuine online 'likes' are in the thousands. With that kind of traction, a major investment becomes worth risking to help take the next step up.
The best pluggers and PRs will charge a lot of money because they're good at their job. But (again) just because somebody charges a lot of money doesn't mean they're any good. Tip: check out which indie labels regularly get their releases played on your favourite radio station. Then contact those record companies to find out which PR firm they use.
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.
(2) 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