Hello, it's Tom Robinson here with our listings for the latest BBC Introducing Mixtape, currently broadcast on Mondays from 4-5am on BBC Radio 6 Music. To round off the year here are 27 very short - and very wonderful - tunes we featured in the course of 2020, all packed into a single 60 minute programme:
OYA PAYA, OTTA, TRIZZY 5STAR, AMY HOPWOOD, EGYPTIAN BLUE, ANORAK PATCH, SALVATION BILL, SUKIE, YAMMERER, THE LAST DINOSAUR, A BAND BY ANY OTHER NAME, SHOUN SHOUN, ROXY GIRLS, TIRIKILATOPS, STEVE ELSTON, JADA FREEMAN, MUSH, FORMULA2, HECTOR GANNET, RACHEL CHINOURIRI, SWINE TAX, MEGAN HENWOOD, RODEO, DREAM NAILS, HOME COUNTIES, GREENTEA PENG, and TOM HOUSTON
How to Listen...
This is the episode broadcast at 4am on Monday 28 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 I 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...
OYA PAYA - Kobi [starts 00:11]
https://oyapaya.bandcamp.com
OTTA - Never See [starts 02:49]
https://otta.bandcamp.com
TRIZZY 5STAR - Swervin [starts 04:44]
https://www.youtube.com/c/Trizzy5Star
AMY HOPWOOD - Sea Fever [starts 06:47]
https://amyhopwood.bandcamp.com
EGYPTIAN BLUE - Nylon Wire [starts 08:46]
https://www.facebook.com/egyptianblueinc
ANORAK PATCH - Beans [starts 11:38]
https://www.facebook.com/anorakpatch
SALVATION BILL - Weirdest Week [starts 13:57]
https://salvationbill.bandcamp.com
SUKIE - Fruit [starts 15:08]
http://sukie.online
YAMMERER - Boa Constrictor [starts 17:20]
https://yammerer.online
THE LAST DINOSAUR feat AMY ACRE
- In The Belly Of A Whale [starts 19:28]
http://thelastdinosaur.co.uk
A BAND BY ANY OTHER NAME - Unicycle Boy [starts 21:36]
https://abandbyanyothername.bandcamp.com
SHOUN SHOUN - Stuck [starts 23:39]
https://shounshoun.bandcamp.com
ROXY GIRLS - Dirtier [starts 26:10]
https://roxygirls.bandcamp.com
TIRIKILATOPS - I Want Popcorn [starts 28:40]
https://tirikilatops.bandcamp.com
STEVE ELSTON - Otter Song [starts 30:48]
https://steveelston.bandcamp.com
JADA FREEMAN - Trippin [starts 32:21]
https://instagram.com/jada.free
MUSH - Revising My Fee [starts 34:10]
https://www.musicglue.com/mushband
FORMULA2 - Test, Track And Trace [starts 37:18]
http://www.formula2.live
HECTOR GANNET - Hollow [starts 39:13]
https://hectorgannet.com
RACHEL CHINOURIRI feat SAM DOTIA - Beautiful Disaster [starts 41:26]
https://www.facebook.com/rachelchinouririmusic
SWINE TAX - Browsing [starts 43:41]
https://swinetax.bandcamp.com
MEGAN HENWOOD - Doors [starts 46:01]
http://meganhenwood.com
RODEO - Rat Salad [starts 48:25]
https://instagram.com/yehaw.rodeo
DREAM NAILS - Text Me Back (Chirpse Degree Burns) [starts 50:40]
http://www.dreamnailsband.com
HOME COUNTIES - Dad Bod [starts 52:40]
https://www.facebook.com/homecountiesmusic
GREENTEA PENG - Inna City [starts 55:37]
https://www.facebook.com/Greenteasensi
TOM HOUSTON - Jimmy And The Mammoth [starts 58:03]
https://tomhouston.org
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