Style: Mash Em is a hard hitting hip hop track with a funky centre. With his distinctive accent and gruff vocal delivery, Gerard i2 raps over a mix of old skool beats, vintage samples and newer electronic production to produce a sound you’re unlikely to hear anywhere else.

You need to know: Gerard i2 sent the crowd wild at our BBC Introducing event at the Nerve Centre in Derry~Londonderry. After the release of two albums independently, he already has a loyal group of followers, which is continuing to swell in numbers. Watch highlights from his set, including Mash Em, here.

Supported by: Our BBC Introducing colleagues at Across The Line, Electric Mainline and BBC Introducing with Jen and Ally have all shown plenty of love for Mash Em.

Find out more: Gerard’s Twitter account is a great first stop for an introduction.

They’re originally from Derry-Londonderry, the home of this year’s Radio 1’s Big Weekend, but are now based in Belfast. This is taken from their new EP Vexed.

You can get hold of Lemons and Wine on Huw's free download which is available here... Improve your life ever so slightly by subscribing.

Style: Hypnotic Regression is taken from the group's recently released second album The New Life. It is gloriously gloomy with Cathal Cully's haunting low key vocals and a fast bobbing bassline pitched up against shimmering guitars that reverberate through its heart. Hypnotic indeed.

You need to know: We'll have videos and photos from the band's performance in Derry-Londonderry going live later this week... And you'll find them here.

Supported by: The track was first played by BBC Radio Ulster's Across The Line in February and they've since gone on to be played by BBC Introducing with Jen and Ally and Huw Stephens' Wednesday night show.

Find out more: Follow the band's progress through their Facebook page.

This is from their EP, When The Lights Come Down.

You can get the track as part of Huw's weekly download, available here.

Style: After showing an interest in music at the age of 14, Harry has spent half his life learning from different genres and influences, initially being inspired by Tracy Chapman and Eric Clapton. Solitude is a summer breeze of a tune; acoustic pop-rock with the warmth and throughfulness of Ben Howard and Mumford and Sons, if they were a one-man band that is.

You need to know: Like so many acts who use the BBC Introducing Uploader, Harry is a ridiculously talented multi-instrumentalist who plays guitar, drums and piano as well as self-recording and self-producing all his tracks. And to top it all off, he’s a pretty handsome chap too!

Supported by: Solitude has been played by BBC Introducing on Radio Humberside since the start of the year.

Find out more: Get more Harry David in your life via his official website.

This is taken from their new EP their new EP, I’d Let You Win.

Find out how you can attend BBC Introducing Live In Derry Londonderry here.

On the Radio 1 playlist this week is Through The Lies Comes Clarity by Theory 59, who take up the weekly BBC Introducing slot. It means the band will be played across Radio 1 daytime shows all week including Greg James, Scott Mills and Dev. Hear the track in full below along with some information you need to know about Theory 59.

Style: Through The Lies Comes Clarity is an alternative rock track that shuttles along to the rhythm of a dance track. There's blistering drums, a piercing riff and a great spread of vocals on a tune that has touches of Foals, Arctic Monkeys and Kings Of Leon.

You need to know: The track is part of their debut EP, Sleepless.

Supported by: Theory 59 have been supported by BBC Introducing in the East Midlands, uploading this track at the start of March.

Find out more: Check out the band's Facebook page for their latest news and follow them on Soundcloud for more tracks from Sleepless.

A few weeks ago we featured a blog post on making the most of touring by Generator's Joe Frankland. For this post we hand over the blog to another industry expert, Alex Mann, regional officer for the Musicians' Union. Read his guide to copyright, publishing deals and royalties. 

What is copyright?
Copyright is basically the right to prevent copying of intellectual property - in this case music, lyrics and sound recordings - so the copyright owner can protect their work and control how it’s used. It’s worth noting that copyright doesn’t exist until an idea is written down, recorded onto a tape or disc, onto a computer. The copyright owner can be the author of the work, or anyone else they’ve assigned the rights to. Copyright exists separately in recordings and songs, which means that recording owners (usually record companies) and publishers can use the rights in different ways.

With songs, the composer of the music and the writer of the lyrics are the first owners of copyright, and the copyright in musical works lasts for the life of the author plus 70 years. Copyright in a recording is slightly different in that the owner of the recording is the person who arranges for the recording to be made. Often this is whoever books and pays for the studio where the recording takes place, so this could be a record company or it could be the band themselves. Copyright in a recording lasts for 50 years from the end of the first year of release, although this term will be extended to 70 years by November 2013.

How do record and publishing deals work?
Throughout their careers artists and songwriters have to make important decisions about how the copyright in their recordings and songs will be exploited, and this often means entering into complex and sometimes long term deals with record companies and publishers. Record companies pay artists either on the basis of a royalty from record sales, or via a split-profit arrangement. If the contract is long term, a cash advance on account of the artist’s future royalties should be paid which at least allows them a reasonable living wage until initial costs are met and royalties are being received. It’s wise to try and secure some control over things like budgets, producers and choice of material in your contract too. 

Music publishers seek out music and composers whose works may generate an income and their role is generally to promote their catalogue of works to potential music users including in film, TV and advertising. Publishers may for a smaller share of income offer an administration only deal, which involves collecting royalties due to their writers and identifying income streams that might have been missed. A publishing contract can be just for one song, or cover everything you write for a number of years in which case there may be a ‘minimum commitment’ stipulated which a songwriter would have to meet in order to fulfill their side of the deal.

It’s not always necessary to assign copyright in your songs for the full life of copyright, or at all, and a shorter term may be preferable as it allows the writer to extricate themselves from the agreement should the publisher not generate as much income as hoped. Like record companies, publishers will often pay a writer an annual advance on account of future royalties, which again should ideally be enough to live on.

How are royalties paid to musicians and artists?
Musicians and artists receive royalties through different ’streams’ depending on their musical activities and involvement in the creation or exploitation of musical works and recordings. It’s important to know which streams might apply to you, and especially which collection societies you may need to join in order to receive royalties. PRS for Music represents songwriters and publishers, collecting and distributing licence fees when member’s music has been performed or broadcast. MCPS (Mechanical Copyright Protection Society), which is now part of PRS for Music, collects and distributes licence fees to writers and publishers when their music is released or sold on CD or as a download. PPL collect and distribute royalties from recorded music to recording owners and performers when it’s either broadcast or played in public. 

Artists signed to recording companies receive a separate royalty stream direct from their record company. This can be between 12-18% of the Published Price to Dealers, which is basically the price at which record companies sell the CD to retailers; alternatively this can be between 8-12% of the Retail Selling Price. Alternatively, the profit share model generally means that both artist and record company share profits 50/50 once costs are recouped – this model is quite common with independent labels.

For published songwriters, royalty income is split between the writer and publisher, often with 70% in favour of the writer. The writer’s share can be as low as 50% in some cases but The MU advises its members to aim for more than that.

Ultimately, the deals that musicians and artists sign can impact on their careers forever, so contracts should always be checked out by a solicitor before signing.

For more advice on this subject, head to the Musicians' Union website.
There's also more information on getting the right deal for you in our own advice section.

Other useful links:

PRS for Music 

PPL website

Style: It’s hard not to be caught up by Bound. The intense production is brooding, looming, even a little scary and is perfectly stalked by Indiana’s haunting vocal. There’s so much to this track that fans of The xx, Bat For Lashes, James Blake and  Jamie Woon will really dig. Oh, and the bass broke my headphones a bit.

You need to know: It was only a year ago that Indiana played her first live gig as part of a performance for Future Sound of Nottingham.

Supported by: Her local show BBC Introducing in the East Midlands have been proud supporters of Indiana’s work. She also played a BBC Introducing showcase at London’s Borderline alongside the Ruen Brothers and Ady Suleiman.

Find out more: Check out her BBC Introducing session here. Huw Stephens will be playing tracks from her time at Maida Vale on his Wednesday night show.

For more information on Indiana, head to her rather lovely tumblr account.

Artists such as David Bowie, Jack White, Pulp and Nick Cave will all be releasing special edition vinyl to mark the occasion. There will also be music events up and down the country with performances from the likes of Frank Turner, Glasvegas and Paul Weller.

BBC 6 Music will be there alongside a whole host of BBC Introducing producers and presenters helping cover the event which spans over 200 record stores.

Reporters from all corners of the UK will be feeding photographs, audio and vinyl fan excitement into the BBC 6 Music blog using social media tools such as Twitter and Audioboo.

We have people in Glasgow, Belfast, Cardiff, Liverpool, Manchester, Bath, Bristol, Brighton, Norfolk, Oxford, Newcastle, York and London. The hope is that it will create a UK-wide feel for this UK-wide event.

So if you want to follow what’s happening around the country then follow our blog and Tweet us @BBC6Music #RSD13 to get involved.

Tell us what your favourite vinyl record is, what you’ll be buying this year and most of all if you’re having fun celebrating Record Store Day.

Dandelion Eyes by the Liverpool quintet The Wicked Whispers is psychedelic and interesting, laced with warm organs and wistful vocals.

It was recorded at London’s legendary Toe Rag Studios, where old-time heroes like The White Stripes laid down some of their finest work.

If you like this tune, it’s totally free to get and keep forever on my Radio 1 free download. Also on there this week, you’ll get some Maida Vale session tracks by the brilliant London duo Thumpers.

With the sun finally here (sort of), it seems the perfect opportunity to announce that our first stop this festival season will be The Great Escape Festival. This is the first time BBC Introducing has headed down to Brighton for the annual new bands festival but we thought it was about time we took a trip to the seaside! We have so many artists uploading fantastic music we want to showcase some of the acts our DJs are really excited about. Huw Stephens, Tom Robinson, Jen Long and Ally McCrae have curated our line-up at The Great Escape which includes:

Childhood

Lauren Aquilina (pictured above)

Iyes 

Straw Bear 

Our showcase takes place at Blind Tiger Club on May 17^th from 7pm but if you can’t make it down, you can hear highlights across Huw, Tom and Jen & Ally’s shows the following week.

This is the eighth Great Escape Festival and it takes place in Brighton from May 16th-18th 2013. The festival is firmly established as Europe’s leading festival for new Music and Europe’s answer to SXSW. The event takes place over 30 pubs, clubs & music venues in Brighton and over 16,000 music fans and music Industry delegates head to the event to see over 350 bands perform at the weekend.

Head here for more information on this year's festival.

Style: I Knew It is stirring alt-rock that starts with a delicate sway before soaring into an euphoric chorus and resonating vocal. The band tell us that they channel the spirit of Fleet Foxes and Local Natives through a 'very British filter'.

I Knew It comes from their self-titled EP, produced by Well Jackson, who has worked with The Cribs, and James Kenosha, a producer with Dry The River and Pulled Apart By Horses among his credits.

You need to know: Alongside conquering the gigging scene of Leeds, York and Pontefract, the band have also supported Metronomy, Dry The River and The Sunshine Underground on national tours.

Supported by: I Knew It was first played by BBC Introducing in West Yorkshire in February

Find out more: Head to their Facebook page for info on releases, tour dates and more.

She’s a half-Norwegian, half-English singer from Hertfordshire and releases her new EP, My Enemy, this summer.

If you like this track why not get it for free to keep, on my Radio 1 free download? Even better, why not subscribe to get free tunes automatically every week!