BBC Audio & Music | Introducing

Backstage with Stornoway at Later... with Jools

Richard Banks — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:53:26 +0000

On Tuesday, I brought you news that BBC Introducing favourites Stornoway were to debut on Later... with Jools Holland on BBC Two this week. It's a massive and hugely influential show, and hence pretty daunting for an unsigned band not exactly used to being broadcast live on tellyboxes all over the country to nearly a million viewers.

But what a triumphant appearance it was. There was a great atmosphere in the Television Centre studio during the filming, and although you could see the band were nervous, they pulled it off and - judging by the reaction on Twitter - have worked their way into the hearts of a legion of new fans.

BBC Introducing in Oxford's Tim Bearder hung out with the band in the run-up to the filming and live show on Tuesday night, and managed to grab a few minutes with Jools Holland himself to hear his thoughts:

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Getting the opportunity to star on Later... isn't an everyday occurence for unsigned bands, so we asked Stornoway to give you, dear reader, an insight into the experience. They were only too happy to oblige, and sent us the following diary of the two days, which we've punctuated with some of the nice Tweets we've seen since Tuesday:

"On Monday morning we loaded our instruments into Van Blanc, our untrusty steed, and chugged down the M40 to the BBC studios, in plenty of time for our soundchecks. The studio was bustling with sound engineers and technicians loading in equipment, adjusting lights, cameras, microphones, and laying miles and miles of cables. It was smaller than it seems on the telly, but no less impressive."

"We carried in our instruments and a man came up and asked if Brian (our singer) was the tour manager. Once our brass section had arrived we gathered in the deserted Top of the Pops bar and practiced and ate all the biscuits while Norah Jones and Sting soundchecked."

"Our own checks went well and gave us some confidence. We played a medley of Gala's Freed from Desire and Ronan's You Say it Best on Jools's grand piano before heading back to Oxford for the night."

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"With stomachs full of birthday (Ollie's) pizza we headed back and arrived to witness the Foo Fighters and Jay-Z's backing band soundchecking. We spent quite a lot of time in the dressing rooms downstairs chilling out and filming silly skits and doing silly interviews!" [which have been made in the following silly film for the Later... website - Ed.]

"With about an hour to go the guests began to arrive and we downed a couple of pints in the BBC bar to try and loosen up. Rob, Ollie and Adam took advantage of the free BBC haircuts before returning to the studio in time for the show. We played hackisack within our stage area while they counted down to the start - a traditional and important pre-gig activity for Stornoway."

"Brian was feeling physically sick as the nerves reached their peak. Our plan was to avoid eye contact with anyone, not least Jay-Z or Dave Grohl, who were positioned on either side of us. At last Jools swooped his hand towards us and we were off."

"After a shaky start we found our stride, and somehow held it together for both Zorbing and Fuel Up. The two days leading up to it had felt like two weeks, but the show itself was like a brief and surreal dream. Suddenly it was over and we went straight back to the BBC bar, before continuing the party in Van Blanc all the way home."

Well, there you have it; a remarkable week all round. Even The Hoosiers agree:

You can watch Stornoway on Tuesday night's Later... Live with Jools Holland on BBC iPlayer, or see the full hour-long edition on Friday on BBC Two at 11.35pm.

Top 10 Maida Vale Sessions

Richard Banks — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:56:38 +0000

Over at the BBC Music Blog, there's a cracking blog post by Senior Studio Manager, Mike Engles. He's worked at Maida Vale studios since 1974, so has more than a handful of interesting anecdotes to tell about the artists he's seen pass through the doors over the years.

To commemorate 75 years of the BBC at Maida Vale, Mike has written a list of ten sessions he remembers working on most fondly, including the likes of The Damned and Nirvana.

Well worth a read.

Kids Love Lies on The 5:19 Show

Vicki — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:27:24 +0000

'Ello, 'ello, 'ello and happy Tuesday! It's Vicki and Trev here from The Cut blog. You might, quite understandably, be wondering what we're doing over on the Introducing blog.

You see, every Tuesday we make a special episode of The 5:19 Show looking behind the scenes of The Cut at all the things that make the show ace. A big part of this is, of course, the soundtrack, which uses tracks from emerging artists as well as established ones.

And one of those emerging artists are BBC Introducing's very own Kids Love Lies whose music features loads in episode 32 of The Cut.

They very kindly came in to chat to us, told us about what a huge deal it was to play Radio 1's Big Weekend and then did an exclusive acoustic performance of their new single, Under the Bed. Have a little gander:

Obviously, Kids Love Lies have started to get a fair bit of exposure after their involvement with BBC Introducing, and there's some very easy ways for other artists to get their music heard.

Richard recently posted here about how you could get your music on The Cut and other BBC Switch shows via the uploader, and one band who did just that are the brilliant Party Horse. Their song is used in this Friday's episode of The Cut and because of this, we invited them down to the studio for a chat (they'll be on next week's show, so tune in then), proving that it's well worth pressing that little upload button.

Well, as long as you have something to upload. Otherwise, not a lot happens. And it's probably not that worth it.

BYE!
xx

Stornoway on Later... with Jools Holland

Richard Banks — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:27:39 +0000

We're very excited about this week's Later... with Jools Holland on BBC Two, which sees an unsigned band making an appearance on the show alongside an array of other heavyweight acts. We're chuffed to bits that it's a band BBC Introducing has championed right from the start: Oxford's Stornoway.

It's a remarkable achievement for an as yet unsigned band to bag themselves a slot on the BBC's flagship music television programme, but it's testament to the hard work which Stornoway have put in over the last couple of years, and to the captivating power of their songcraft.

A typically humble post on Stornoway's MySpace blog reads:

Yikes! We're on Jools Holland, alongside Jay-Z, Foo Fighters, Norah Jones and Sting! I need to lie down.

The Friday night edition of Later... averages a nationwide audience of around 500,000 viewers, with the Tuesday live show attracting about 800,000. That's enough pairs of eyes to make any unsigned band feel a bit faint. And considering the even-more-star-studded-than-usual line-up for this week's edition, viewing figures could be higher still (no pressure, chaps).

To whet your appetite before tonight's live show, here's the band performing live at Radio 1's Big Weekend in Swindon, back in May:

And, more recently, here they are in session at Maida Vale studios with Huw Stephens. Maida Vale proved to be the perfect venue to capture every nuance of their expansive sound:

Some of us from BBC Introducing HQ will be there in the studio tonight, so if you hear some overly enthusiastic whoops and applause on the telly, that'll be us. I'll try to smuggle out a few Tweets. Show your support for the band by tuning in - and don't forget you can watch on BBC iPlayer if you miss it.

Watch the show:

Later... Live with Jools Holland - Tuesday 3 November, BBC Two, 10pm

Later... with Jools Holland - Friday 6 November, BBC Two, 11.35pm

Changes To Your Blog Account

Richard Banks — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:16:18 +0000

On Monday all of the BBC's blogs are switching to a new sign-in system called BBC iD. You can read more about it on the BBC Internet blog.

This means that you will need to use the new system to leave a comment here on the BBC Introducing blog. You will be prompted to upgrade when you first try to login after the change and it should be a very straightforward process.

I will try to answer any questions you have here, but I would also encourage you to read the post on the BBC Internet blog and leave any technical comments there.

Interview with Swound!

Richard Banks — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 12:00:00 +0000

Back in May, BBC Introducing in Nottingham invited brothers Joe, Tom, Rowan and Lloyd Staszkiewicz - collectively known as Swound! - to perform at Radio 1's Big Weekend in Swindon. They put on a highly polished, entertaining show and bagged themselves a shed load of new fans. Here's one of our favourites from their set:

Since then, the band have been working mighty hard to capitalise on the attention. Lately we've been hearing a lot about some of the zany self-marketing schemes they've come up with, so we figured it was a good time to catch up with Swound! with a quick Q&A to find out more.

]]>How are you and where are you?
Joe: We're great thanks, back at home in Nottingham relaxing after a gig in Manchester for In The City last night.

What have you been up to since you played at Radio 1's Big Weekend?
Rowan: Lots of things. More festival appearances, recording, gigging, the Kerrang '09 CD which we were on, Challenge Swound! and Yo Gabba Gabba, which we'll talk about in a bit.

Lloyd: We're just preparing to release a new single on 2 November. It's called Predator 3.

Joe: We're really proud of the video for it, which we shot entirely ourselves.

Did anything exciting come from the R1BW show? Did it open any new doors for you?
Rowan: Yeah, people were talking about that for quite a while.

Tom: Radio 1 have always been very good to us, particularly Huw Stephens, Rob Da Bank and Steve Lamacq and that seems to have continued. Things have been building nicely since as you can probably see.

Joe: It's a great feather to have in your cap. The dismissive looks people give you when you tell them you're in a band disappear instantly when you mention achievements like the Big Weekend.

You're a lot of fun to watch live. Do you have any tips for aspiring bands in terms of putting on a good show?
Tom: Don't take yourself too seriously and just do what comes naturally. Above all, enjoy yourself. That's the whole point of being in a band.

As a band, you're pretty ruthless self-promoters. You've come up with some great creative ideas to market yourselves - world record attempts, TV appearances, giving away freebies with your singles - what's worked and what hasn't?
Lloyd: Everything we've ever done seems to have helped the band progress.

Joe: It's really hard to break through at the moment. The music industry is in turmoil and there's not much money being thrown around. Couple that with the fact that there are more bands around than ever and you realise you have to do something a bit different to stand out. It's all changed so much and will continue to do so - the internet allows you to push yourself in ways that haven't always been possible. We're just figuring out ways to take advantage of this.

Tom: Also, some of the things we've done are just stuff we'd have done anyway - the zombie world record thing, the TV shows. Lots of it is because we're music obsessives. We just think about the kind of things we love when we're getting into a new band or when we're buying CDs and think about how cool it would be to do similar things.

Tell us more about your latest venture, 'Challenge Swound!'
Joe: We released a mini-album last year and sold out of our initial run of copies pretty quickly so decided to give it away for free. Rather than just letting people download the album we thought it'd be cool to get people to challenge us to do different things. Amongst others we've driven to Loch Ness to find the monster, tried to drink a blended Big Mac meal and even ran a half marathon before playing a gig at the finish line.

Rowan: Deep down we're just massive idiots and enjoy making fools of ourselves, so this gives us a great avenue to do that. It provides us with an avenue to do some cool things, rather than sit around being bored. It's been going really well though and we have around a thousand challenges to complete so far. So if you are going to submit one, make sure it's inventive!

Is there anything off limits that you wouldn't do to promote your music?
Joe: We have to draw the line at a lot of the challenges we get - I'll leave it to your imagination exactly what kind of things. There are certain paths we won't go down.

Tom: We like to do things on our own terms too. Things like appearing on reality TV contests, getting people to write music for you, I know bands that have been through those and it just ends up destroying what the band was about.

You landed a nice bit of TV sync recently, getting a track on Yo Gabba Gabba. How did that come around?
Rowan: One of the creators of the show, Christian Jacobs, plays in a band called The Aquabats, who we've been lucky enough to play with in the past. He became a big fan of ours and has been following our progress ever since. We've been talking with him for a while about doing some music for the show and we finally pinned something down this year. Yo Gabba Gabba is getting so huge now that we feel even more privileged to be involved. The next few seasons have some of the biggest bands in the world featuring on it, not that I'm allowed to mention who they are!

What's all this about product sponsorship - we heard something about hot sauce!
Lloyd: Yeah! When we first started getting some exposure, we began talking about how bands get stuff for free and that we should try. So we did. It probably says a lot about us as people that the first things we went for were the world's hottest sauce, a botanically brewed soft drink and a watch that only rewards you with the time when you've deciphered a series of flashing lights. We never even considered musical equipment! Maybe we should.

Do you worry about getting labelled 'sell-outs'?
Rowan: I've always understood the word 'sell-out' to be when you compromise your integrity to sell some records and make some money. We don't earn money from the band and we all still have day jobs. On top of that we've never purposely changed anything that we do. When we first started we did lots of weird and wonderful things to get our music heard. It's just now we have a better platform to do similar things. At the end of the day, if we didn't feel comfortable doing something and didn't enjoy it, we just wouldn't do it.

Lloyd: To be honest, people who use the word 'sellout' generally have no idea what they are talking about anyway. These are usually the same misguided individuals that start hating a band just because they become popular.

Joe: I don't worry about that, because if it were to happen we'd presumably be making some money from the band and I can't see anything cooler than being paid to do something you love.

What's next for Swound!?
Joe: We're releasing our brand new single, Predator 3, on 2 November plus playing The Fly Bar the same day as a single launch party. Then we head back to Nottingham to play Rock City on the 3rd for a home-town single launch. Of course, like we said there's going to be the track for Yo Gabba Gabba in the near future and in December, as an early Christmas present, we'll be supporting legends A at Rock City!

Watch more videos of Swound! live at Radio 1's Big Weekend or listen to the band at MySpace.com/swound

In The City 2009 reviewed

Richard Banks — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 12:36:01 +0000

Earlier this week I hopped on the train to Manchester for the annual music industry conference, In The City. Read my previous post for background on the three-day event and why it's so influential.

During the day, the plush Midland hotel hosted a series of thought-provoking discussions focussing on all corners of the music business, from publishing to photography, with respected industry figures sitting on each panel.
Given the rapidly-shifting sands on which the industry is built, it was perhaps unsurprising that tackling piracy and making money out of music were hot potatoes at In The City. However, it was still an eye-opener to see just how factious things have become. At an early session on the opening day, Rick Falkvinge - Chairman of the Pirate Party, a political party in Sweden who stand for the decriminalisation of file-sharing - stirred up a heated debate with representatives from the Music Managers Forum and the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors.

Later that day, Paul Curry (creator of the now-defunct Music Search Plus, which helped users search for and download MP3s freely) argued that unless major labels and 'traditional' music industry bodies were willing to revolutionise their approach to music copyright and distribution, file-sharing piracy would never go away.

The trouble is, the industry cannot agree what that approach should be. It's a debate which has been heard at ITC for several years, but recent press coverage (thanks chiefly to Lily Allen) meant it took centre stage this year. The following day, during a conversation between Mike Smith (Managing Director of Columbia Records) and producer/artist Mark Ronson, Mike passionately advocated stricter enforcement of copyright laws, which, he reasoned, were part of this country's history, having been first established nearly 300 years ago.

Of course, the beauty of In The City is that one can leave all this noise behind and hit the streets too see some incredible live music. Highlights for me came in the shape of Dutch Uncles, MIDIMIDIS, Islet and Bright Light Bright Light, all of whom made a dark and drizzly Sunday night positive enjoyable. Also out in force were the BBC Introducing in Manchester team, who reviewed and photographed as many bands as was humanly possible. Here's Chris Long from BBC Manchester's take on the five bands who impressed him most at ITC:
]]>"As ever, this year's In The City was a hectic menagerie of musical madness, with both fine new artists and curious inclusions on offer in the night-time showcases. For me, it was a particularly gruelling event, thanks to a bout of the flu that's currently stalking Manchester, but a few tablets and some grim determination pushed me out into the three nights. In all honesty, I'm glad I braved it, as without doing so, I'd have missed these five red hot properties:

Lost Knives
Lost Knives have been wowing Manchester audiences ever since they formed back in March and at their In The City set, they showed exactly why. Powerful, visceral and vibrant, they're a brooding mix of rock and dance with all the passionate songs and glorious crescendos you could wish for. They came to the event on the back of a brilliant Electric Proms session and on the evidence of both that and their performance here, they are about to become very big news.

Envy
In shorthand, Envy is a Mancunian Lady Sovereign, but truth is that scratch the surface and something more lies inside. She's got a super-fast delivery, catchy hooks and a wilful humour that underpins her finery in glittering fashion. Playing both Huw's Swn stage and our BBC Introducing showcase, she won over crowds that weren't expecting to find their new favourite MC in the basements of Manchester. As one fella said to me, "I thought she was going to be rubbish, but she was bloody ace!"

Liberty Vessels
Liverpool's Liberty Vessels might be the first In The City band ever to announce that they "need to get up for school in the morning". Perhaps that might not be the case for much longer, as the four 15 year olds could need a break from their studies to deal with a music career, if the melody, passion and promise of this nervous set is anything to go by. If this is them barely out of puberty, they could be world class after a few broken hearts.

Bear Driver
Sporting some of the biggest hair at this year's In The City, Bear Driver were looked like being in danger of being memorable more for their appearance, peacock feathers and toy instruments, than for their sound. That is until they locked into their fine indie rhythms and uplifting drums, meshed them together with fun-soaked vocals and carried the sparse crowd they had before them - the curse of an early evening ITC slot - off in a sea of euphoria. Catchy, exuberant stuff.

May 68
Another band currently making waves in Manchester and beyond, May 68 were nothing short of sensational, once they hit their stride. Rightfully nervous, given the number of industry that piled in for their show, they took a song to warm up and then never looked back. Theirs is an intoxicating sound, a mix of catchy pop, post-punk and Chicago house, delivered in such an insistent fashion that it's impossible not to dance to. A superb band who get better with every performance.

Of course, the thing about In The City is that I could well have missed at least ten ace bands while watching these five. In fact, there were nine others who played blistering sets at the BBC Introducing nights, Everything Everything were amazing by all accounts, as were The Drums, who packed out Night and Day café on the last night.

A good friend insists that I missed the greatest In The City debut of all time by being elsewhere when Nadine Shah played. Another says Engine-Earz Experiment was immense, too. But then, missing the best stuff is actually half the fun of In The City; it just leaves you wanting more."

Chris Long is a Broadcast Journalist for BBC Manchester.

More coverage from BBC Introducing in Manchester:
Sunday reviews and photos
Monday reviews and photos
Tuesday reviews and photos

BBC Introducing showcases at In The City 2009

Richard Banks — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:52:09 +0000

This weekend, the music industry makes its annual pilgrimage to Manchester for In The City, the UK's answer to Texas' South by South West or MIDEM in Cannes. It's a three-day event with panel sessions taking place during the day and a plethora of showcase gigs happening in venues through the city in the evenings. The conference has been running since 1992, and has built up a reputation for discovering some of the biggest talents around today: over the years they've given a platform to Radiohead and Oasis (1992), Coldplay (1997), The Darkness (2002) and the Arctic Monkeys (2005).

We'll be attending this year, with showcase nights of our own at Moho Live on Tib Street (in the main room) on Monday 19th and Tuesday 20th October. The bands on our bill were chosen by Huw Stephens and the team at BBC Introducing in Manchester, with seven of the ten acts based in the Greater Manchester area. Entry is free to In The City wristband holders (more info on the event website). Here's the line-up:

Monday 19th October -19:30 doors:

8.00pm - My Albatross
8.50pm - The Vanguards
9.40pm - The Cheek
10.30pm - Ten Bears
11.20pm - Your Twenties

Tuesday 20th October -19:30 doors:

8.00pm - The Mouse Outfit
8.50pm - Shmoo
9.40pm - Real Dolls
10.30pm - Envy
11.20pm - The Jessie Rose Trip

I'd suggest you keep one eye on this 'ere blog for more updates from In The City, and one eye on our Twitter feed, where I'll be giving you updates about the debates taking place at the daytime panel sessions. Subjects this year include "Putting Music in Computer Games", "The Internet Is Not The Future" (with DrownedinSound.com's editor, Sean Adams - bound to be enlightening!) and "Something from Nothing: Making it Happen without a Budget".

Meanwhile, BBC Manchester will be legging it around the city, doing their best to cover as many gigs as possible in order to bring you hot-off-the-press reviews and photos on their website. You can also follow BBC Introducing in Manchester on Twitter.

SWN Festival 2009

Huw Stephens — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 11:57:32 +0000

A few years ago, me and my friend John decided we wanted to start a festival in Cardiff. We'd been to In the City in Manchester, Camden Crawl in London, even South by South West in Texas. So we thought we'd start one on our doorstep.

John's a promoter in Cardiff, a city which loves music with indie, dance, hip hop, rock, weird, mainstream, dubstep, drum and bass, noise, everything going on and mighty fine promoters putting on nights all the time. We wanted to highlight that, so we started Sŵn. It means 'sound' in Welsh and is pronounced 'soon'.

This year, I got to invite people to put on nights and choose around 170 bands and DJs to play. It's our third year of putting the festival on in, with gigs taking place at some 14 venues around the city, ranging from old churches turned into venues, cafes, upstairs in pubs, the legendary Clwb Ifor Bach (25 years old this year), the Barfly and more.

The promoters and labels like Moshi Moshi and Turnstile have invited bands like Swanton Bombs and Girls, The Drums and Yr Ods to play their nights, and Mary Anne Hobbs brings her DJing skills with Bristol's Gemmy. Bands who've done sessions for my show like Los Campesinos! and Johnny Foreigner are playing, and Beth Elfyn has her Radio 1 night with Marina and the Diamonds, Bright Light Bright Light and more playing.

It's going to be fun! And although it's a stressful time for all working on it, it's well worth it. So much good music!

Find out more about SWN festival at swnfest.co.uk, check out the coverage from BBC Wales, or read an interview with Huw Stephens at DrownedinSound.com.

How important is establishing yourself online? Just ask Islet

Richard Banks — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 10:20:21 +0000

Last week on BBC Introducing in Wales, Radio 1's Bethan Elfyn presented an exclusive session with a Cardiff band named Islet. The band were so new, they had next to no presence on the web, which is really rather rare these days. The session for Bethan and team is the first thing they've ever recorded, and - prepare yourself... you'd better sit down - they're not even on MySpace.

Islet are something of a Cardiff supergroup. Their line-up features members (or ex-members) of Attack and Defend, Them Squirrels, Fredrick Stanley Star, Sweet Baboo and The Victorian English Gentlemen's Club.

Read Bethan's blog post about the band and their session over on the BBC Wales Music blog, or listen again to the whole show from last Thursday at Radio 1.
]]>So does this signal the beginning of the MySpace backlash? Or are Islet just too lazy to set one up? Either way, it hasn't exactly done them any harm so far. They've been gigging around Cardiff in recent months and wowed crowds with their scuzzy no-wave sounds. Two fans - Andrew Dubber and Ben Walker - were so impressed they actually created an Islet fan-site.

One band played last night that blew me away. And I don't just mean I liked them, or really loved their gig. They BLEW. ME. AWAY. I can't remember being this excited by a band in years. Possibly decades.

So we went straight online and looked them up. We Googled: "Islet band Cardiff" and various other combinations of the band name and their city of origin. Nothing. [...] no website, no MySpace, no nothing.

And we were stuck. They had no CDs for sale. Nothing we could do. We just didn't know how to be Islet fans. So we made them a fan site...

Being good citizens of the web, they've written a post on their New Music Strategies blog (well worth following, incidentally) explaining how and why they set up thisisislet.com. Here's Andrew - a lecturer at Birmingham City University - giving his experience of setting up the site and some more advice about getting yourself established online.

Over at Adam's blog, the debate continues about Islet and whether a band really needs a MySpace profile - or a fan-site, for that matter - in the embryonic stage of their career when all they might have to offer is a photo and (hopefully) a handful of gig dates.

Of course, it's no bad thing to start making friends with other bands and gathering fans on the web, but is it essential you do this as soon as you and your band member settle on a name you all like, or does it do more harm than good? There's nothing worse than a stale website or profile that hasn't been updated in 12 months, so is there some sense in maintaining an air of mystique until you really hit the road? There's no right or wrong answer here, so let us know your thoughts.

New shows to target with your tunes

Richard Banks — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 17:34:45 +0000

Recently, I brought you exciting news of the collaboration between BBC Switch and BBC Introducing, which sees Switch using tracks from artists that BBC Introducing has supported to soundtrack their brand new online-and-on-BBC-Two soap, The Cut. If you've been watching the soap, you'll have heard songs by Thee Vicars, Bombay Bicyle Club, Kid Bass, Master Shortie and White Lies - all alumni of the BBC Introducing festival stage.

As I mentioned previously, producers from BBC Switch have access to the big database of tunes which you - the great unsigned - have uploaded to us in recent months, and they're still on the lookout for cracking songs to feature in future episodes of The Cut.

The great news is, you can now choose to target BBC Switch directly when you register your band/artist details with us for the first time on the Upload Your Music page. So if you've watched the soap and reckon the cinematic soundscapes you've recorded would be the perfect soundtrack to the show, be sure to select The Cut when you register. That'll ensure an email with your name on it plops into the inbox of the Cut producers quick sharp*. Simple.

But that's not all - in addition to The Cut, we also have another national show joining the BBC Introducing family as of this week. Over on Radio 3, Ian McMillian hosts a wonderful show named The Verb, where experimentation with the good old fashioned spoken word gets the exposure it deserves. We've invited Ian and his team to join the party, and they're really keen to play tracks by unsigned artists where the emphasis is on all things literary, poetic and lyrical.

If that sounds like it might be up your street, get involved now and upload some of your creations, making sure you choose The Verb on Radio 3 as the show you'd like to target when you sign up.

*Remember, whichever national network or show you choose to target when you join us, notifications about your music will automatically be sent to the local BBC Introducing show closest to you as well.

Wise words from the Pros at Jersey Live

Richard Banks — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 10:53:11 +0000

This year's Jersey Live festival took place a few weekends ago, on Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 September at the Showground in Trinity. The festival attracts around 10,000 people, with more than 60 artists spread over seven stages, including big-hitting headline performances from Basement Jaxx and The Kooks.

Elsewhere on the main stage and smaller Les Inrocks stage there were plenty of familiar names, including Twisted Wheel, Chew Lips, Fight Like Apes, Golden Silvers and The Temper Trap, all of whom have performed on the BBC Introducing stage at a UK festival in the last couple of years.

Backstage, BBC Introducing in Jersey's Ryan Morrison grabbed a handful of acts to garner their advice for aspiring artists, asking them all the same question: what single piece of advice would you give to new bands? Here are a few of the more coherent responses he got:

Craig Charles - presenter of BBC 6 Music's Funk and Soul show:

Massachusetts electro outfit, Passion Pit:

Ex-Million Dead frontman, Frank Turner:

Huw Stephens favourites, Golden Silvers:

There's more coverage of Jersey Live - including more wise words for new artists from Fight Like Apes and Doves frontman, Jimi Goodwin - at BBC Jersey. For more tips, check out our advice section, where we've got more than 100 video clips from artists, DJs and industry experts, text guides and downloadable PDFs.

Ryan Morrison and Claire Peters present BBC Introducing in Jersey every Saturday at 2.15pm. Listen again to the latest show on BBC iPlayer.

Making it in Music - two must-read PDFs

Richard Banks — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 12:20:33 +0000

'10 Key Steps to Suceed in the Music Business' by Makeitinmusic.com

'Best Practices of the Online Promotion of New Musical Content' by Bas Grasmayer

We've been following @makeitinmusic on Twitter for a little while, and we recommend you do the same if you're looking for some expert tips and useful links about, well, making it in music. Ian Clifford and Amanda McGowan of Makeitinmusic.com set up their blog in March 2009 but claim 30 years of global music Industry experience between them.
]]>
They've put together a really useful PDF entitled 10 Key Steps to Suceed in the Music Business which you can download for free just by joining their mailing list.

The most recent post on their blog is by a gent named Bas Grasmayer. He's an International Communication Management student (read: thoroughly clever bloke) from Holland and is currently writing a thesis on the future of music distribution.

Bas has put together an incredible paper called 'Best Practices of the Online Promotion of New Musical Content' which compares the innovative ways in which five recent major releases were launched and marketed.

You're no doubt already familiar with Radiohead's groundbreaking 'pay what you like' approach to selling In Rainbows (if not, where were you?), but they aren't the only ones who've been making waves in the industry. Trent Reznor has had plenty to say, and Bas's paper offers a case study on the release of Nine Inch Nails' Ghost I-IV, as well as albums by Groove Armada, Mos Def and Dangermouse and Sparklehorse.

It might sound a bit heavy, but it's a well written, easy to understand paper that's well worth a read. You can download it for free here (1MB) or get it straight from the horse's mouth.

So there you go, plenty of bedtime reading for you. Of course, this kind of how-to-get-dead-famous-and-rich guide is nothing new. For a more tongue in cheek (or is it?) guide to making it in the music biz, track down a copy of the KLF's 'The Manual', a classic tome from 1988 in which they guarantee to reimburse the buyer in full if he/she hasn't achieved a number one single within three months of purchase. And don't forget we've produced some handy PDFs of our own for you to download for free from our Advice section.

Disclaimer: BBC Introducing isn't connected to any of the sites or individuals mentioned above; we're just providing these links because we think they're interesting and potentially useful to you. Message ends.

The winner takes it all - unsigned band competitions open now!

Richard Banks — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 16:11:20 +0000

We all need to catch a break in life at some point or other. If you're looking to get your music noticed, entering a competition could be just the ticket.

The 'Battle of the Bands' concept goes way back and the chances are you either went to one or played at one when you were at school (see Freaky Friday, School of Rock). At my school, it was called the Band Bash and I played guitar in a band named Button Moon (claim to pop fame: Bloc Party's drummer Matt Tong was our bassist).

If you missed out on this great rock 'n' roll tradition and are currently feeling like you've been living under a rock, go and watch Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey, then set up your own contest locally. In the words of the great Jim Morrison in Wayne's World 2 - if you build it, they will come.

In the age of the Interweb and (whisper it) X Factor, the Battle of the Bands has inevitably evolved and there are now loads of national competitions open to unsigned and emerging artists that you can enter via the net. Nowadays, there's a lot at stake, too. Gone are the days when the winning band might take home a case of beer and a set of strings; today you could bag yourself anything from a recording deal to a support slot on a national tour. Some competitions are are even televised.

So, inspired by a comment we received on the site recently, here's a handful of high profile competitions that are currently accepting entries from unsigned artists:

MEMusic - Online and On Tour '09
Prize: A 12-date tour supporting VV Brown, studio time to record your winning track and a digital release with Island Records
How it works: If the track you submit makes the cut, you'll bag a spot at one of five regional showdowns (Glasgow, York, Liverpool, Cardiff and London) where you must perform a cover from the Island Records back catalogue. Win there and you'll be going toe-to-toe with four other finalists in a public vote, with Metro readers picking the ultimate victor in October.
How to enter: Register and upload a track at MEMusic
Closing date: 18 September 2009 (blimey, that's ~~TOMORROW~~ - ~~TODAY~~) Now closed.

The Hollyoaks Music Show
Prize: The winning act gets to perform in an episode of Hollyoaks.
How it works: A shortlist of nine acts will be chosen, with each act championed by a member of the Hollyoaks cast on a new TV series, imaginatively named The Hollyoaks Music Show. At the end of the series, the public will choose which act deserves to perform in an episode of the soap.
How to enter: Upload a video or audio track (must be under 2 minutes long) at e4.com.
Closing date for entries: 22 September 2009.

Live and Unsigned 2010
Prize: Over £50,000 in prizes up for grabs, with the overall winner bagging a recording and management contract with up to £30,000 investment to release a single with Future Music.
How it works: Apply online and attend a live audition in January 2010. If you get through that, you'll be invited to the Regional Finals in front of an audience and judging panel. There you'll be competing for a spot at the Grand Final whic takes place at the Live and Unsigned Festival at London's O2 Arena in July 2010.
How to enter: Visit liveandunsigned.uk.com and apply for an audition (£10 fee).
Closing date for entries: Auditions start 16 January 2010 but places fill up quickly, so apply early to avoid disappointment.

*Disclaimer* - Please, please, please, always read the terms and conditions before sending off your music and entering any competition. And remember, BBC Introducing doesn't endorse any of the above contests, we just thought you'd be interested in them. Generally, we think there's a lot to be said for the hard grafting, DIY approach to making it in the music business. If you believe in what you do and work hard at it for long enough, good things will happen... eventually (just ask Speech Debelle).

Could your music make The Cut?

Richard Banks — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 12:02:44 +0000

The Cut is a shiny new soap from BBC Switch that starts this weekend.

You'll be able to watch a new 5 minute episode of the soap on the BBC Switch site every weekday at 5.10pm. On Saturdays at midday, you can see the previous week's worth of drama back to back in an omnibus on BBC Two.

"And how is this relevant?" I hear you cry. Well, in an amazing feat of joined-up-ness, BBC Introducing and BBC Switch are going to be working together to give under-the-radar artists an opportunity to get their music heard on the telly. Huzzah!

We've been speaking to the crew behind The Cut and we can exclusively reveal that in the first two episodes, those of you with keen ears will hear tracks by Thee Vicars, Bombay Bicycle Club, Kid Bass & Sincere and Master Shortie, all of whom have starred on the BBC Introducing stage at festivals this year.

In fact, judging by the early tracklisting in front of me now, the show is going to have a pretty (in)credible soundtrack in general, with tracks from Bright Eyes, The Cinematic Orchestra and Fionn Regan all making the cut (pun intended) in early episodes.

We've granted the makers of the The Cut access to the big database of music that's been uploaded to BBC Introducing to date. That means, if you've uploaded tunes to us in the past, you're already in with a chance of soundtracking this great new soap. If you haven't, there's still time for your music to be considered in future episodes, so get cracking and head on over to our upload page.

The first episode of The Cut will be officially unveiled by Annie and Nick on Radio 1 at 8.10pm this Sunday (13th September). Here's a sneaky peek:

*Update* - The first episode is now live - you can watch it here.

BBC Audio & Music | Introducing

Backstage with Stornoway at Later... with Jools

Top 10 Maida Vale Sessions

Kids Love Lies on The 5:19 Show

Stornoway on Later... with Jools Holland

Changes To Your Blog Account

Interview with Swound!

In The City 2009 reviewed

BBC Introducing showcases at In The City 2009

SWN Festival 2009

How important is establishing yourself online? Just ask Islet

New shows to target with your tunes

Wise words from the Pros at Jersey Live

Making it in Music - two must-read PDFs

'10 Key Steps to Suceed in the Music Business' by Makeitinmusic.com'Best Practices of the Online Promotion of New Musical Content' by Bas Grasmayer

The winner takes it all - unsigned band competitions open now!

Could your music make The Cut?

'10 Key Steps to Suceed in the Music Business' by Makeitinmusic.com

'Best Practices of the Online Promotion of New Musical Content' by Bas Grasmayer