Type of site
History[edit]
BBC Music Introducing was launched in 2007[3] as by this period, many BBC local radio stations had launched a weekly local music show to share and champion local artists. As shows such as The Box Office on BBC Three Counties Radio, The Download on BBC Radio Oxford, The Friday Session on BBC Hereford and Worcester, Raw Talent on BBC Radio Humberside, The Weekender on BBC Radio Nottingham and South Live on BBC Southern Counties Radio proved popular there was interest in developing a more coherent structure and brand for new music on the BBC. These shows soon turned into the earliest BBC Music Introducing shows.[4]
In September 2010, all BBC local unsigned music shows that had not renamed themselves as part of 'Introducing' were re-branded.[5] In 2010 BBC Music Introducing was awarded the best new platform to discover music at the BT Digital Music Awards. In May 2011, BBC Music Introducing won the Gold award for Best Use of Multiplatform at the Sony Radio Academy Awards.[6]
Since 5 January 2013, every BBC Local Radio station across England and the Channel Islands broadcasts a BBC Music Introducing programme at 8pm on Saturday evenings. It also broadcasts on BBC Radio Wales on Saturdays, BBC Radio Scotland on Fridays and BBC Radio Ulster in Northern Ireland on Monday nights. There are more than 190,000 registered artists and nearly 1 million (950,000+) tracks uploaded to the BBC Music Introducing website, who get played weekly across Introducing shows on BBC radio, with each station reflecting its local music scene around the country. Most weeks, the platform receives in excess of 5,000 tracks with some peaking at 16,000 - representing 1073 hours of new music being sent into the BBC.[7]
The BBC broadcasts 32 local shows across their network each week, with plans to cut them down to 20 regional shows - up from the original 10, confirmed in February 2023.[8]
Successes[edit]
The earliest success stories include Florence and The Machine, who Introducing took to Texas in 2008 to play at SXSW festival,[9] and Ed Sheeran who played Glastonbury Festival for the first time in 2011 on the BBC Introducing stage.[10][11]
Introducing has also helped push the careers of the likes of Marina and The Diamonds, Ellie Goulding, The 1975, Chip/Chipmunk, Låpsley, JME & Skepta, Rizzle Kicks, Stornoway, Alt-J, TCTS, Wretch 32, Ward Thomas, Gabrielle Aplin, Years & Years, Circa Waves, Saint Raymond, Don Broco, AlunaGeorge, Becky Hill, Devlin, The Ting Tings, Will Heard, Moko, KStewart, The Sherlocks, London Grammar, Oh Wonder, Fickle Friends, The Amazons, The Shires, Aquilo, Nothing But Thieves, Jacob Collier, Jerry Williams, Matt Maltese, Jordan Max, IDER, Glass Animals and Pulled Apart By Horses.
In 2014 and 2015, BBC Music Introducing was an entry route to the UK's selection process for the Eurovision Song Contest, with Molly Smitten-Downes being chosen for the 2014 competition.[12] The UK’s entry in 2023 had previously been supported by the network.
In March 2022, BBC Introducing on Asian Network with Jasmine Takhar was nominated for best radio show at the Music Week Awards.
The platform[edit]
Radio network coverage[edit]
The 32 Introducing shows on BBC local radio are a hub to showcase the wealth of new music being discovered across the locality. From here, artists are forwarded to BBC DJs to play on national radio, and they can also be put forward to play festival stages by their local show. Every week the BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra music teams feature an Introducing artist on their playlists. Previous Introducing artists of the week have included Tom Grennan, The Sherlocks, The Big Moon, Mahalia, Willie J Healey, Isaac Gracie, Declan McKenna, Pale Waves, Shy Luv, Mullally, Isaiah Dreads and Alicai Harley.
Upload tool[edit]
In February 2009, an upload tool (now internally referred to as Peel, named after the late John Peel) was launched on the BBC Music Introducing website to allow users to upload their music direct to Introducing producers and presenters. Artists or bands enter their postcode at the point of registering and notifications about any songs they upload are sent to BBC staff working on their nearest Introducing radio show, which can then be forwarded to the likes of BBC Radio 1, Radio 2, Radio 3, BBC 6 Music, BBC Radio 1Xtra or BBC Asian Network.
All material submitted to the BBC Music Introducing brand via the upload tool is classified by the BBC as User Generated Content (UGC),[13] and they encourage[14] users to read the Corporation's Terms of Use[15] in relation to UGC before uploading material.
Festival stages[edit]
BBC Music Introducing has hosted a stage at festivals since 2007. In the last ten years Introducing has been present at Glastonbury Festival, Reading and Leeds Festivals, Latitude Festival, T in the Park, Radio 1's Big Weekend, Cheltenham Jazz Festival, Reeperbahn, 6 Music Live, Winter Jazzfest in New York, South by Southwest and more.
In 2017 BBC Music Introducing was present at Creamfields and the Amsterdam Dance Event (ADE), focusing solely on DJs and electronic acts for the first time.
Previous acts to have played the Introducing stages include Jack Garratt, Ed Sheeran, George Ezra, Bombay Bicycle Club, Little Simz, Blossoms, Loyle Carner, Slaves, Rosie Lowe, Glass Animals, Soak, Viola Beach, Catfish and the Bottlemen, James Bay, Royal Blood and CHVRCHES.
BBC Music Introducing Artist of the Year Award
Significant impact (with aid from the platform)
United Kingdom
BBC Music (formerly at BBC Music Awards)
2014
Nia Archives (2022)