In 2007, The BBC unveiled a service which allowed singers, bands and other aspiring music artists all over the United Kingdom to submit their demo tapes. Submissions are played (locally and then nationally) on the corporation's 32 radio stations and the musicians are sponsored at music festivals like Glastonbury, South By Southwest and BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend with the intention to promote submitters as much as possible to gain audiences and label signings.
Contrary to what the service might make you believe, unsigned musicians getting record label attention from radio promotion has been a part of UK radio culture from since the government's war on the Buccaneer Broadcaster era of The '50s and The '60s (and beyond that, in some cases). It was a way that pirate radio and the British music industry thrived symbiotically, and the overwhelming amount of illegal stations led to compromises; from the development of commerical and community radio to hiring old staff of popular pirate stations.note
A cynical view of BBC Introducing would be that it's another example of a reluctant government compromise that panders to its enemies after decades of antagonising them (the notorious Buccaneer Broadcaster Radio Caroline began after the BBC rejected Georgie Fame's music, for instance) but a counterargument might suggest BBC Introducing is an innocent system continuing the British radio legacy of getting the underdog heard.
The official uploading website is linked here.
Notable uploaders
- The 1975
- Olly Alexander
- alt-J
- AlunaGeorge
- The Amazons
- Gabrielle Aplin
- Bad Boy Chiller Crew
- James Bay
- Izzy Bizu
- Blossoms
- Bombay Bicycle Club
- Bored At My Grandmas House
- Jake Bugg
- Lewis Capaldi
- Cashier No 9
- Catfish and the Bottlemen
- Rachel Chinouriri
- CHVRCHES
- Circa Waves
- CMAT is from Ireland and was based in northern England at the time of applying
- Colorama
- Marina Diamandis
- Engine Earz
- Eugene And The Lizards
- Everything Everything
- George Ezra
- Sam Fender
- Florence + the Machine
- Fred again..
- FLO
- Jack Garratt
- Glass Animals
- Ellie Goulding
- Becky Hill
- Hozier, like CMAT, is from Ireland, but it's never been revealed when, how and where he was in the UK when he joined note
- IDLES
- Sam Isaac
- JME
- Cate Le Bon
- Little Simz
- London Grammar
- King Charles
- Declan McKenna
- Neon Plastix
- Nothing but Thieves
- Arlo Parks
- PinkPantheress
- Pint Shot Riot
- Police Car Collective
- Pulled Apart By Horses
- Dionne Reid
- Riz MC
- Rizzle Kicks
- Royal Blood
- Ben Sharpa, although from South Africa, performed on Glastonbury's BBC Introducting stage in 2007
- Ed Sheeran
- Myles Smith
- SOFT PLAY
- Sparrow And The Workshop
- Tigerstyle
- The Ting Tings
- Two Door Cinema Club
- Vessels
- Viola Beach
- Wet Leg
- Wolf Alice
- YONAKA
- Lola Young
Were not part of BBC Introducing, but were promoted similarly on BBC Radio
This section is dedicated to notable creators that didn't participate in the BBC Introducing platform for whatever reason (whether because they were not British residents or they became mainstream before the service's conception) but were still initially promoted by BBC Radio.- Daniel Bedingfield's Breakthrough Hit "Gotta Get Thru This" was distributed through pirate radio in 2001 but got him mainstream attention and label offers after celebrity UK garage promoter DJ EZ played it on air.
- Billy Bragg presented John Peel with his debut album at the studio in 1983.
- Lana Del Rey only received attention from record labels after Radio DJ Fearne Cotton played her song "Video Games" once a day for several weeks.
- HAIM, though initially discovered on British commercial station X Radio FM (now Radio X FM), was grandfathered in during 2013 upon their debut album's release.
- Pink Floyd were promoted by John Peel.
- The White Stripes were promoted by John Peel.