G1Guide · BBC Introducing

How to pitch BBC Introducing as an unsigned artist.

BBC Introducing is the most realistic on-ramp to the BBC for a UK artist with no manager, no label and no press campaign behind them. Here is how the platform actually works, where to send your track, and what to put in the email so it gets listened to.

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What BBC Introducing is, and where your track actually goes.

BBC Introducing is the BBC's long-running platform for unsigned, self-released and indie artists in the UK. It isn't one radio station — it's a network: a national upload portal, a set of shows on BBC local stations across England and the devolved nations, a step towards BBC Radio 1, 1Xtra, 2 and 6 Music, and a stage at major UK festivals. It was built so an artist with no team behind them can still reach a BBC producer.

There are two doors, and most beginners mix them up. The online upload portal is the national form on the BBC Introducing site where you submit an MP3, a short description and up to three tracks. Every upload sits in a shared national pool that local Introducing producers can browse. The other door is the Uploader show — a live broadcast on your regional BBC local station where the local Introducing DJ plays tracks pulled from that same pool, often with the artist in the studio or on the line. Pick the region that fits the size and shape of your audience, not the one nearest your postcode; the local network will recognise your venues and names if they're its own.

Upload portal

National inbox · all genres

Local Uploader show

Region-specific · weekly

BBC Introducing Mixtape

6 Music · curated picks

Network radio

Radio 1, 2, 6 Music pipeline

BBC festival stages

Glastonbury, Big Weekend etc.

Submission shape

MP3 · one-paragraph pitch · links

Best backlog

1–3 finished tracks, fully credited

What we don't send

Demos, lyrics in the body, ZIPs

The pitch email, and the mistakes to dodge.

Worked example

A short, well-shaped Introducing pitch.

To: introducing.your-region@bbc.co.uk

Hi [Introducing presenter name],

I'm Elin Marsh, a songwriter from Sheffield. I'm getting in touch ahead of my next single "Carbon Light", out 14 November on my own label.

It came out of a residency I did at a local venue last spring, where I played fifty songs in a month and kept the five that mattered. "Carbon Light" was the one audiences asked about after every set.

I've attached the MP3, the photo and a one-paragraph bio. Streaming links: [Spotify / Bandcamp]. Live in Sheffield / Manchester / Leeds over the next two months.

Thanks for the listen,

Elin · elinmarshmusic.co.uk

Don't do this

Things that get an Introducing pitch deleted.

Sending the lyrics in the body. Producers read the description first; lyrics on first contact don't help.
A three-page press release. Keep it under 150 words — short paragraphs, one genre reference and one comparable artist.
The wrong region. Pitching your Manchester band to the wrong BBC local show on the assumption "it's all the same BBC" loses you a producer who might otherwise have championed you.
Re-uploading the same track five times. It gets flagged. Upload it once, well; come back with the next single.
Sending Drive or WeTransfer links that expire.If a producer opens it a week after you sent it, the link should still work.

After you hit upload.

What happens next isn't a black box. Your track sits in the national pool; local BBC Introducing producers — and the small team that feeds the BBC Introducing Mixtape on 6 Music — browse it alongside several thousand other tracks a month. If your song fits an upcoming Uploader show, the producer replies with a date, a slot window and a request for live dates or press hooks. Silence isn't a judgement on the song — it's the queue doing its job.

Use the silence productively. Pitch the same record to your local BBC Introducing show by email if the national inbox hasn't surfaced it within six to eight weeks — local shows read their own mail and will often pick up tracks the national pool didn't. Line up two or three small live dates in the same region, put the next single in the diary, and come back to the upload portal with a fresh track in the same clean shape. That second upload is usually the one that lands an Introducing play.

If you'd rather hand this over

Best Music Marketing pitches BBC Introducing on a retainer's brief.

If you've got a release in motion and the time it takes to pitch, follow up and chase intro plays isn't there, we run campaigns to BBC Introducing, local BBC, 6 Music and the wider radio network from a single brief. Quite Great has been plugging records in the UK since 1996.

Send us the brief

FAQBBC Introducing Questions

The questions people always ask.

Do I need a press release or a manager before pitching BBC Introducing?

No. BBC Introducing was built for unsigned, self-released artists with no team behind them. A clean MP3, a one-line description of what you're doing and a working email address is enough to make a serious go of it.

Can I upload the same track to BBC Introducing more than once?

Don't. Re-uploading the same song in a short window gets flagged and usually gets ignored. One clean upload per song, then move on, build your next one, and come back to Introducing with a fresh release when it's ready.

How long does it take to hear back from BBC Introducing?

There is no guaranteed response time. National inbox uploads can take weeks before a producer listens; local Introducing shows reply faster because the inbox is smaller. If you haven't heard anything in six to eight weeks, that's the moment to re-pitch a new track — not the same one.

Want someone to pitch BBC Introducing for you?

Send us the artist, the release date, two or three tracks and a paragraph of story and we'll come back with a short proposal.

ask@quitegreat.co.uk