I'm a little bit annoyed this morning!
I was alerted to a tweet today that involved one of the UK's biggest and most well known broadcasters branding all unsigned artists as rubbish.
This was a direct reaction to him being asked why his show and the station he broadcasts on do not play unsigned artists.
You can listen yourself to the offending comment below - Thanks to @therockrevival for sharing!
Stations like these have a responsibility to encourage other creators and new talent to grow and be nurtured. This narrow-minded attitude to unsigned music is disgraceful.
After all EVERY SINGLE BAND played on that station was unsigned at some point.
Unsigned does NOT mean it's bad.
Many many acts these days choose the independent route.
That's not to say being signed is a bad thing, but it isn't for everyone. Some of my most favourite bands are unsigned and the majority of them play sold out gigs consistently, get awesome support slots and festivals and are pretty bloody happy with the way their careers are going.
I will always maintain that for any unsigned emerging artist the local, community, online and specialist music shows and outlets within those are the most valuable assets. These types of shows have a wonderful community of genuine, loyal and active music fans who hunt out these types of stations BECAUSE they play unsigned music and they won't hear the same 30 songs over and over throughout the day.
These people actively play a part in growing the unsigned music scene.
They support the music they hear, act on music they like. Search out the artists online, follow a social account, stream on Spotify, go to a gig, buy merchandise. They are a driving force in promoting that artist among their networks and friends. These have so much more of an impact on the music scene than one solitary broadcaster.
This is imperative for any new artist who is trying to grow a fanbase.
You will gain so much more when it comes to a fan base from being played on half a dozen of these shows than you would from someone listening to a national station in their car on the way to work.
Outlets such as Emerging Rock Bands who have not only an online radio station but also a bi-monthly printed magazine that ONLY features new and emerging talent, is a perfect example of one of these outlets.
Lets also not forget that people like Mr Moyles started out their broadcasting careers at stations like these. I would imagine unsigned and new artists played a big part in his showreels when looking for a bigger broadcasting job.
Not all of the bigger broadcasters have this attitude however. There are some good ones.
Take a look at the wonderful Alyx Holcombe, one of the most supportive broadcasters for new music. She started doing her own show, went on to Kerrang and is now presenting her own new music show on BBC Radio 1. So many of the bands she plays have been regulars since the start of her career. She is now one of the biggest tastemakers of the alternative scene.
In my experience, national radio is of course an amazing thing. Hearing your song on a big mainstream station is such an incredible achievement, but if you don't get that it has no bearing on how good you are as an artist.
Many of the artists I know and have worked with have seen so much growth without having ever been on national radio.
Is it good for building some credibility? Yes it is, but can you make it without it? Yes you can.
When you get to that level, people like Chris will be falling over themselves to interview you. You can take pride in yourself for telling him to piss off for not supporting you from the start.
So I will just reiterate the point for those who didn't hear it. 'Unsigned' does not mean it's bad. Anyone with that sort of attitude is not the sort of person you want commenting on your music anyway!