BBC Asian Network Pitch Email Templates | TAP
Asian Network pitch email templates
By TAP Editorial Team
Quick answer
Send one email, to one show, to a named person, four to six weeks before release. Six lines at most: the release date, what the record is and what language it is in, one line that is only true of your record, a link that plays instantly, and your name. Follow up once after seven days in the same thread, then stop.
BBC Asian Network is its own national BBC station, with its own presenters and its own music decisions, and its music team is small enough that the same record arriving in four inboxes on one morning is noticed. So these templates all assume the same method: one show, one named person, one short email, four to six weeks before release, and one follow-up seven days later. Fill in the brackets with things that are true. Everything here is written to be read on a phone in under fifteen seconds.
New record, to one specialist show
The main one. Sent four to six weeks before release, to a named presenter or producer on the single show your record belongs in
Subject: [ARTIST] - [TRACK] - out [DATE] Hi [NAME], [TRACK] is out on [DATE]. It is [LANGUAGE] [FORM: eg Punjabi rap / bhangra / Bengali folk-pop], produced by [PRODUCER], and I think it belongs on [SHOW] rather than anywhere else on the station. [ONE sentence that is only true of this record. What it is about, who is on it, or what happened while you made it.] Listen: [LINK THAT PLAYS INSTANTLY] WAV and clean edit ready if you want them. [YOUR NAME] [PHONE OR EMAIL]
Six lines is the target and four is better. Name the show and mean it, because saying it belongs on one show and then sending the same email to three is the version of this that stops working. The line about why it belongs there is the whole pitch: if you cannot write one, you have picked the wrong show.
The follow-up
Seven days after the first email, in the same thread, once and only once
Hi [NAME], Just in case this got buried. [TRACK] is still out on [DATE]. [ONE new thing, if you have one: a play somewhere else, a date confirmed, a video going up. If you have nothing new, delete this line rather than inventing something.] Same link: [LINK] Thanks either way, [YOUR NAME]
Reply to your own original email so the record is attached to the thread. Three lines. No apology for following up and no second follow-up after this one. If it gets nothing, that is your answer, and the next record is the next attempt rather than the next email.
When the record is already out
For a record released in the last few weeks that is doing something, where the anticipation angle has gone but the evidence has arrived
Subject: [ARTIST] - [TRACK] - already picking up Hi [NAME], [TRACK] came out on [DATE]. I did not send it to you first and I should have. Since then: [THE CHECKABLE THINGS. Where it has been played, who has been booking it, what it did. Two facts, not five.] It sits closest to [SHOW] out of everything on the station. Listen: [LINK] [YOUR NAME]
Being late is fine and pretending otherwise is not. Specialist shows can play a record long after release, which is one of the real advantages of specialist radio over daytime. What makes this version work is that everything after the second line is now checkable, which the pre-release email could never be.
First contact with a show you have never written to
When you have no record out imminently and want the person to know who you are before you need something
Subject: [ARTIST], [CITY] Hi [NAME], I make [LANGUAGE] [FORM] in [CITY]. [ONE line on what it sounds like, in your own words rather than a genre list.] I have been listening to [SHOW] for a while. [ONE specific thing you heard on it recently and what you thought. Only if true.] Nothing to ask for. Next record is [DATE or 'early next year'] and I will send it when it is ready. Here is the last one if you are curious: [LINK] [YOUR NAME]
This works because it is the only email that week that does not want anything. Send it once, do not chase it, and expect no reply. Its whole job is that when the real email arrives in two months, the name is not completely new.
Thanking someone who played it
Sent in the same week as a play, with nothing attached and nothing asked for
Subject: thanks for the [TRACK] play Hi [NAME], Heard [TRACK] on [DAY]. Thank you, that meant a lot. [ONE sentence of something real, or nothing at all if there is nothing.] Next one is [DATE or 'early next year'] and I will send it over. [YOUR NAME]
Four lines, in the week it happened, with no link and no ask. This is the single highest-return email in the set and it is the one artists skip. Producers get pitched constantly and thanked rarely, and the next record arrives into a name they remember rather than a name they do not.
Community or local station with South Asian programming
For the stations that play new records more often, more quickly, and with less competition than a national one
Subject: [ARTIST] - [TRACK] - out [DATE] Hi [NAME], I am from [CITY / AREA] and [TRACK] is out on [DATE]. It is [LANGUAGE] [FORM], produced by [PRODUCER]. [ONE line on the local connection if there is one. Where you are from, where you play, who you made it with.] Listen: [LINK]. WAV ready if you want it. Happy to come in or record something if that is useful. [YOUR NAME] [PHONE]
The offer to come in is the difference here. Community stations often have time and want people in the building, and a session or a short interview is far more achievable than at a national station. A run of community plays is also real evidence you can put in front of a national producer later.
When there is a date in the calendar
For a record that connects to something already in the schedule, such as a festival week, Vaisakhi or a live date
Subject: [ARTIST] - [TRACK] - out [DATE], ahead of [EVENT] Hi [NAME], [TRACK] is out on [DATE], two weeks before [EVENT / DATE]. [ONE line on the connection, plainly. If it is only that the timing lines up, say that, rather than dressing it as something deeper.] [LANGUAGE] [FORM], produced by [PRODUCER]. Listen: [LINK] [YOUR NAME]
Radio plans around the calendar, so a record that fits a week already in the schedule is easier to place. The trap is stretching a connection that is not there, which is transparent and costs you more than the placement was worth. If the link is thin, use the standard template instead.
Frequently asked questions
Should I send the same record to several Asian Network shows?
No. The music team is small and the presenters talk to each other, so several copies of the same email arriving on one morning is visible and reads as a mailout. Pick the show your record belongs in and send there. If it goes nowhere, the next record is your next attempt rather than the next show on the list.
How do I find a named person rather than a general address?
Start with the programme page for the show, then the presenter's own accounts, where some say plainly how they want new music. In our own campaign data a named contact replies about five times as often as a general studio address, which is the largest single difference we have measured between one email and another. Ten minutes of looking changes the odds more than any rewrite.
What if the show has no stated route for new music?
Then use BBC Introducing, at bbc.co.uk/introducing/uploader. It is the BBC's own route for unsigned and under-the-radar UK artists, it feeds Asian Network alongside the other national stations, and the schedule currently carries a BBC Introducing slot on the station. A show that says nothing about submissions is usually a show that does not take them cold.
How long should the email be?
Six lines at most and four is better. It will be read on a phone between two other things, and everything you were going to add underneath is the reason it gets put aside until later. Release date, what the record is, one line that is only true of yours, one working link, your name.
Nobody replied. Should I try a different address?
No. Follow up once after seven days in the same thread, then stop. Stations also add records without replying to anybody, so check the Asian Network station page on BBC Sounds for what has recently been played before you conclude that nothing happened. Working around a silent contact by finding another address is the thing that closes the door properly.
From the field
Proof points
- Named contact reply rate vs studio@: 5x higher (Liberty Music PR campaign data, 2024-2026)
- Best UK send window: Tue/Wed 09:00-10:00 UK (Across 60+ campaigns)
- Optimal follow-up cadence: +7 days from initial pitch (Liberty internal data)
- Reply visibility blind spot: Stations add to rotation without replying (WARM monitoring vs email reply rate)
What actually happened
Eyes Glued, BBC Radio 6 Music: 153 plays across 6 weeks, accelerating in week 4. Track-led pitch with a single playable line. (March 2025)
Asian Network rewards specificity about the artist's diaspora, not the genre tag. I name the language, the community, and the show fit in the first line. Generic South Asian framing dies in the inbox. The producers are tighter-knit than most stations and a bad pitch closes the door for the next campaign. Send less, send right.
Chris Schofield, Radio plugger, Liberty Music PR
Related resources
Further reading
- TAP Blog — In-depth guides, comparisons and advice for independent artists running their own promotion.
- UK Music — The voice of the UK music industry, representing labels, publishers, and collecting societies.
- Music Week — Industry news, charts, and analysis for music professionals.
- The Music Network — Global music business intelligence and networking.
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