How to Track Your BBC Radio 1 Plays | TAP
Tracking Radio 1 plays and campaign reporting
By TAP Editorial Team
Quick answer
To find out whether Radio 1 played your track, open the show's programme page on bbc.co.uk: every music episode carries a Music Played tracklist with the broadcast date and time. Episodes stay on BBC Sounds for about a month. If you uploaded through BBC Introducing, your profile records each listen and each broadcast, and emails you both.
There is no live feed telling you when Radio 1 has played your record, which is why most artists find out by accident or not at all. What there is, if you know where to look, is a tracklist on every programme page, a playlist published once a week, and an email from BBC Introducing if the track came through the Uploader. These templates give you somewhere to put all of that, so that at the end of a release you know what happened rather than how it felt.
Play Log
One line per play, so that a run of plays stops being a vague memory and becomes something you can look at
[DATE] | [TIME] | [SHOW] | [PRESENTER] | [FIRST PLAY / REPEAT] | [DAYTIME / SPECIALIST] | [HOW YOU FOUND OUT] | [NOTES] Notes worth keeping: whether it was the full track or a clip, whether anything was said about you on air, whether it followed something you did that week. Record where the play came from as well as when, because that is the part that tells you what to do again next time.
Every BBC programme page on bbc.co.uk carries a Music Played list showing artist, track and label for that episode, and a Broadcast line showing the day and time it went out. Episodes stay available on BBC Sounds for roughly a month, so check within a few weeks or the page is your only record. If you uploaded to BBC Introducing, your profile also shows when a track has been listened to and when it has been broadcast, and you get an email either way.
Release Week Summary
A short weekly note to yourself during the active part of a release, so you can see the shape rather than a pile of individual plays
WEEK OF [DATE] | [ARTIST] | [TRACK] Plays this week: [NUMBER] across [NUMBER] shows First plays: [SHOW NAMES] Repeats: [SHOW NAMES] Playlist: [ON / NOT ON / MOVED FROM X TO Y] Anything said on air: [QUOTE OR NOTE] WHAT MOVED [Two or three sentences. What changed this week and what you think caused it.] WHAT I AM DOING NEXT WEEK [One or two things, named. Not a wish list.]
Write this on the same day each week and keep it short. The value is not in any single week but in reading four of them together at the end, when it becomes obvious which of the things you did actually moved anything. Be honest in the weeks where nothing happened, because a run of flat weeks is information too.
Playlist Position Tracker
Following whether a track appears on Radio 1's published playlist and what happens to it over the following weeks
PLAYLIST TRACKER | [ARTIST] | [TRACK] Week | Date checked | List | New this week | Notes 1 | [DATE] | [A / B / C / not listed] | [YES / NO] | [Anything else on the page: Introducing Tune of the Week, Future Artist] 2 | [DATE] | [LIST] | [YES / NO] | [WHAT CHANGED] 3 | [DATE] | [LIST] | [YES / NO] | [WHAT CHANGED] 4 | [DATE] | [LIST] | [YES / NO] | [WHAT CHANGED] WHERE THIS LEAVES ME [One paragraph. Whether the record is being carried by the station as a whole or by one or two shows, and what that means for the rest of the release.]
Radio 1 publishes its playlist on bbc.co.uk once a week, with A, B and C lists, new additions marked in bold and arrows showing anything that has moved up. The page also carries the BBC Introducing Tune of the Week and the station's Future Artist of the month. Screenshot it each week, because the page is replaced rather than archived and last week's version is gone.
What the Release Cost You
Working out what you actually spent on this release and what came back, in your own numbers rather than anybody else's
RELEASE SPEND | [ARTIST] | [TRACK OR ALBUM] Item | Amount | What it was for | Would I do it again Recording and mixing | [AMOUNT] | | Mastering | [AMOUNT] | | Artwork and photography | [AMOUNT] | | Distribution | [AMOUNT] | | Promotion | [AMOUNT] | | Video or session filming | [AMOUNT] | | Travel for radio or sessions | [AMOUNT] | | TOTAL | [AMOUNT] | | WHAT CAME BACK National radio plays: [NUMBER] Other station plays: [NUMBER] Press: [NUMBER OF PIECES, where] Streams in the first month: [NUMBER] Tickets, merch or records sold that you can trace to the release: [NUMBER] Royalties expected: [PRS registered YES / NO] [PPL registered YES / NO] THE ONE LINE [If you only remembered one sentence about the economics of this release, what would it be.]
Nobody publishes a credible cost-per-play figure and the ones circulating are made up, so do not benchmark yourself against them. Compare this release against your own last one instead. If you have a PRS for Music ID, radio play generates royalties, and BBC Introducing asks for that number at upload precisely so plays can be reported. Registering with PPL as well covers the recording side.
Specialist Show Log
Tracking the evening and weekend shows separately, because that is usually where an independent record actually gets played
SPECIALIST SHOWS | [ARTIST] | [TRACK] | [RELEASE PERIOD] Show | Presenter | Day and time | First play | Total plays | Notes [SHOW] | [PRESENTER] | [SLOT] | [DATE] | [NUMBER] | [Did they say anything, did they come back to it, did you write to them or did it arrive another way] WHAT THIS TELLS YOU Strongest support: [SHOW] and why you think so New this release: [SHOW] and how it happened No response: [SHOW] and whether you actually sent it there NEXT RELEASE [Which of these shows you now have a real relationship with, and which you are still cold to.]
Keep this log across releases rather than starting a new one each time. A show that played you once and then again eighteen months later is worth more than three shows that played you once, and you will only see that pattern if the log is continuous. Note honestly where you never actually sent the track, because that is the cheapest gap to close.
Weekly Note to Whoever Is Helping You
A short update to a manager, bandmate, label contact or anyone else working the release, so nobody has to ask how it is going
Subject: [TRACK] radio update, week of [DATE] Hi [NAME], This week: [Play, show, date] [Play, show, date] [Playlist movement, or none] Where we are: [ONE LINE, honest] What I am doing next: [ONE OR TWO NAMED THINGS] What would help: [ONE SPECIFIC ASK, or say there is nothing this week] [YOUR NAME]
Under 200 words, same day each week. Say the flat weeks plainly rather than dressing them up, because the person reading it can tell, and a note that is always upbeat stops being read. Making the ask specific and optional is what gets it acted on.
Where You Sent It, and What Came Back
A record of everything you sent and to whom, so that six months later you know who has already heard this and who has not
SUBMISSION LOG | [ARTIST] Track | Sent to | Route | Date sent | Reply | Outcome | Notes [TRACK] | [SHOW OR PERSON] | [Uploader / show contact page / email given on air / passed on by someone] | [DATE] | [NONE / DATE] | [PLAYED / PASSED / NOTHING] | [What you would change] PATTERNS WORTH NOTING Routes that produced a reply: [WHICH] Routes that produced silence: [WHICH] How long a reply took when one came: [RANGE] Who has now heard two or more of your records: [NAMES] FOR THE NEXT ONE [Two or three lines. Where to start next time and where not to bother.]
The BBC does not publish producer contacts and does not confirm how or when music is selected, so this log is the only picture you will get of what works for you specifically. Most BBC programme pages have a Contact tab with whatever that show has chosen to publish, and for UK artists the Introducing Uploader at bbc.co.uk/introducing/uploader is the route the BBC does offer. Log which one each send used.
End of Release Review
Sitting down a few weeks after the release has run its course and writing down what actually happened while you can still remember it
RELEASE REVIEW | [ARTIST] | [TRACK OR ALBUM] | [DATES] WHAT HAPPENED National radio: [PLAYS, SHOWS] Other radio: [PLAYS, STATIONS] Playlist: [YES / NO, and where] Press: [WHAT AND WHERE] Live: [DATES PLAYED, HOW THEY WENT] WHAT WORKED [Two or three things you would do again, with the reason.] WHAT DID NOT [Two or three things, honestly. Including anything you paid for that produced nothing.] WHAT I NEVER GOT ROUND TO [The things that were on the plan and did not happen. Usually the most useful section.] NEXT RELEASE [Three decisions, made now while the evidence is fresh rather than in a panic six weeks before the next single.]
Write this two to four weeks after the last of the activity, when you have enough distance to be honest and not so much that the detail has gone. Keep every one of these. Reading three consecutive release reviews back to back is the single most useful hour an independent artist can spend, and it costs nothing.
Frequently asked questions
How do I find out whether Radio 1 has played my track?
Check the programme page for the show on bbc.co.uk. Every episode of a music programme carries a Music Played list with the artist, track and label for everything aired, plus the date and time of broadcast. Episodes are on BBC Sounds for about a month, so look within a few weeks. If the track went through the BBC Introducing Uploader, your profile records when it was listened to and when it was broadcast, and you are emailed both times.
Is there a public log of every play across the whole station?
Not in one place. The BBC publishes tracklists per episode rather than a searchable station-wide play log, so building a picture means checking the shows you care about rather than querying a database. Commercial airplay monitoring services exist and are used across the industry, but they are priced for labels rather than for one artist working a single release.
Should I count plays on other BBC stations in the same total?
Keep them separate. A Radio 1 daytime play, a 6 Music evening play and a play on your local BBC Introducing show are three different things with three different audiences, and adding them together hides which of them is actually working. List each station on its own line and let the total be the sum rather than the headline.
How do I know if I am being paid for radio play?
Register the songwriting side with PRS for Music and the recording side with PPL, and make sure your track metadata matches what you registered. BBC Introducing asks for a PRS for Music ID at upload for exactly this reason, and it says plainly that you do not need to be a member to be played. Unregistered plays still count as plays, but the money attached to them goes unclaimed.
What is actually worth tracking?
First plays, which show gave them, whether anyone came back to the record a second time, and what you did in the week before each one. Total play count on its own tells you very little, because twenty repeats on one show and twenty first plays across twenty shows look identical in a total and mean completely different things about where your record stands.
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
Roam Belle: 96 plays across UK regional and community stations. Named-contact approach, declining curve in week 5. (Spring 2025)
Radio 1 is a younger-skew daytime playlist meeting and a long list of specialist shows. The daytime list barely opens to plugger pitches. Specialist is where independent acts land. I write a different pitch for each show, lead with the one playable thirty-second moment, and never copy in the daytime team on a specialist mail. The mistake I see most often is treating Radio 1 as one inbox.
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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