BBC Radio 2 Pitch Email Templates for Artists | TAP

Hello, I'm [YOUR NAME] and I make records as [ARTIST NAME]. My new single [SINGLE TITLE] is out on [DATE]. It is [GENRE / ONE LINE ON WHAT IT SOUNDS LIKE], and if you have added [COMPARABLE RECORD FROM A RECENT RADIO 2 PLAYLIST] recently, this sits in the same room. Behind it: [ONE OR TWO CHECKABLE FACTS, for example previous Radio 2 play, a tour, a support slot, a producer name]. Audio here: [PRIVATE LINK]. I can record a session in [MONTH] if that is useful. Thanks for listening to it.

Lead with what the record is and who made it, then one comparable that is actually on the current playlist rather than one from three years ago. Read the Radio 2 New Music Playlist page on bbc.co.uk first, where the A, B and C lists go up each week with new additions marked. Keep any number you quote real and modest: an inflated figure is easy to check and hard to recover from.

Hello [SHOW NAME], my album [ALBUM TITLE] comes out on [DATE]. It is [SPECIFIC GENRE DETAIL, instruments and tradition rather than a label], recorded [WHERE / HOW]. The track I would point you at is [TRACK TITLE], because [ONE SENTENCE ON WHY IT FITS THIS SHOW SPECIFICALLY]. I heard you play [RECENT TRACK FROM THAT SHOW] and that is the company this record keeps. I have [TOURING / FESTIVALS / PREVIOUS PLAY IN THIS GENRE]. Audio: [PRIVATE LINK]. Happy to send the full record or come in for a session.

Radio 2's specialist hours are named after what they cover and who presents them: The Folk Show with Mark Radcliffe, The Jazz Show with Jamie Cullum, The Blues Show with Cerys Matthews, The Country Show and The Rock Show among them. Check bbc.co.uk/schedules for the current line-up before you write, because presenters and sit-ins change. Be specific about instrumentation and tradition; vague genre words are the first thing a specialist presenter discounts.

Hello [SHOW NAME], [ALBUM TITLE] is out on [DATE] and I would love to bring it in. It is [GENRE], recorded [WHERE], with [NOTABLE PLAYER OR PRODUCTION DETAIL]. I can play it as [FULL BAND / TRIO / SOLO], and I am free [WEEKS]. A session would show [THE THING THE RECORDING DOES THAT A PLAY DOES NOT, for example the arrangement, the harmonies, the room it was cut in]. Audio: [PRIVATE LINK]. If a session is not possible I would still be glad if you gave [TRACK TITLE] a listen.

A session is often an easier yes than a playlist add, and it is worth more than one play. Say honestly what you can bring: promising a full band and turning up with an acoustic guitar is remembered. Radio 2 runs live music under its own strands, including Radio 2 In Concert, and Jo Whiley's evening hour regularly carries new music and sessions. Listen to how a show does its sessions before you offer one.

Hello, [SINGLE TITLE] is out on [DATE]. It could be read either way, and I am bringing it to Radio 2 first because [ONE CLEAR REASON, for example who comes to the shows, how the record is arranged, what the songs are about]. I have not sent it to Radio 1 at the same time. [ONE OR TWO CHECKABLE FACTS]. Audio: [PRIVATE LINK]. If you think I have called it wrong I would rather know that than be quietly filed.

Pick one station and say why. Sending the same email to both on the same morning is visible from the inside and reads as a scattergun. If you cannot articulate why a record belongs on one rather than the other, spend an hour with both playlists, which are published weekly on bbc.co.uk, and the answer usually appears.

Following up on [PREVIOUS TRACK], which you passed on in [MONTH]. Since then [WHAT ACTUALLY CHANGED, for example a chart entry, a run of sold-out dates, support at another station, a different song]. I think I pitched the wrong track the first time. [NEW TRACK TITLE] is the one, because [ONE SENTENCE]. Audio: [PRIVATE LINK]. No hard feelings either way, and thank you for the first listen.

Only come back when something has moved that they can see for themselves. Framing it as your misjudgement rather than theirs is both truer and easier to read. A note that says nothing except that you are checking in gets deleted, and it costs you the next one as well.

[ALBUM TITLE] is out on [DATE] and the single is [SINGLE TITLE], but the one I would actually send you is [TRACK TITLE]. It is [WHAT IT IS, for example the long one, the one with the string arrangement, the one recorded live in a single take], and it does [SPECIFIC THING]. It is not the radio-safe choice, which is why I think it belongs on your show rather than in daytime. Audio: [PRIVATE LINK].

This works on specialist hours and almost never on daytime. It also tells a presenter something useful about you: that you know your own record and are not simply forwarding whatever the release plan says. Only do it when the track really is the strongest thing there, because a presenter who takes your recommendation once and is disappointed will not take the next one.

Hello [SHOW NAME], I'm [YOUR NAME], I make records as [ARTIST NAME] and I have listened to the show for a while. [ONE ACCURATE, SPECIFIC LINE ABOUT SOMETHING THEY PLAYED OR SAID]. I have a record coming in [MONTH] and rather than send it cold I wanted to say hello first. If it turns out not to be for you, that is fine and I would rather know. Here is one song in the meantime if you have three minutes: [PRIVATE LINK].

This is not a pitch, so do not sneak one into the last line. The point is that when the record arrives in three months, your name is not brand new. One specific and accurate reference to the show proves you listen and takes ten minutes to find, which is exactly why so few people bother.