BBC Radio 3 Pitch Email Templates for Artists | TAP

[ARTIST NAME] - [ALBUM TITLE], out [DATE]

Hello [PRODUCER NAME],

I am sending [ARTIST NAME]'s [ALBUM TITLE], out on [DATE] on [LABEL], for consideration on [PROGRAMME NAME].

[ARTIST] works in [SPECIFIC FORM OR TRADITION], and this record does [ONE SPECIFIC THING: a first recording of a particular work, a new arrangement, a change of instrumentation, a collaboration].

Details: [NUMBER] tracks, [TOTAL RUNTIME], recorded at [VENUE OR STUDIO] in [MONTH YEAR]. [PERFORMERS AND INSTRUMENTATION].

The track I would point you to first is [TRACK, TIMING], because [ONE REASON, about the music].

Listen here: [PRIVATE STREAM LINK]. A physical copy is available if you would prefer one. Sleeve notes, artwork and performer biographies are at [LINK].

[YOUR NAME]
[PHONE]

Name the programme and the producer, or the message reads as a circular. Give the runtime and the performers, because those decide whether a piece can be scheduled. Point to one track with a timing rather than asking someone to find the good part. Send a link that plays in a browser, never an attachment.

Session offer: [ARTIST OR ENSEMBLE NAME], [MONTH]

Hello [PRODUCER NAME],

[ARTIST OR ENSEMBLE] could record a session for [PROGRAMME NAME] on any of these dates: [THREE OR FOUR SPECIFIC DATES ACROSS FOUR WEEKS].

The group is [INSTRUMENTATION], [NUMBER] players. For a session we would play [REPERTOIRE: two or three specific pieces, with durations], which runs to about [TOTAL].

It would sit on [PROGRAMME] because [ONE REASON tied to something the programme actually played recently].

We need [TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS: piano, amplification, room size, anything unusual]. We can travel to [LOCATION] and can bring our own instruments.

Those dates are held until [DATE]. Recent recordings are at [LINK] if you want to hear how the group sounds live.

[YOUR NAME]
[PHONE]

Hold the dates before you offer them. Studio time is planned well ahead, so vague availability is the same as no availability. Give durations for each piece and a total. Say what you need technically at the start rather than after a yes, because that is what decides whether a session is bookable at all.

New work: [WORK TITLE] by [COMPOSER], premiere [DATE]

Dear [PRODUCER NAME],

[COMPOSER] has written [WORK TITLE], [DURATION] for [INSTRUMENTATION]. It is premiered on [DATE] at [VENUE] by [PERFORMERS], commissioned by [COMMISSIONER] with support from [FUNDER].

The piece [ONE PARAGRAPH ON THE WORK ITSELF: the material it is built from, the form, what the composer set out to do. Written as a programme note, not as promotion].

What is available: [a recording of the premiere / a studio recording on DATE / a score]. Happy to arrange for you to hear it before the performance.

[COMPOSER]'s previous work includes [TWO PIECES, with performers and dates].

Score excerpt, biography and technical specification: [LINK].

[YOUR NAME]
[PHONE]

Premieres need long lead times because a broadcast has to be planned around a performance date. Say who commissioned the work and who is funding it, since both are part of the story. Write the description the way a programme note is written: what the music does, in the language of music. Keep the score to those who ask.

[EVENT NAME], [DATE]: broadcast proposal

Hello [PRODUCER NAME],

[EVENT NAME] takes place at [VENUE] on [DATE]. The programme is [WORKS AND COMPOSERS, WITH DURATIONS], performed by [PERFORMERS].

What makes it worth recording: [ONE OR TWO SENTENCES, specific to the programme. A first performance, an unusual pairing, an ensemble rarely heard in this repertoire].

The strongest twenty minutes for broadcast would be [SPECIFIC WORKS AND TIMINGS].

Venue and logistics: [ACOUSTIC, CAPACITY, GET-IN TIMES, ANY RECORDING RESTRICTIONS]. The performers have agreed to a recording and their agreement covers broadcast.

Happy to discuss whichever format suits: live, recorded for later, or extracts.

[YOUR NAME]
[PHONE]

Confirm the performers have agreed to being recorded before you offer the event, because withdrawing later costs you the relationship. Name the twenty minutes worth broadcasting rather than offering the whole evening. Venue acoustics and access times are part of the decision, so include them without being asked.

Re: [ORIGINAL SUBJECT LINE]

Hello [PRODUCER NAME],

Following up on the note below about [ARTIST] and [WORK OR RECORD], out on [DATE].

One thing has changed since I wrote: [SOMETHING REAL AND NEW: a performance date confirmed, a review, a second broadcaster interested, a recording now available].

If it is not for [PROGRAMME], that is completely fine and I will not keep asking. If there is somewhere else at Radio 3 it would suit better, I would be glad to know.

[YOUR NAME]
[PHONE]

One follow-up, once, about a week later, and only if you have something new to add. No answer is an answer and chasing it costs you the next pitch too. Offering an easy way to say no is what makes people reply, and a redirection to the right programme is worth more than a yes on the wrong one.

Session offer: [BAND NAME], [MONTH]

Hello [PRODUCER NAME],

[BAND NAME] is [INSTRUMENTATION AND PLAYERS, with one line on who they play with elsewhere]. We are available to record for [PROGRAMME NAME] on [SPECIFIC DATES].

What we would play: [TWO OR THREE PIECES, originals or arrangements, with durations and a word on each].

Recent work: [RELEASE, DATE, LABEL] and [NOTABLE PERFORMANCES, with venues and dates].

It suits [PROGRAMME] because [ONE REASON tied to something recently broadcast on it].

A live recording from [VENUE, DATE] is at [LINK], which is the closest thing to how the band sounds in a room.

[YOUR NAME]
[PHONE]

The jazz programmes take new and experimental players seriously, so lead with what the group actually does rather than with numbers. A live recording persuades where a polished studio track does not, because a session is a live performance. Check which jazz programme you are writing to on BBC Sounds first, since they differ from each other more than they look.

[ARTIST NAME]: [ONE-LINE DESCRIPTION]

Hello [PRODUCER NAME],

[ARTIST NAME] plays [FORM OR TRADITION], [WHERE FROM AND WHERE BASED]. [ONE SENTENCE on how they learned it and who they learned it from, which is the part that establishes the music].

The new record, [TITLE], out [DATE], does [SPECIFIC THING: a repertoire rarely recorded, an instrument used differently, a collaboration across two traditions, a set of songs collected somewhere particular].

For broadcast: [interview and extracts / a live session / a recorded performance], running [DURATION].

Available [DATES], based in [PLACE], and happy to travel to [LOCATION].

Recordings, biography and background at [LINK].

[YOUR NAME]
[PHONE]

Say where the music comes from and who taught it, precisely. Vagueness about origin is the thing these producers notice first. Avoid describing the music as a blend of anything unless you can name what is being blended and why. Lead times here are shorter than for classical work, so four to six weeks is usually enough.

Proposal: [PROJECT TITLE]

Hello [PRODUCER NAME],

I would like to propose [PROJECT TITLE] by [ARTIST OR COLLECTIVE]: [DURATION], made as [FORMAT: a studio composition, a multi-channel piece, a recording made in a specific place].

What it is: [TWO OR THREE SENTENCES on the sound and the structure. What a listener hears, in order. Not what it means].

Why it works on radio specifically: [ONE SENTENCE. Some work does not, and saying so plainly is what separates a proposal from a pitch].

[ARTIST] has previously made [TWO PIECES, with where they were broadcast, performed or released].

What exists so far: [a demo, a completed piece, a score, a plan]. What it would need: [STUDIO TIME, ENGINEERING, TIMESCALE].

A short excerpt is at [LINK].

[YOUR NAME]
[PHONE]

Describe the sound in order, as heard, rather than describing the concept. Be honest about what already exists and what does not, because a proposal that overstates its readiness falls apart at the first production question. Identify the strand before writing: this is the one kind of pitch where sending to the wrong programme is obvious immediately.