SUPPORTING NEW TALENT – BBC RADIO 1’S BIG WEEKEND TO PLATFORM LIVERPOOL’S EMERGING ARTISTS

The excitement around BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend is building as the line-up for all three days is announced, with the event now less than three months away.

Understandably, most of the attention will be around the headliners and the big names because that’s where the focus is for media and fans. Most festivals are built around the superstar artists because they tend to be the ones that sell the tickets, but music obsessives like me are just as interested in looking at those artists lower down the bill.

The beauty of events like the Big Weekend is that you get an opportunity to see some of the country’s most exciting emerging artists all in one place without any effort whatsoever – well, you might have to walk a bit between stages and wait in a queue to experience the joys of festival toilets – but you get what I mean.

I’ve always loved seeing artists in the early stages of their careers which is why I’ve spent far too much of my life in small sweaty venues or at the smaller stages of festivals. These lesser-known artists may not be as polished as some of the headliners but you get to experience the excitement of artists enjoying their first moments in the sun and giving it their absolute all for every minute of every set.

You should remember that some of those lower down the bill will be future headliners in their own right – so see them while they are still young and hungry and fighting for your attention. I’ve been lucky enough to see people like U2, Coldplay, Killers, Radiohead, Ed Sheeran and The 1975 early in their live careers (although, being honest, the only ones I’d pay to see now would be Radiohead). So, my advice to all you festival-goers is – get there early and spend time at the smaller stages where you may well be watching the next Stormzy, Charli xcx or Fontaines D.C.

One of the many great things about the wonderful institution that is the BBC is that they understand new talent needs nurturing and exposure – that’s why platforms like BBC Radio 6 Music and BBC Introducing are so important. I can’t stress enough how vital the work of BBC Introducing is. Many of the big names of recent years are indebted to the initial leg-up they got from this strand of the BBC’s output. Locally, we are lucky to have Dave Monks at BBC Radio Merseyside. Dave lives and breathes music, loves to support young artists and acts as a funnel to the national Introducing channel.

It is gratifying to see half of the artists featured on the BBC Introducing stage line-up at Radio 1’s Big Weekend are from the Liverpool City Region, including my two tips to become the next artists to break-through to national success in the shape of Keyside and Koj.

Koj came through our own talent development programme, LIMF Academy, as did Superlate and Tonia who are also playing over the weekend. The fact that these three are on the bill is a great indicator of the success of the Academy and work that has been done to help get these young artists to this level. Other recent successes of the Academy include Jalen Ngonda who is already deservedly huge everywhere and Michael Aldag, whose talent will surely soon get the audience it deserves.

We all know that times are hard, and it has become noticeable over the last few years that most artists breaking through in the music industry have come from comfortable middle-class backgrounds. 15 years of austerity have made it more difficult for artists from disadvantaged backgrounds to break-through purely because they lack the opportunity and the financial means. In circumstances like this, programmes such as LIMF Academy and MYA’s Noise project (where Keyside started out) become even more important. We need to hear different voices.

So, when you get to Sefton Park, don’t forget to check out all the exciting young talent who deserve to be listened to.

Find out more about BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend at bbc.com/backstage/bigweekend.

Written by Kevin McManus, Head of Liverpool UNESCO City of Music.