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Famous faces who were championed by 大象传媒 Music Introducing

If you keep up to date with new music, you might be aware that 大象传媒 Music Introducing has been supporting the next generation of talent for more than 15 years.

There are so many artists who have been hailed as ones to watch recently who have long Introducing histories, including Joy Crookes, Yard Act, Griff, Holly Humberstone, and Radio 1’s Sound Of winners Celeste, PinkPantheress and FLO.

But you may not know that Introducing has a lot of very famous alumni, all of whom started their journey with us in the same way - by submitting a track to the 大象传媒 Music Introducing uploader - and some of whom ended up becoming household names.

Ed Sheeran

Did you know that Ed Sheeran was supported by Introducing in Suffolk? He first created an account in March 2009, when he was only 18 years old, and was played on the show for the first time the following month. Just two years later, he headlined the 大象传媒 Music Introducing stage at Glastonbury, in the summer of 2011 - and six years later he went on to headline the entire festival.

Florence + The Machine

Florence and the Machine performs at South by Southwest 2008

Florence and the Machine performs at the 大象传媒 Introducing showcase at South by Southwest 2008 in Texas.

大象传媒 Introducing has supported Florence + the Machine since shortly after it was founded in 2007. At that point, the band had also only recently formed, and Introducing was so taken with their music that they took them to Texas to perform a set on their stage at South By Southwest festival, which is definitely worth a watch! The energy during ‘Kiss With A Fist’ was so high that Florence Welch actually leapt off the stage and jumped into a small pool inside the venue, and chaos ensued from there. They performed an Introducing session at the legendary Maida Vale Studios not long afterwards, and you can hear Florence’s accompanying interview here where she tells Steve Lamacq all about that iconic Texas set.

The 1975

The pop-rock four-piece have been supported by the Introducing show in Manchester since before they had even decided on the name that would eventually make them famous. When they first came into the studios at 大象传媒 Manchester in 2009, the band were using the name Drive Like I Do. Over the years they have popped back to visit their local team, like in the picture above!

Little Simz

Like Florence + the Machine, Little Simz took to the 大象传媒 Introducing stage at South By Southwest just before she released her debut album. But Simz had been making music for half a decade at that point - she first registered with 大象传媒 Music Introducing in 2010 as LIL SIMZ when she was only 16 years old, and had support from Introducing in London from early on. In the time since then she’s won the Mercury Prize for her album Sometimes I Might Be Introvert, acted in Netflix’s Top Boy and even appeared as herself performing her music in a Marvel film!

IDLES

IDLES - Well Done // live at SXSW 2017

Glorious, irresistible chaos. IDLES perform inedible track Well Done at SXSW in Austin.

The Bristol-based band uploaded their first demo track to 大象传媒 Introducing in the West back in 2009, and it got them their first radio play. They have performed for Introducing many times throughout their career, from early Den sessions, to sets at Brisfest, to Maida Vale sessions, and going to South by Southwest, and in 2022, they were invited to curate their own artists for the 大象传媒 Music Introducing stage at Glastonbury!

George Ezra

George Ezra was first played by Introducing in the West in February 2012, and by 2013, he was already getting a lot of attention from the music industry. He was brought in for a session at 大象传媒 Bristol, he performed at Maida Vale studios, and later that year, the local team were even treated to the very first performance of 'Budapest’ when it was still unreleased, only a month after he’d written it, which you can watch above.

Wolf Alice

Wolf Alice uploaded music from their very first EP to 大象传媒 Introducing back in 2012 and have been supported by the local team in London ever since. Over the years they have performed on Introducing stages, including an energetic secret set at Reading & Leeds in 2015, and in 2022 they curated a line-up for the Introducing stage at Glastonbury.

Lewis Capaldi

Scotland’s funniest singer-songwriter has been uploading to 大象传媒 Introducing since 2013 - long before his debut single 'Bruises' hit the mainstream in 2017. He had his first ever radio play on Introducing in Scotland, and had his debut performance at Glastonbury Festival as a secret set on the 大象传媒 Music Introducing stage. You can watch him performing 'Bruises' above, in a special Maida Vale session recorded for Introducing.

Arlo Parks

Arlo Parks - Green Eyes (Introducing LIVE 2020)

A performance recorded in the 大象传媒 Radio Theatre exclusively for Introducing LIVE 2020.

Arlo Parks has been championed by Introducing in London since she uploaded her very first demos at the age of just 16. At the early stages her music was already garnering a lot of excitement, but she was catapulted into the spotlight with the release of her stunning debut album Collapsed in Sunbeams, which won the Mercury Prize in 2021. She has gone on to play festivals across the world, achieved support slots for the likes of Harry Styles and Billie Eilish, curated a line-up for the Introducing stage at Glastonbury, and she even hosted her own radio show!