Hey everyone! First of all I’d like to thank everyone who’s supported FOTN so far in 2026, from sending us tracks to voting on the listening post as well as spreading the word about the site. On behalf of the team we can’t thank you enough.
Since the beginning of the year, we’ve made some changes – for instance the big one being we will not be accepting AI generated tracks. This has not gone down well with those who advocate for it. There are various reasons for this, chief among them being that initially we asked for those submitting AI tracks to be upfront about it but then they took advantage of this by submitting multiple tracks under different names potentially taking up slots on the LP and faves that could have gone to artists that hadn’t used AI.
There are no exceptions to this rule, and we don’t intend to change it, any submissions found to be using AI including results that show up as inconclusive will be removed.
One thing we’ve added is the one minute tea break.
What’s that you say?
Well that’s a good question – It was an idea that I came up with while out on a walk. Basically, an artist who’s made the faves can record a video of one minute or less talking about how they made the faves, the story behind their track and what’s next. One minute is pretty good as it helps to get the word out about the artist, and doesn’t take long to do. I always encourage the artist to be as true to themselves as they can when recording these videos. The initial idea was that it’s bite size, enough for people to watch and get the word out about themselves, the idea of the one minute tea break came from the tea biscuits and a chat interviews that I do and based on the core questions that I ask – the story behind the song and what’s next. I gave the idea to social media genius Sherry and she made it happen. I am truly grateful to her as she’s the one that edits the videos together in quick turnaround time.
One thing that I find incredibly frustrating is that artists really aren’t good at supporting each other.
Case in point? If you look on social media for example at the BBC Introducing page when they ask who you’re into at the moment 9 times out of 10, people will say themselves. Never another artist. Why am I bringing this up? Well, when we publish the faves I DM each artist in turn via instagram to let them know they’ve made the faves, and to wait 90 days before submitting another track and most importantly to come and support their fellow artists on the following week’s listening post -only a few do this, and it’s quite disheartening. We keep the listening post open from Friday morning around 9:30am to 6pm Sunday evening so you can visit the listening post at any point and spend a maximum of 30 minutes checking out tracks. I’ve had all kinds of pushback on this – the way I see it is that likes and reposts seem to be currency on social media but if we could all make money on likes and reposts we’d all be rich but we rely on people coming to actually check out the posts. If I was to expand on this further, we’ve had it where artists on the listening post actually tell their fans to come and vote for them – left unchecked, they’d spend the entire weekend getting everyone they know to do it, which is against everything that we stand for it’s not a popularity contest – you’re trying out your tracks on a new audience. So where’s the enthusiasm for each other?
Anyway on a brighter note, while the inbox is closed I’ll be publishing articles from different sources, as well as posting videos – if you fancy writing for us let us know!
Until 7th September then…
Try not to burn the place down while we are away!
Heartfelt thanks, Del for all you do to keep the good ship FOTN afloat. It’s a privilege to be part of this team. I resonate with many of the points you make here. So…
ARTISTS: Being voted a Fresh Fave or chosen as an Alt Pick is a great achievement, so artists make a song and dance about it on your own socials!
When you enter a song, make sure your SoundCloud page has your links on it, or at minimum a simple linktree plus a brief bio. This helps those mod who have blogs or radio shows or reviews to write to find out more about you quickly.
Do come and vote for your favourite 5 tracks (excluding your own if you on the LP that week).
Support your fellow artists rather than seeing them as competitors. The best example I can give you of this is acts who get to know other acts in different cities and go on to swop gigs. If you’re well known in Bristol, find a band in Leeds, say, who complements your style or provides a nice contrast. Book the Leeds band as your support on home turf and they can reciprocate with a gig in Leeds.
Just a few thoughts.
I didn’t realise that you’d banned AI… Good. I am getting constant ads for Suno et al just because I took a little bit of notice a few weeks back to see what it would do with my own musical creations. The pressure to conform online is significant, much like a car salesman selling gap insurance. Why use your own imagination when AI can do it? “You too can be Ennio Morricone” just by putting a few chords into an mp3 and uploading them. They must spend a fortune on social media ads.
I wasn’t convinced before, but I am now. Lets quote Mrs Thatcher. No, no, no.
Yeah I implemented the ban in June, but I had been quietly removing them as they were coming in. At one point the LP had at least two and I didn’t want them to feel encouraged to make up half the faves, it just wasn’t morally right especially since that’s not what we are about. The comments in response from the AI prompters were an eye opener I can tell you.
Thank you Del, I 100% support your ban on Ai, even though I use it (and this may seem strange) it’s never going to be a level playing field between someone who has learned written, performed and recorded ‘the organic way’ and Ai. Secondly people are kidding themselves that trying to pass off Ai as real is an effective musical strategy, the basic economics just don’t work, you can’t play live, and the streaming payouts don’t add up. Keep up the great work and enjoy the summer!