Music PR in Scotland: Who to Pitch and Free Tools | TAP
Free tools for Edinburgh music PR
By TAP Editorial Team
Quick answer
Music PR in Scotland runs through BBC Radio Scotland and BBC Introducing, the press at The Skinny, The List and The Scotsman, the student and community stations, and the venue circuit around Sneaky Pete's, Summerhall and the Glasgow rooms. All of them take approaches directly from artists. The Fringe swallows August, so plan release dates around it rather than into it.
Music PR in Scotland has a short and reachable list of gatekeepers. BBC Radio Scotland and BBC Introducing sit at the centre, The Skinny, The List and The Scotsman carry most of the press, the student and community stations move fastest, and the venue circuit around Sneaky Pete's, Summerhall and the Glasgow rooms decides who gets seen. One timing rule outranks all of them: the Fringe swallows Edinburgh every August, so plan release windows around it. The free tools below let you track the whole scene without paying for monitoring.
Automated email notifications whenever your name, a venue you play or a release is mentioned anywhere on the web, including Edinburgh press, blogs and listings sites.
Free tier: Completely free with a Google account. No limits on number of alerts you can create.
Best for: Tracking mentions of your name across Scottish outlets like The Scotsman, STV, The Skinny and local music blogs, close to real time
Concert tracking platform that aggregates gig listings from venues across Edinburgh and Scotland, showing you which venues are active and what is already booked in your genre.
Free tier: Free tier includes full access to gig calendars and venue information. Premium features like artist alerts require paid subscription.
Best for: Monitoring Edinburgh and Glasgow venue calendars, following touring routes through Scotland, and timing a release around what else is on
Electronic and club music focused events guide with detailed Edinburgh venue listings, artist pages, and community-driven event information.
Free tier: Free access to all event listings, venue information, and artist profiles. No paid tier required for core features.
Best for: Essential for electronic, techno, and club music PR; tracks Edinburgh underground venues and festival appearances with high accuracy
Artist platform that doubles as a discovery and monitoring tool; track listener geography, see which Edinburgh-based artists are trending, and monitor release performance.
Free tier: Free artist accounts with full analytics. Bandcamp takes a revenue share on sales only if you sell through their platform.
Best for: Understanding Edinburgh's independent music ecosystem and identifying which genres and artists are gaining traction locally
Access BBC Radio Scotland, BBC Radio 1, and BBC Introducing content on-demand. Monitor what's being played and follow BBC Introducing Edinburgh specifically.
Free tier: Completely free with BBC account (no licence fee required for online use). Full archive access included.
Best for: Following BBC Introducing in Scotland and catching the moment your track gets airtime, which is where regional momentum starts
Dashboard showing your listener demographics, geography, and monthly listener trends. Free tool that reveals how your fanbase is geographically distributed.
Free tier: Completely free once you claim your profile. No hidden costs or limits.
Best for: Identifying whether your audience is concentrated in Edinburgh/Scotland and spotting geographic growth during regional PR campaigns
Use advanced search operators to find local journalist mentions, venue updates, and Edinburgh music scene conversations in real-time.
Free tier: Free with any Twitter account. No limits on searches performed.
Best for: Identifying Edinburgh music journalists, finding trending local conversations, and monitoring festival announcements as they break
UK press industry news including Scottish media updates, journalist lists, and local publication directories. Free resource for finding the right Edinburgh press contacts.
Free tier: Free to browse and search journalist/publication database. Some premium features available but core directory is accessible.
Best for: Building accurate Edinburgh and Scottish press contact lists, finding the right journalist for music coverage
Event discovery platform covering Edinburgh venues and festivals. Search by location, artist, and genre to see what's happening across the city.
Free tier: Completely free to search events and view listings. You only pay fees if selling tickets through their platform.
Best for: Tracking festival submissions, identifying emerging Edinburgh venues, and seeing which artists are building momentum locally
Search for music journalists, venue managers, and radio producers based in Edinburgh. Build targeted contact lists and view their recent activity.
Free tier: Free LinkedIn account provides basic search. Premium features cost extra but aren't essential for PR contact building.
Best for: Finding BBC producers, STV music contacts, and venue management on a professional network with verified credentials
These tools cover Edinburgh and the wider Scottish scene without a subscription between them. Used properly, they answer the only question that matters early in a campaign, which is whether anything is moving locally before you spend money trying to move it nationally.
Frequently asked questions
How do I get music PR in Scotland without paying for it?
Upload to BBC Introducing, which is free and is the main route into BBC Radio Scotland for a new artist. Then approach The Skinny and The List by writing to the individual writer rather than the editor, since that is how reviews there usually start. Add the student and community stations, which move faster than anything national, and the venues you have actually played. That covers most of what a paid campaign would do locally.
How do I tell whether I am getting BBC Introducing airplay in Scotland?
Monitor BBC Sounds and tune in to BBC Radio Scotland's specialist music shows, particularly the dedicated BBC Introducing slot. Cross-reference what you hear with your BBC iPlayer history and set Google Alerts for your name alongside "BBC Introducing" to catch confirmation from music blogs and local press.
What's the most reliable free source for Edinburgh gig listings when planning a campaign around competition?
Songkick and Resident Advisor between them cover it. Songkick handles the mainstream venues and touring artists broadly, while Resident Advisor specialises in electronic and underground venues that matter enormously in Edinburgh. Cross-check both to see the full picture of what venues are booking in your genre.
How do I identify which local journalists cover music in Edinburgh without paying for a press database?
Use Twitter Advanced Search to find Edinburgh journalists writing about music, set Google Alerts for local press outlets like The Scotsman and STV, and check bylines on articles about similar artists. LinkedIn searching for 'music journalist Edinburgh' or 'BBC Radio Scotland producer' gives you verified contacts with current roles listed.
Can I use free tools to monitor whether my PR push is creating regional momentum in Scotland?
Yes. Use Spotify for Artists to track listener growth by region, Google Alerts to catch press mentions spreading beyond Edinburgh, and BBC Sounds/Radio Scotland to see if you're picking up plays beyond just BBC Introducing Edinburgh. Bandcamp analytics show geographic listener distribution too, if you sell there.
What's the best way to track festival announcements and submission deadlines across Scotland?
Set Google Alerts for specific festival names plus 'submissions' or 'call for artists', monitor Eventbrite for festival pages and their deadlines, and follow festival Twitter accounts for announcements. Check Press Gazette Scotland periodically for festival press release coverage, which often includes submission information before it hits social media.
From the field
Proof points
- BBC Introducing local replies fastest: Within 48 hours for fits, silence for misfits (Liberty regional outreach data)
- Named contact reply rate vs studio@: 5x higher (Liberty Music PR campaign data, 2024-2026)
- Community station rotation lag: 1-2 weeks from pitch to first play (WARM monitoring across UK community network)
- Best UK send window: Tue/Wed 09:00-10:00 UK (Across 60+ campaigns)
What actually happened
Brii Elliss, WFUV (US) and UK community network: 39 pre-release plays, 1,790 contacts pitched, WFUV producer replied inside 30 minutes. (2025)
Edinburgh's promo circuit lives between BBC Radio Scotland, Sneaky Pete's, Summerhall and the Skinny. The Fringe distorts everything in August so I move release windows around it. Outside Fringe season, named producers at BBC Scotland reply quickly when the act fits the show. The Skinny reviews almost always start with a personal email to a writer, never the editor.
Chris Schofield, Radio plugger, Liberty Music PR
Related resources
Further reading
- TAP Blog — In-depth guides, comparisons and advice for independent artists running their own promotion.
- UK Music — The voice of the UK music industry, representing labels, publishers, and collecting societies.
- Music Week — Industry news, charts, and analysis for music professionals.
- The Music Network — Global music business intelligence and networking.
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