Breaking the Gate: How BSB TV Is Changing the Way We Discover Music
It all started as “bar room talk”, the kind of idea that sounds lofty over a pint but rarely makes it past last call. But for co-founders Danny Marty Ray and Ben Pritchard, that casual conversation evolved into something much bigger: BSB TV, a fast-growing music discovery platform that spotlights the best in rock, punk, metal, and alternative scenes.
The two first connected through Hometown Festival, an independent event Danny originally ran solo before partnering with Ben. At the time, Ben was working for another publication and recalls being handed “hundreds upon hundreds of bands to listen to” as part of the festival’s curation process. What began as work quickly became something more. “We struck up a good friendship from just kind of listening to bands and chatting,” Ben says. “We spent hours doing it.”
The idea for BSB TV officially clicked into place one night after a live Q&A with Thomas Nicholas, yes, that Thomas Nicholas —the actor from American Pie, who has since turned full-time musician and is making waves in the alternative scene. “While we were sitting there at the bar after this Q&A,” Ben remembers, “we were just discussing ideas of what could happen.”
“We were talking about the music industry, the strengths of it, the weaknesses, and the things we thought were missing,” Danny adds. “We turned onto the topic of music videos and how it was cool that you could get your video played on Scuzz or Kerrang or MTV, but the one thing that was gutting was you didn’t get to see the real-time response from the people watching.”
That lack of connection, that broken feedback loop, became the foundation for BSB TV.
BSB TV isn’t just a throwback to the music television era; it’s a reimagining of what that format can be today. Instead of passive viewing, the platform offers an immersive experience where fans watch curated music videos and weigh in live, sparking a real-time conversation between audience, artist, and industry. “We started talking about whether there could be a platform that lets people join in, an interactive, engaged live chat where they could provide that feedback,” Danny recalls.
But they didn’t stop at fan interaction. From the outset, the mission was to create something that could genuinely move the needle for emerging artists. Each week, BSB TV invites a special guest from the industry; festival bookers, label heads, radio DJs, or legacy musicians, people who, as Danny puts it, “have the traction, the ability, and the status to help elevate any of the artists and bands that would pass through the BSB TV ecosystem.” It’s part discovery show, part industry pipeline, and entirely community-driven.
“It’s a two-way bridge,” Danny explains. “It gives audiences a place to share their voices in real time, while also creating direct access for emerging artists to connect with the industry power players who can open doors and shape careers.”
That sense of access and accountability is central to what makes BSB TV different. “There’s so much gatekeeping that goes on in the music industry,” Danny continues. “I’ve been to shows and asked someone to check out a band, and that artist or manager has said, ‘No, they don’t want to. They haven’t got time.” With BSB TV, those decision-makers are brought directly into the fold, and so are the fans.
Each episode of BSB TV follows a structured format: a rotation of handpicked music videos, a live audience chat running throughout, and a guest expert offering commentary, critique, and, when the chemistry is right, an industry opportunity. Artists featured on the show don’t just get exposure; they get real-time validation and visibility that can translate into bookings, label interest, and momentum. “It’s not just about being seen,” Ben notes. “It’s about being heard by people who can actually change the trajectory of your career.”
The submission process is intentionally open and democratic. BSB TV receives dozens of video submissions weekly, and the team personally reviews each one - no bots, no algorithms, and no pay-to-play politics. “It might take hours, but we listen to everything,” Danny says. “The music deserves that.” The selected artists are announced ahead of the weekly livestream, giving fans and the bands themselves time to rally and tune in.
In a landscape where algorithms often overshadow artistry, and access is still too often controlled by a select few, BSB TV is rewriting the rules. It invites everyone, fans, artists, and tastemakers, into the same room, into the same conversation.
“This was a place where we could bring everyone into a specific space,” Danny says. A space where feedback isn’t filtered through PR teams or buried in analytics, but shared instantly and honestly. A space where new talent isn’t lost in an inbox or overlooked in a Spotify queue, but given a spotlight and a shot.
By building something grounded in connection rather than clout, BSB TV is giving power back to the people who make music matter: the artists who create it, the fans who champion it, and the believers who want to help it grow. No gatekeepers. No guesswork. Just great music, real voices, and an open channel between the underground and the next big thing. And if this is just the beginning, then the future of music discovery might finally sound like it belongs to all of us.
