Jun 23 2009
1. The Definition of Publicity – first, we are going to start out with the exceedingly standard s–some definitions of what publicity is exactly. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
Publicity – “An act or device designed to attract public interest; especially : information with news worth issued as a means of gaining public attention or support. likewise : The dissemination of information or promotional material.”
I might n’t have said it better myself. Publicity is EXACTLY these things.
A music publicist is hired as a member of your team to represent you to the media. Media is defined traditionally as editors and writers at newspapers, magazines, dailies, weeklies, monthlies, college newspapers, and television. Some publicists may also cover radio for interviews on tour stops, but if you want to get on the radio charts ( prefer CMJ), you’ll need a radio promoter. Some publicists also cover Web PR, prefer my company, but not all traditional publicists do! A publicist’s job is to liaise with the press. They are not hired to get you a booking agent or gig, a label deal, a distribution deal, or any other kind of marketing deal. That’s what a manager is for. They won’t get you played on radio, either. This is what a radio promoter is for. A well-connected publicist, however, can be able to hook you up with all of the abovementioned things, but it isn’t in her job description.
2. You Are in the Driver’s Seat – Do not forget artist – you are the buyer here and you are shopping for PR. You are in the driver’s seat. It’s your money and your music that keep publicists in business. And hiring one is prefer hiring another guitar player for your band. Choose one that you prefer who fits your vision and your goals. All a lot of times I have heard that a publicist has been hired in spite of the performer’s individual opinions. You should prefer your publicist, and she should be the right one for you.
3. With Publicity, You Pay for Effort – Never for Results – I’ve had disgruntled artists call me and say, “I hired a publicist and I only got six articles. That fee me $1,000 per article!” Okay. This isn’t how you quantify a Public Relations campaign. How you quantify a Public Relations campaign is by how a lot of albums were sent out, what the responses were, and even Assuming that they were inconclusive or negative, it’s how much resolution the publicist made on your behalf. Of course, you should get some and a lot of solutions. Getting little is totally unacceptable. But you never know where your publicist’s resolutions will attend months, and once in a while years, after your campaign is complete.
4. A PR Campaign Needs to be Planned Well in Advance – For long-lead press (that means magazines with national distribution like Spin, Rolling Stone and Paste), the editors put their publications to bed three full months before they hit the newsstands. So if your CD is coming out in October, you must have it pressed with full artwork and ready with materials to mail in July. Of course not all PR campaigns focus on national press (more on that later), but no publicist will take you on with zero persuade time so you definitely need to prepare persuade time in every case.
Good Publicity Campaign Lead Times:
National Campaign: 3-4 months before the release
Tour Press Campaign: 4-6 weeks before the show
Regional Campaign: 4-6 weeks before placement
On-line Campaign: 2-3 weeks before placement
5. The Four Components of a Press Kit – A wonderful press kit consists of four parts: the bio; the photo; the articles, quotes, and compact disc reviews; and the compact disc.
• The Bio – Create a one-page bio that is succinct and interesting to read. I strongly advise employing a bio writer (if you may afford one, this should fee betwixt $200 – $400). If you’re not ready to pony up the cash, enlist an outside source to advocate you out. I find individuals who are great story tellers make great bio writers.
• The Photo – It can seem cheesy to arrange a photo shoot, but if you take this part significant ly you will deeply benefit. Start a photo that is obvious, light, and attention grabbing. Showing movement is a plus (sitting on a couch or up against a brick wall isn’t interesting). If you have a friend who knows how to use PhotoShop, enroll him to endorse you do some funky & fun editing.
• The Articles, Quotes & CD Reviews – Getting that 1st article written about you could feel daunting. Two great places to start are your Local hometown papers (barring you don’t live in NYC or Los Angeles), and any music web site that you prefer.
• The compact disc – The compact disc artwork, prefer the press kit, must be well thought out. Do not bother sending out advance burns of your compact disc unless the writer requests them. Full artwork is always like red. Put your phone number and contact info in the compact disc so if it gets separated from the press kit, the writer knows how to contact you.
6. Publicity is a Marathon, Not a Sprint – Public Relations is extraordinarily diverse in nature from a radio campaign that has a specific ad date and a chart that you’re paying to get placed on. Sadly for me, there is no Top 30 publicity chart. With the sheer number of albums coming out into the marketplace, it might take months longer than your publicity campaign runs to see determinations.
7. Web Publicity is Not as Important as Offline Publicity- I always say that today’s newspaper is tomorrow’s recycling, so don’t discount Web publicity so hastily. For one, it’s up and around for months and every now and then for years. The new research and statistics prove that people are reading newspapers less and less with every passing day. people are getting their news from the Internet, so Internet placements are absolutely a great bonus.
8. Publicity Does Not Sell Records- If you are employing a publicist to see a spike in your compact disc sales, I’ve news for you. There is absolutely no correlation among getting excellent Public Relations and selling records. If that were true, I’d be a lot richer. Public Relations is designed to raise awareness of you in the press, to advocate build a story, and furthermore build up critical acclaim. And of course, a excellent article might persuade to sales and being on N Public Relations might really advocate you see a spike in sales. But overall, if selling albums is your goal, Public Relations isn’t the thing you’ll need to reach it.
9. All Publicity is Good Publicity – I know we have all heard this, but it is a wonderful thing to really understand. If your goal in PR is simply to get your name out there (and this ought to be a goal), the truth is the average individual recalls particularly little of what they read. Only a tiny percentage gets retained, so if you really think that readers are going to recall a tepid or a mediocre review of your compact disc, the answer my dear friend is they won’t. And never ever take your own PR significant ly. As my favorite artist Andy Warhol once said, “ Do not read your press, weigh it.”