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CMU:DIY
Tips: PR-ing new bands
By Chris Cooke | Published on Wednesday 9 January 2013
CMU Business Editor Chris Cooke provides advice for new bands engaging media for the first time.
We may live in the social media/DIY age, where artists can talk directly to music fans worldwide without having to pander to the media or traditional music industry, but the fact is, because every band in the world has equal access to social networking and DIY platforms, making connections and securing champions in the media and industry remains as important as ever for new bands that want to stand out.
If you are a new artist – or you manage or represent a new band – and are thinking about reaching out to media for the first time, here are five things to think about before you begin.
1. Don’t start spamming the media too soon
It is tempting to email every journalist and DJ you can think of as soon as you have one song on SoundCloud, but it is worth doing some decent ground work before you start approaching the media.
First things first, get good. Gigging is key here: playing live will help you hone your sound, figure out what works with your audience, and simply get better at performing.
Second, set up an online presence – a Facebook page, Twitter feed, SoundCloud and YouTube profiles (with 2-4 decent songs), and a band website. If journalists or DJs are interested in you, they will likely go looking for more tracks and information online, and if they do then write about you or play your song, their readers or listeners may do the same. If that content isn’t easily available, you may lose people just as they start paying attention.
2. Be targeted
It is tempting to put together a list of every music journalist and DJ in the country (or to pay a PR company already sitting on that database) and to email a generic press release to all of them.
While established bands and labels will routinely send press releases to their entire media contacts list, for new talent in particular this is not an effective way to engage journalists and DJs – you can spend a week putting together a huge database of media contacts, and then another week writing the perfect press release to send them, only for zero of those media contacts to actually read your release. Many journalists receive hundreds of press releases a week and the vast majority go unread.
It is better to be targeted – identify the magazines, websites, blogs and radio shows that are interested in [a] new talent and [b] your genre of music, and focus on those media. If a publication has a specific new bands column, then that should be your first point of call (check by-lines at the top or bottom of the column, and/or a publication’s staff box to find out who writes it). You are unlikely to get news, review or feature pieces until you have been featured in a title’s new bands slot. For radio, you should focus on relevant specialist and specific new band shows – you are very unlikely to get daytime radio play (and remember, on most stations, daytime DJs don’t select the music they play).
If you identify – say – ten magazines, websites, blogs or radio shows that are particular targets, make sure you start consuming those media yourself – follow them on Twitter, put their RSS feeds into Google Reader, and read the new band features regularly. The best way to get your head around the sorts of bands/genres any one media or journalist/DJ is interested in is to read/listen to their work.
3. Demonstrate that your email is targeted
Assuming you are emailing key media contacts, do what you can in the email – including the subject line – to demonstrate that you have identified that contact as someone who may be specifically interested in your music, and that this isn’t an email being spammed to hundreds or thousands of people.
If the magazine, radio show, journalist or DJ is already championing artists or scenes to which you are linked, reference that in your email – doing so panders to ego (ie it shows you consume the contact’s work) and demonstrates that you’ve done some research before getting in touch (making it more worth the journalist/DJ’s while to check out your music).
A short (2-3 paragraphs) email is probably more effective that an elaborate press release: Para 1 “this is why we think you will be interested in our band”, Para 2 “this is what our music is like”, Para 3 “this is what activity we have coming up (eg gigs, festival dates, releases)”. Always include links to social media (Facebook, Twitter, Soundcloud, YouTube) and website, plus ideally to a web page where the journalist can download the track as an MP3 and access high resolution photos. Also include contact info (email and telephone).
4. Reality check 1 – most people probably won’t respond to your emails
Many journalists and DJs receive hundreds of emails and press releases a week, and most go unread. Don’t be disheartened if you get a zero response first time!
It is OK to re-email journalists and DJs who haven’t previously responded, although use your common sense, ie don’t spam every media contact every week. It’s also good if each you time you email you have something else to say – ie new gig dates, a new track or other new activity to share.
If a journalist or DJ tells you outright that they are not interested in your band (and some will), then don’t continue hassling that person. Find the journalists and DJs who naturally like your music.
That said, if and when you gain momentum, you will find media that previously ignored your output will start to take an interest – editorial decisions at most magazines and websites (and some blogs) are based half of what editors and journalists like themselves, and half on what is going on in the wider world.
5. Reality check 2 – early coverage won’t have tangible impact
Small tip pieces in new band slots, one-off plays on specialist radio shows and even wholly positive reviews on websites or blogs are unlikely to result in anything tangible, like an uplift in record or gig ticket sales, or even in Facebook or Twitter followers.
Each bit of positive coverage is really there to help you secure the next bit. Building a media profile for a new band is about taking lots of small steps – a glowing write up on a credible blog may influence other bloggers; a bit of buzz on the blogs (especially if that starts to show up on Hype Machine) may influence the new band column editors; a piece in a new band column may influence a reviews editor on the same website or magazine; a positive review might put you on a news editor’s radar; all of which will start to influence journalists at bigger media (and ultimately music writers at non-music titles), as well as key gatekeepers in the music industry – agents, managers, A&Rs etc.
As you get good coverage, share it with your own social networks and mailing list. This will further the reach of that coverage – and also (providing you tag the media and journalists correctly in your tweets) will likely be seen by the people championing you, which will often make them warm to you even more!
As momentum builds, you will likely form partnerships with a label or distributor, and/or a PR or promotions agency, who will take over much of your media relations moving forward. However, to get to that position, new artists, bands and their managers will increasingly have to start the media journey themselves – and patience, research, targeting and persistence will be key.
Chris offers more insights on music PR through the CMU Insights training courses. Click here for more information.
