1. The Definition of Publicity – first, all of us are going to start out with the eminently basic s–some definitions of what publicity is exactly. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
Publicity – “An act or device designed to attract public interest; specifically : information with news value issued as a means of gaining public attention or guide. furthermore : The dissemination of information or promotional material.”
I could 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 could furthermore 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 furthermore cover Internet 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 type of marketing deal. That’s what a manager is for. They will not 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 above mentioned things, but it isn’t in her job description.
2. You Are in the Driver’s Seat – Don’t forget performer - you are the buyer here and you are shopping for PR. You are in the driver’s seat. It’s your resources and your music that keep publicists in business. And employing one is prefer employing another guitar player for your band. Choose one that you prefer who fits your vision and your goals. All many times I’ve heard that a publicist was hired in spite of the musician’s personal opinions. You ought to prefer your publicist, and she ought to be the right one for you.
3. With Publicity, You Pay for Effort – Never for Results – I’ve had disgruntled performers call me and say, “I hired a publicist and I only got six articles. That cost me $1,000 per article!” Okay. This is not how you quantify a PR campaign. How you quantify a PR campaign is by how a lot of albums were sent out, what the responses were, and even If they were inconclusive or negative, it’s how much effort the publicist made on your behalf. Of course, you ought to get some and a lot of solutions. Getting hardly anything is totally unacceptable. But you never know where your publicist’s efforts will attend months, and once in a while years, following your campaign is complete.
4. A Public Relations 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 compact disc 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 Public Relations campaigns focus on national press (more on that later), but no publicist will take you on with zero lead time so you definitely need to prepare lead 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
Local Campaign: 4-6 weeks before placement
Online 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 CD reviews; and the CD.
• The Bio – Start a one-page bio that is succinct and sensational to read. I strongly advise hiring a bio writer (if you could afford one, this should fee among $200 – $400). If you’re not ready to pony up the cash, enlist an outside source to help you out. I find people who are great story tellers make great bio writers.
• The Photo – It might seem cheesy to arrange a photo shoot, but if you take this part significant ly you’ll deeply benefit. Start a photo that is apparent, light, and attention grabbing. Showing movement is a plus (sitting on a couch or up against a brick wall is not interesting). If you’ve a friend who knows how to use PhotoShop, enroll him to help you do some funky & fun editing.
• The Articles, Quotes & compact disc Reviews – Getting that 1st article written about you may feel daunting. Two excellent places to start are your Regional hometown papers (barring you don’t live in NYC or Los Angeles), and any music website that you prefer.
• The compact disc – The compact disc artwork, like the press kit, must be well thought out. Don’t 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 uncommonly disparate 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 could take months longer than your publicity campaign runs to see determinations.
7. Internet Publicity is Not as Important as Offline Publicity- I always say that today’s newspaper is tomorrow’s recycling, so don’t discount Internet publicity so immediately. For one, it’s up and around for months and sometimes for years. The new research and statistics prove that individuals are reading newspapers less and less with every passing day. individuals are getting their news from the Web, so Web placements are absolutely a excellent bonus.
8. Publicity Does Not Sell Records- If you’re hiring a publicist to see a spike in your compact disc sales, I have news for you. There is absolutely no correlation amidst getting exceptional PR and selling records. If that were true, I’d be a lot richer. PR is designed to raise awareness of you in the press, to stimulate build a story, and furthermore build up critical acclaim. And of course, a exceptional article could guide to sales and being on N PR could really stimulate you see a spike in sales. But overall, if selling albums is your goal, PR isn’t the thing you will need to reach it.
9. All Publicity is Good Publicity – I know all of us have all heard this, but it’s a great thing to really understand. If your goal in Public Relations is simply to get your name out there (and this should be a goal), the truth is the average individual remembers uncommonly little of what they read. Only a tiny percentage gets retained, so if you really think that readers are going to remember 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 Public Relations significant ly. As my favorite artist Andy Warhol once said, “ Don’t read your press, weigh it.”