Music Concerts

1. The Definition of Publicity – 1st,  we  are going to start out with the  surprisingly 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; just : information with news worth issued as a means of gaining public attention or assist. also : 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 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 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 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 is not in her job description.
2. You Are in the Driver’s Seat – Remember musician – you’re the buyer here and you’re shopping for PR. You’re in the driver’s seat. It’s your resources 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 many times I’ve heard that a publicist has been hired in spite of the  performer’s  individual 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 musicians call me and say, “I hired a publicist and I only got six articles. That fee me $1,000 per article!” Okay. This is not how you quantify a Public Relations campaign. How you quantify a Public Relations campaign is by how many albums were sent out, what the responses were, and even Assuming that the y were inconclusive or negative, it is how much effort the publicist made on your behalf. Of course, you ought to get some and many results. Getting little is totally unacceptable. But you never know where your publicist’s efforts will show up months, and occasionally 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 prefer 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 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
regional Campaign: 4-6 weeks before placement
Internet Campaign: 2-3 weeks before placement
5. The Four Components of a Press Kit – A nice press kit consists of four parts: the bio; the photo; the articles, quotes, and CD  reviews; and the CD.
* The Bio – Create a one-page bio that’s succinct and exhilarating to read. I strongly advise hiring a bio writer (if you could afford one, this ought to fee amidst $200 – $400). If you’re not ready to pony up the cash, enlist an outside source to advocate you out. I find people who are wonderful story tellers make wonderful bio writers.
* The Photo – It could seem cheesy to arrange a photo shoot, but if you take this part serious ly you’ll deeply benefit. Create a photo that’s obvious, 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 advocate you do some funky & fun editing.
* The Articles, Quotes & CD  Reviews – Getting that 1st article written about you could feel daunting. Two wonderful places to start are your regional hometown papers (barring you don’t live in NYC or Los Angeles), and any music web site that you prefer.
* The CD  – The CD  artwork, prefer the press kit, must be well thought out. Do not bother sending out advance burns of your CD  unless the writer requests them. Full artwork is always prefer red. Put your phone number and contact info in the CD  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  surprisingly different 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 results.
7. Internet Publicity is Not as Important as Offline Publicity- I always say that now ’s newspaper is tomorrow’s recycling, so don’t discount Internet publicity so quickly. For one, it is up and around for months and occasionally 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 wonderful bonus.
8. Publicity Does Not Sell Records- If you’re hiring a publicist to see a spike in your CD  sales, I’ve news for you. There’s absolutely no correlation amidst getting wonderful 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 also build up critical acclaim. And of course, a wonderful article could lead to sales and being on N Public Relations could really advocate you see a spike in sales. But overall, if selling albums is your goal, Public Relations is not 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 Public Relations is simply to get your name out there (and this ought to be a goal), the truth is the average individual recalls  surprisingly 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 CD, the answer my dear friend is they won’t. And never ever take your own Public Relations serious ly. As my preferred musician Andy Warhol once said, “ Do not read your press, weigh it.”