PR 101: A Primer In Publicity

by John Foxwhorthy, Publicity and networking are the two most important parts of any successful music project. Unless you lack aspirations to venture beyond your local scene, your career risks stagnation without them. This is why it's important to get a handle on how to conduct yourself when interacting with radio, publications, labels or any other facet of the music business ... otherwise you chance snuffing your credibility before you even get out of the gate.

Whether you work PR for your own act or someone else's, your role seems simple

 ... create and maintain public interest; however, even the most marketable project and the most interesting press releases are hardly enough to achieve these goals. As with anything you do, there are unwritten laws of etiquette you must follow to function effectively as a publicist.

As the Chief Editor of a busy e-zine and Host of a widely listened radio show, bands, labels, publicists and other publications contact me regarding press and airplay on a regular basis. This correspondence is truly the backbone of what I do ... it keeps me in the know on many levels and provides me the opportunity to make new contacts. On the other hand, it also aggravates and frustrates me more often than not. I'm learning that better than half of the folks taking responsibility for public relations are most likely shooting themselves in the foot.

Do Your Research

This is a point I just can't stress enough. In fact, I could write this entire article on just that subject. It requires a lot of work, but the rewards will come back ten-fold. There are so many source guides and directories out there that it's virtually impossible to keep up and these are great tools, but used unwisely they can actually work against you. Here's a scenario based on my own experience:

I host a Rock/Punk/Metal radio show that's clearly described as such on my web site, as well as every directory in which it appears. Yet, almost daily I get press releases and requests for airplay from artists who play anything but Rock, Punk or Metal. This probably wouldn't annoy me as much if I didn't also get the same, exact emails to my e-zine inbox.

You may ask me, "What's the problem? Why not just delete the email?"

That's a simple solution and often times I do, but this is the symptom of a behavior that's sure to thwart the efforts of the sender. Think about it ... if they're doing it to me, they're doing it to their other contacts as well. It tells me that this is someone who uses the gum-at-the-wall approach and may not be worth looking into ... plus they tend to go onto my SPAM list. I also stay in regular contact with my other colleagues in the biz, so they may even end up on a "blacklist" and could even get stonewalled press-wise in the future.

The solution? Take some time to find out to whom your email is going by doing a simple search to check out their site, show, magazine or whatever. It's even acceptable to send a preliminary email to introduce yourself and get a better idea of what they're looking for (or if they even want your correspondence) before you fire off that request. This is also a great way to make first contact, which makes for an appropriate segway into our next topic.

First Contact

I leave my email address publicly accessible to make it easy for people to contact me. This also contributes to the amount of SPAM I receive ... a necessary evil in my position ... so I spend an average of eleven hours a week sifting through my new messages in an attempt to separate the SPAM from the news. Why? First of all, most people don't know how to effectively title the subject of their message. Secondly, it's first contact ... I may not know who sent the email because I've never corresponded with them.

In the last eight years I've trained myself to tell the difference between South African bank scams and artists trying to get exposure for new releases. This doesn't mean I've trained myself to stop deleting messages based on the subject. Titles like, "WE REQUEST YOUR ATTENTION" or "THE NEXT BIG THING" equate to "GET THE LOWDOWN ON THE SMALLEST CAPS" and will quickly prompt most of your potential contacts to hit the delete button.

First contact is the most important contact. The old adage that you never get a second chance to make a first impression holds very true ... especially with the sensitive nature with which people have been conditioned regarding SPAM these days. So, the first lesson on the subject is to make sure your email says what it means before it's even opened.

"New Alternative Rock Band From NYC" is a simple, yet operative title for an email to a new contact. They'll get an idea of the message you're trying to get across and you'll notice it wasn't all capitalized, which could be another form of suicide!

Next, you'll want to make sure you tailor the body of your email to fit your expected recipient. Address them by name (if you have it), be cordial, introduce your act (or yourself) and get to the point. Proper grammar and punctuation play a big role here, so if you have no clue what I mean by that, you shouldn't be doing PR in the first place.

Your first email should be more of a request than a release. Remember, you're dealing with people that are busy, so summarizing a description of the music, adding a few stats (including CD sales) and press quotes is quite alright as long as you keep it to a minimum ... three short paragraphs will suffice. Then, you can include links and contact info for your recipients to explore further if they're interested. DO NOT, and I reiterate, DO NOT email MP3 files or other attachments. This is annoying and will piss your target off in a heartbeat.

After you've made your first contact, it's wise to set a waiting period before following up. Again, these people are busy and prone to a lot of email, so there is a fine line between correspondence and SPAM.

Follow-up

I'm one to appreciate diligence and I'll be the first to admit that some of my attempts to create steady contacts have backfired on me more than once. Now, finding myself on the receiving end, I see what I was doing wrong. A beleaguered ally can quickly become a foe ... and it's for this reason I find it essential to define the difference between follow-up and pestilence.

Let's disregard the preceding tips for a moment and imagine you've emailed your press release or a request for coverage to a few addresses. It's possible that a few of the folks you contacted have contacted you back, but there are some that haven't responded. Many of them may be preoccupied with current projects or might even be completely uninterested. You have no way of knowing where they stand, so how do you decide when (or if) to send a second email?

Five business days is a good rule, but hinges on when you sent your initial correspondence. Monday through Wednesday are the best days to get in touch with your potential outlets. Due to the fact that most schedules revolve around the standard workweek, it stands to reason that these are the best days to send your follow-ups. If you still get no responses, you'll be better to write these contacts off and continue your exchange with the responsive set.

Mailing Lists

This falls more closely under the subject of "netiquette" than etiquette. Just because you have contact email addresses, doesn't mean you have contacts. The inventory of rules surrounding mailing lists is another that could be an entire handbook ... and could be one of the single most contributors to death in the press/play world, but I'll try to emphasize the biggest no-nos.

Never, never, NEVER add arbitrary email addresses to your list. There's no negotiating this rule ... here's why:

Out of hundreds of emails a day, only about 30% apply to my day-to-day dealings. Another 5%-10% are personal and the rest are just garbage. In my capacity, I have to consider every message as a possible contact ... even though I have a "strict" policy that defines how I want to communications to be sent.

My standards are such that I never post uninvited news to other sources and with that, I avoid accepting the same. I personally don't have time to sift through everything I get, so a great percentage is deleted out of constraint. What does this mean? I'm flat-out not interested in getting updates from unsolicited suppliers. It also implies that I'd like permission from people to be added to their mailing lists ... and I'm pretty sure there are a lot of people out there that feel exactly the same way.

Not separating your contact lists is another hugely horrific move. This is a chapter right out of "BE ORGANIZED!" Sending gig updates to radio shows or publications that specifically do CD reviews is a waste of time. Additionally, sending the next gig on the morning of your next gig is just plain stupid. Your fans may want to know this (even though they probably already do), but it does no good to inform anyone else that you'll be playing CBGB in seven hours. Plan out your itinerary and send a release with your calendar for the next month or so. If your target wants to announce it, they'll have time to get the word out.

It's best to separate the lists of publications, shows, and other entities by type ... and tailor your announcements accordingly. You'll never ruin a contact faster than if you send a daily barrage of so-called updates and/or messages containing your personal agenda.

Last, but NOT least is how to send to your lists. Your email program or web-based mail will have the fields "To" "CC," and "BCC." Forget all about the "CC" field when sending to multiple recipients ... and I mean FORGET IT! No matter your capacity in the biz, this line is bad MoJo. Every contact in this field can be seen by every other contact that receives the email. Use "BCC" and save yourself a bevy of pissed off contacts!

Is Your News Really News?

I get everything from updates on CD sales figures to reminders that bands will be playing venues ... the same venues ... several times a week. This goes back to a behaviorism, and a destructive one at that. I, and many in my position, are extremely turned off by this and are very likely to disregard further contact.

Constant updates are not a great way to keep your act in the forefront of our minds. We like to stay informed, but it's good form to save up the news. One release with the band's future happenings, or a retrospective of the last month or so will go a lot further than a daily barrage of minor occurrences ... no need to desensitize your awaiting public.

Press Kits

Press kits are arguably the meat and potatoes of exposure for any act. This is a pretty easy subject, as you won't likely get an address which to send them without permission. For those that make their mailing info readily available, it's a good idea to look further and find an email contact. Make your target privy of the impending envelope and allow a week for it to arrive, but DO NOT follow up in a week!

One thing you must understand is that many of these folks get quite a few of these packages every day. I myself get 30 per week, so I really don't have the time I need to properly distribute and/or review them in seven days. In this case a good follow-up rule is probably 2 weeks ... even if you never heard back from your email.

These are the best tips I have without writing an entire book on public relations. My advice is a culmination of my experience and that of the professionals I work with every day. Following it can enhance your effectiveness as a publicist and help create your niche in the music world ... not following it may greatly reduce your chances of success in this fickle world we call the music biz.

Provided by the MusicDish Network. Copyright © Tag It 2005 - Republished with Permission