A music PR strategy
To promote your music, you may want to use press releases as a way to get your music in front of reporters, editors and music writers who will put you in some of their features and give you free publicity.
PR is great because it’s free compared to the thousands of dollars one would pay for an advertisement. It’s free because you don’t pay to actually see yourself printed in a newspaper or magazine.
If you’re looking for something new, I recommend you adopt a good and consistent PR strategy. By that I mean you set a regular date to write up a press release and shoot it out to hundreds and thousands of music writers. Do that once or twice a month and within a couple of months you’ll probably have lots of features about you.
So maybe you think writing is easy. But you’re asking…
Where do I find a list of reporters and editors to send it to?
The answer for independent musicians is Beatwire. Founded by my friend and musician Mihkel Raud, Beatwire is the most effective way to get press for independent musicians. And you can trust they’re good at what they do because that’s all they do. They only serve independent musicians.
Whether it’s a new CD, an upcoming tour or any other music-associated event you want to announce, there is hardly anything more rewarding than a positive response to a well-written press release.
Major record labels shoot hundreds of press releases every day. Now, you can get yours out there. Just send them your press release and they’ll do the rest. Your news will be delivered to the desktops of over 10,000 music editors at daily newspapers, magazines, news agencies, top web sites, radio stations — every place you need to be promoted.
I rarely make recommendations because these day’s the web is filled with so much rubbish. This one however is a gem and I don’t make anything from sharing it with you… just a good feeling that you’ve found another great tool.
It’s easy to come up with a music PR strategy. If the time is right, I would jump at it right now - regardless of whether you
have something to sell or not. The exposure you get is worth it.
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Hi there Guru, what entice you to post an article on ic PR strategy at Music Marketing Tips and Music Business Strategy? This article was extremely interesting, especially since I was searching for thoughts on this subject last Sunday.
I accessed the services of Beatwire to announce the release of my “Countdown to Midnight” CD — which is part of the “Midnight In Chicago” tourism and culture initiative raising funds and awareness for Autism — last Fall.
I know many musicians who complain that after paying for a service that they only received 10 emails back requesting media packages. Unfortunately, these same musicians fail to see that this is 10 more email requests than they had BEFORE they used the service.
Another thing that musicians routinely overlook is that, while a contact may not pick up on the first media release, when that same contact sees a name come across his or her desk a second and third and fourth time, that person is more apt to take a chance on the musician. Why? Because it shows dedication and consistency in the musician’s professional life.
Who cares if 10 emails requesting a media package only translates into 0.01% of the mailout list? What matters is working smarter — not harder — in order to show up on someone’s radar. Making use of resources that would take a musician years to compile is a smart move.
Keep in mind, however, that no matter how efficient a service may be, if you do not follow up or if the product offered is deficient in some way, it doesn’t matter how many people request a media package.
Dear Elyse
Thanks so much for sharing.
Mihkel and his team are doing a fantastic job.
Kavit