Press releases are an integral part of every successful music PR campaign. It’s our job to get the best representation of you (the client) into the media landscape; so it is imperative that we get this key element right each time.
Bringing her experience and talent as a music writer to Beehive PR, Sose Fuamoli knows the ins and outs of what we can use to make each release pop! She weighs in on how to get the right (write) mix of informative and captivating below, and get it to the right hands.
Let The Artist Speak
Forming a piece of copy that will catch attention should be the first priority for any writer. When we collaborate with musicians, there is already a lot of material to work with because the music should by principle, speak for itself!
My background as a journalist has taught me that the artist’s voice is an important one and it’s a lesson I’ve brought into music PR. A lot of our job is to elevate what is already there, so getting the right tone when we form press releases is of high priority. However, over-extending and treating every client with the same language on paper is going to alienate editors, radio programmers and others on your mailing list. The client is not a product for sale, we are simply continuing the story they’ve started with their music. Therefore, it’s important not to treat them that way. They aren’t a statistic.
Including quotes and insights into their creative process is a good way of forming the rest of your press release’s copy. Again, it’s good to keep in mind who you are writing for as much as who you are writing about. Let the artist speak. They’re the ones who know their music the best, after all!
Make Your Point…Make It Quick!
Having been on the other side of publicity pitches for many years, I know what it is like to be inundated with x amount of press releases on a Friday or Tuesday morning. When they all read the same, it’s easy to go glossy eyed.
With this knowledge, the best way I know how to write in a publicist capacity, is to make my point and pitch quick and ensure the captivating content is right up in the first few paragraphs. Unfortunately, we live in a scrolling generation and as a result, people just don’t have time to read a three to four page long rundown on why this artist deserves space in your publication. The in depth information is great to follow up on when landing content and features but that immediate connection will be the difference between getting an interested reply, or a ‘My inbox is full’ auto-response.
Your artist has a new song? Great. New tour with a massive international band? Even better.
Craft your opening paragraphs around the fast facts and make them strong. Once you have the reader hooked, then you can follow it up with the band/artist’s accomplishments on road, on radio and in studio. Have your media assets in order and easily accessible for the reader to click through. Press releases have a small about of time to manoeuvre within, so making it as easy as possible for your target audience is crucial.
Know Your Audience
Another lesson quickly learned by anybody working in publicity, especially music publicity; bombarding editors and journalists with the same information can be met with silence. It’s always a learning curve, but knowing who you are pitching your press releases to goes a long way in achieving your ideal endgame. Sending multiple emails on the same topic in one day will likely get you blocked, spacing them out and approaching individual editors with angles or releases they’ll be more likely to engage with, will connect better.
Writing a press release that remains accessible enough for a wide media landscape to connect with is easy enough to write, but then tailoring your approach down to engage with specific genres or publications can be harder. Research your audience and how they could be a good fit for your artist, and incorporate your findings into your releases and pitches. Put yourself in their (and the potential reader’s shoes) – what would you want to read, if this press release popped up in your inbox?
A hip hop blog probably isn’t going to want to know why your emerging artist is ‘The Next Drake’. They’re going to want to know about their journey up ’til this point, and what is special about this new music they’re releasing. Figure out what the point of your pitch is, and flesh it out intelligently.
Keep Asking Yourself Questions
These all seem like easy bits of advice, but having been on both sides of the music industry, it’s amazing to know how little tweaks can make the biggest of differences! The music publicity industry one that is constantly changing to reflect and accommodate the music environment we are in, so we are always learning. Keeping your client and their music at the forefront always, has to be in my mind with each campaign. Knowing how to represent them best from the start will therefore make the rest of the job easier. Keep questioning your own work too. If you think something isn’t reading clearly or it’s not rubbing you as the writer, the right way? Listen to that instinct.
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Have a question about Beehive PR’s publicity campaigns and breakdowns? Email us at sammie@beehive-pr.com.au to get the lowdown on how The Hive works!