Making your music is a creative process that is all-consuming, all encompassing. It is a process that is wholly artistic and the final result is a representation of you – the artist – at your creative best.
When it comes to getting your music out there and telling the story of that process and the stories behind your music, the goalposts can often shift with regards to dealing with media for the first time.
Media is a different field to radio plugging and radio servicing. Here you as the artist have the opportunity to speak more about your art beyond the initial music PR pitches and radio plugging spots. The audience will be able to learn more about you and gain a great insight into the artist you are behind the scenes!
Interviews, whether they be conducted over the phone, or in person (including radio and on camera), can be a lot of fun. The journalist’s job is to ultimately continue telling the story you, as an artist start with your music. For new artists, they have a great platform to be introduced to new audiences by way of interviews and reviews. It can be daunting, but it can also be an excellent way of channelling connection with your audience and in the long run, with the media industry.
Below are some tips to remember when dealing with journalists for the first time.
Journalists Can Be An Important Ally
First and foremost, telling and weaving of stories are integral to a journalist’s. Their words show a snapshot of a moment in time – a moment of time that surrounds your work.
When you find yourself with the right journalist, their words will align brilliantly with your own and the energy in the interview environment will be extremely easy going.
If you don’t feel comfortable with the way a conversation is going, flip the script! The story a journalist is there to tell is yours, so remember that you sit in the driver’s seat. When you both are on the same wavelength, the interview process flows easy and the rapport you can strike up with writers over time will serve you well as your career develops.
Interviews Can Be Fun!
This is a big one! Remember at the end of the day, while press commitments can feel disjointed from the ‘art’, they can also be a lot of fun. You’re there to get your message across and, if the interview environment offers it, have fun with the experience.
Radio and on screen interviews are the most common environments where you can spitball different ideas with the journalist – take the format of the interview outside the ‘normal’ bounds of a one of one. The journalist and producer will be wanting to get a read off your energy and make you feel as comfortable as possible, so catch the vibe and ride it out! It’s an experience all about you and your music, so enjoy it!
Respect Their Time As They Respect Yours
In a music industry as small as Australia’s too, everyone knows everyone – it’s a great benefit of being creative in this part of the world!
Early impressions do stick, so the small things – being prompt to call times, being available for phone interviews, being open to new ideas – will build these foundation blocks easily, and they’ll build those blocks strong.
This is also where we as your publicists come into play; we help facilitate the relationships between the musicians and the media in setting up your interviews and press commitments. Because of this, it’s important to note the above; if you can’t make an interview or need to reschedule, it is our job to rework schedules, but we also need to know with enough notice to make it work.
A great relationship with media is a two way street. The best relationships between an artist and journalists are the ones that have been built on respect and trust over multiple releases.
Passionate people with a strong network and plan to bring your music to a wider audience. That’s music publicity. That’s Beehive PR.