HOW TO CHOOSE A PUBLICIST
posted in: Music News
Your band is so awesome. You’ve got a killer sound, an original style and an incredible live show. Seriously, your friends tell you this all the time.
Only problem is, the rest of the world doesn’t know you exist. That’s where a publicist comes in. A publicist is responsible for communicating your music, your message and your brand to the outside world, and getting said world to buy into it. How’s it done? Through a very wide, intricate network of media contacts unknown to mere mortals. Publicists live and breathe by the numbers in their iPhone, emails in their address books and the ongoing coffee, cocktail and club dates on their calendar. They are both arbiters and mavens ”able to secretly introduce media folk to the next big artist, while letting them take full credit for the discovery. A great publicist should be (a) incredibly persuasive, (b) incredibly likeable and (c) incredibly credible. Here are some tips on how to locate and secure your personal hype machine.
- Look at who is repping your favorite bands. Is it Nasty Little Man? Giant Step? Big Hassle? Girlie Action? Check out the roster for each PR company Web site. Do you think your music fits in with their niche? Then shoot them an email with a link to your EPK and ask for some feedback.
- Be tenacious. For every band, there’s a publicist. If your dream PR company isn’t willing to take you on, ask for some referrals to other agencies. Don’t get discouraged if Bjork’s or Jay-Z’s PR agency is too expensive or too busy to take you on. Great press doesn’t have to come from big agencies. So keep your options ”and mind”open.
- Ask to see their work. Any good agency should be able to provide you with statistics, clips and screen-shots of their recent campaigns to give you an idea of how much media placement they’ve been able to get for their clients.
- Request a marketing plan. It’s really important to see the agency’s vision for your campaign to make sure it’s in line with what you want. Are they hitting the right blogs, Web sites and magazines? Do they have the right contacts to get you where you want to be? You need to set expectations and goals up front so that you can determine success at the end of your campaign.
- Negotiate. Sometimes, if a PR agency is really into your music and thinks that you’re destined for greatness, they’ll take you on for free up front with the understanding that they’ll recoup their costs once your career is up and running. But most of the time an agency is going to establish the length of your PR campaign and hand you a price tag. Don’t ever pay all your money up front” you want your agency to have something to work for. If the price is steep, see if you can work out a payment arrangement that meets your needs. The right agency will try to work with you as much as possible.
- Hold up your end of the bargain. If your PR person sets up a phoner for you, you better be on the line on time and on point. Make yourself available for as many interviews as your PR person can get. Making you look good is your publicist’s job”don’t make it hard for them!
