Nine Critical Things You Should Know About Music Publicity Before You Make Your 1st Move

1. The Definition of Publicity – 1st,  we  are going to start out with the particularly standard s–some definitions of what publicity is exactly. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
Publicity – “An act or device designed to attract public interest; just : information with news benefit issued as a means of gaining public attention or aid. additionally : The dissemination of information or promotional material.”
I may n’t have said it better myself. Publicity is EXACTLY these things.
A music publicist is hired as a member of your team to represent you to the media. Media is defined traditionally as editors and writers at newspapers, magazines, dailies, weeklies, monthlies, college newspapers, and TV. Some publicists may additionally cover radio for interviews on tour stops, but if you want to get on the radio charts ( prefer CMJ), you will need a radio  promoter. Some publicists additionally cover Web PR, prefer my company, but not all traditional publicists do! A publicist’s job is to liaise with the press. They are not hired to get you a booking agent or gig, a label deal, a distribution deal, or any other kind of marketing deal. That’s what a manager is for. They will not get you played on radio, either. This is what a radio  promoter is for. A well-connected publicist, however, may be able to hook you up with all of the abovementioned things, but it is not in her job description.
2. You Are in the Driver’s Seat –  Do not forget performer – you’re the buyer here and you’re shopping for PR. You’re in the driver’s seat. It is your money and your music that keep publicists in business. And employing one is prefer employing another guitar player for your band. Choose one that you prefer who fits your vision and your goals. All many times I have heard that a publicist was hired in spite of the  performer’s  individual opinions. You should prefer your publicist, and she should be the right one for you.
3. With Publicity, You Pay for Effort – Never for Results – I have had disgruntled performers call me and say, “I hired a publicist and I only got six articles. That cost me $1,000 per article!” Okay. This is not how you quantify a Public Relations campaign. How you quantify a Public Relations campaign is by how many albums were sent out, what the responses were, and even Assuming that the y were inconclusive or negative, it is how much effort the publicist made on your behalf. Of course, you should get some and many determinations. Getting little is totally unacceptable. But you never know where your publicist’s efforts will attend months, and once in a while years, after your campaign is complete.
4. A Public Relations Campaign Needs to be Planned Well in Advance – For long-lead press (that means magazines with national distribution prefer Spin, Rolling Stone and Paste), the editors put their publications to bed three full months before they hit the newsstands. So if your compact disc  is coming out in October, you must have it pressed with full artwork and ready with materials to mail in July. Of course not all Public Relations campaigns focus on national press (more on that later), but no publicist will take you on with zero drive time so you definitely need to prepare drive time in every case.
Good Publicity Campaign Lead Times:
National Campaign: 3-4 months before the release
Tour Press Campaign: 4-6 weeks before the show
regional Campaign: 4-6 weeks before placement
Web Campaign: 2-3 weeks before placement
5. The Four Components of a Press Kit – A nice press kit consists of four parts: the bio; the photo; the articles, quotes, and compact disc  reviews; and the compact disc.
* The Bio – Create a one-page bio that’s succinct and rousing to read. I strongly advise employing a bio writer (if you may afford one, this should cost amidst $200 – $400). If you’re not ready to pony up the cash, enlist an outside source to help you out. I find individuals who are wonderful story tellers make wonderful bio writers.
* The Photo – It may seem cheesy to arrange a photo shoot, but if you take this part serious ly you will deeply benefit. Create a photo that’s apparent, light, and attention grabbing. Showing movement is a plus (sitting on a couch or up against a brick wall is not interesting). If you’ve a friend who knows how to use PhotoShop, enroll him to help you do some funky & fun editing.
* The Articles, Quotes & compact disc  Reviews – Getting that 1st article written about you may feel daunting. Two wonderful places to start are your regional hometown papers (barring you do not live in NYC or Los Angeles), and any music website that you prefer.
* The compact disc  – The compact disc  artwork, prefer the press kit, must be well thought out. Do not disturb sending out advance burns of your compact disc  unless the writer requests them. Full artwork is always prefer red. Put your phone number and contact info in the compact disc  so if it gets separated from the press kit, the writer knows how to contact you.
6. Publicity is a Marathon, Not a Sprint – Public Relations is particularly disparate in nature from a radio campaign that has a specific ad date and a chart that you’re paying to get placed on. Sadly for me, there is no Top 30 publicity chart. With the sheer number of albums coming out into the marketplace, it may take months longer than your publicity campaign runs to see determinations.
7. Web Publicity is Not as Important as Offline Publicity- I always say that today ’s newspaper is tomorrow’s recycling, so do not discount Web publicity so swift. For one, it is up and around for months and once in a while for years. The new research and statistics prove that individuals are reading newspapers less and less with every passing day. individuals are getting their news from the Web, so Web placements are absolutely a wonderful bonus.
8. Publicity Does Not Sell Records- If you’re employing a publicist to see a spike in your compact disc  sales, I have news for you. There’s absolutely no correlation amidst getting wonderful Public Relations and selling records. If that were true, I’d be a lot richer. Public Relations is designed to raise awareness of you in the press, to help build a story, and additionally build up critical acclaim. And of course, a wonderful article may drive to sales and being on N Public Relations may really help you see a spike in sales. But overall, if selling albums is your goal, Public Relations is not the thing you will need to reach it.
9. All Publicity is Good Publicity – I know  we  have all heard this, but it is a wonderful thing to really understand. If your goal in Public Relations is simply to get your name out there (and this should be a goal), the truth is the average person recalls particularly little of what they read. Only a tiny percentage gets retained, so if you really think that readers are going to recall a tepid or a mediocre review of your compact disc, the answer my dear friend is they will not. And never ever take your own Public Relations seriously. As my favorite performer Andy Warhol once said, “ Do not read your press, weigh it.”