Music PR
What Is Music PR And A Music PR Firm?
You may be asking “What is a music PR firm and why do I need one? What does a music PR firm do?” and that is exactly why I am writing this article for you.
Below we discuss everything from how to choose the right PR firm for you to what to ask and exactly what to expect from a PR firm.
I spent the last couple weeks getting interviews from a bunch of the top music pr firms in the industry.
Now I have direct answers to the questions I’ve had for years, straight from these professionals in music pr.
Of course by the time you are done with this music pr article you will be a Smarter Rapper 🙂
FIRST, A SPECIAL THANK YOU
First I’d like to thank all of the Music PR Firms who took the time to not only respond, but respond with valuable, in-depth information that I know is going to help a lot of upcoming music artists.
WHY DID I PUT THIS TOGETHER?
Big record labels have in house music PR firms.
Unfortunately, as independent artists we really don’t have that benefit.
I wanted to clear up facts about PR Firms so everyone can understand what they do for you and how and if they can help your career.
Let’s get into it.
THE TYPES OF MUSIC PR FIRMS
The Music PR Firms below are just a basic wrap up of a few types of Music PR Firms.
There are many different sizes and type of them and they vary in genre, team size, focus and other things.
I’m just giving basic outlines about Music PR Firms that I understand from speaking with PR firms and my experience.
I am in no way a veteran on Music PR but I compiled this article for you guys to also get myself a bit closer to being one 🙂
Big Dog Music PR Firms
They handle the big name artists.
Cost – 10s Of Thousands Of Dollars PER Month + other fees.
These guys typically deal with the celeb aspect of everything. They deal with the drama and gossip and handle image issues, damage control and other things that could hurt a career. You have to have a career first before you would ever need a HUGE firm like this.
Boutique Music PR Firms
These firms tend to have under 20 employees. They usually concentrate on one genre. Though this isn’t always the case.
One Person Music PR Operations
I’d say the advantage of hiring a Music PR Firm that is ran by one person (though they may have assistants and other people working for them) is that you get the attention solely on you and maybe just a few other artists that are on their roster.
In the beginning stages this might not be a bad idea.
The one person Music PR Firm operation is probably a bit more enthusiastic about having you as a client since they probably don’t have many.
They will be able to put a bit more focus into the marketing for you since they will definitely want your testimonial to grow and gain other clients through your word of mouth.
The downside is that they probably have far less experience and a smaller network than a bigger music pr firm.
This won’t always be the case, I’m just thinking logically here.
Things That Music PR Firms Will Potentially Offer
Major Website Post Ups
Branding
Media Training
Image Consulting
Media Relations
Corporate Communications
Celebrity Wrangling
Press Release & Copy Writing
Crisis Management
Blogger Relations
Social Media Marketing
Things to ask a music PR firm before hiring them
How many people are currently on your roster and how many people work for you?
This lets you know how much time they can give directly to your project.
If they have TOO many people on their roster and not enough people working it clearly let’s you know they are doing it for the love of the money and not for the love of the job which isn’t the best choice.
Money is great, but you want someone who is excited about YOU as an artist. The same way YOU are excited about being an artist.
Where have you recently received coverage for an artist on your client list?
You want to receive press right?
Well make sure that the music pr firm you are hiring can actually make that happen.
What Artists Have You Worked With That Are At A Similar Size Level To Me?
It doesn’t hurt to ask this question.
What websites do you think would be a good great fit for me to get posted on?
You probably want to get posted on all of the big sites but asking this question will get you an answer that they probably expect to get you posted up on.
What kind of reports are you going to give me on what you’re doing on my behalf?
You definitely want to make sure that whatever music pr firm you hire is going to be reporting what work they have actually done for you.
If they don’t have a reporting system I’d be a little bit weary about hiring them.
Since you can’t always expect to get posted up by sites or since sometimes it takes a bit of time to finally get posted, you need to make sure you are keeping tabs on how much they are actually working for you.
You want to make sure they are working for you, not just SAYING that they are working for you right?
Having this in place lets you know that they are doing their job and at least reaching out to places to try to get you placement.
Understanding Working With Music Publicists
1) PR Campaigns Need To Be Planned In Advance
You can’t just expect things to happen overnight. You have to plan for success with PR just like you would in any other part of life. It takes time to grow.
You should be approaching a pr firm months before you plan on releasing a record or project, not a few days.
I know some people don’t know any better and that’s why I am pointing that out here.
For that reason I bring you number 2
2) Even After The Music PR Campaign Is In Play, Give It Time To Grow
Know that making a campaign happen takes time.
Even the biggest records that are backed with hundreds of thousands of dollars takes a lot of time to circulate and get into the ears of people.
Fetty Wap Trap Queen took about 9 months before it started really seeing serious momentum on it.
Yes… 9 months. 9 months for the song that was one of the biggest records last year and that was still spinning when I was in the club last night.
Don’t try to micro manage everything they do. They know what they are doing, let them do their job!
Just make sure they are reporting that they are doing their job.
3) Be ready for interviews
Music PR Firms are probably not only going to get you placement on hip hop sites but they will also potentially get your interviewed by all kinds of sites.
Be ready for interviews!
4) You can’t only measure success by amount of post ups on major sites you get
Now… anyone is going to look at the success of the PR by the amount of posts they get.
BUT… I want you to take into account that you can’t ONLY measure it like that.
Realistically if you get posted on 1 good site it could lead to that article being shared a ton or your music being shared a ton.
The amount of likes to your Facebook, Instagram followers or Twitter followers are more important than getting a post up.
This means that your music is actually resonating with people.
You could get posted by 10 hip hop blogs but if you don’t start seeing the people converting into serious fans than all that was, was your name being seen and a views. You didn’t gain FANS and that is the entire purpose of marketing your music.
So let the music pr firms do their jobs and get you posted 1 place at a time. Then pay attention to the fans and comments coming in.
You measure the success of a campaign by how much buzz and attention you are getting as an artist.
5) All publicity is good publicity
Another way to look at the music pr campaign is to realize that even if you aren’t gaining fans to your pages, your name is still being seen in some way.
These people may hear you again in 6 months and say “Hey I remember this guy/girl from _____” and that’s when all of that prior music pr work adds up.
You want people seeing your name and thinking about you at all times.
Buzz is one of the most important factors to a music artist’s career success and longevity.
On another note, even if the blogs post you up saying bad things, it’s still publicity and you will still get people talking about you that will eventually lead to real fans.
MUSIC PR FIRMS INTERVIEWED
James Dunn From Dunn Deal Music PR
Hip Hop Publicist
Any big names you have worked with that people might know?
RZA, Murs, Chuck D, MIDI Mafia, A Kendrick Lamar record not long ago, Bootsy Collins. Rick Allen of Def Leppard, all Def Jam’s singles for the last few years… It’s hard to keep track at this point.
When do you personally feel an artist should start looking for music PR?
In my opinion it’s never too early to team up with an affordable PR company that has a long-term strategy for not only pitching you to media but helping you grow your fan base simultaneously. Most artists contact me saying they want to get on the blogs, presumably because the blogs will get them fans. What many of them don’t seem to know is that most of them won’t post your music unless you already have fans. This is true for most music sites with followings that can actually make a difference for an artist, as opposed to other sites that people consider important but actually don’t have much real traffic (in terms of views and listens and downloads) to offer a new artist who nobody has ever heard of with no co-signs. This is true even if a publicist is pitching the music on behalf of the artist.
What can a publicist to for a music artist?
A publicist can sometimes get an unknown artist on a big site off the strength of his or her relationship with the site editors, but primarily our job is to deliver the content professionally and swiftly and make sure that a multitude of media outlets have all the information they need to cover the artists if they choose to do so. If the editor doesn’t immediately fall in love with the music I’m pitching, then a big fan base can often make all the difference.
The sites want traffic, and they prefer to give editorial space to artists who they think will send traffic to their site. Most artists don’t have a large online fan base that they can point to, and that has increasingly hampered my efforts to promote new artists, because like I said, the blogs want to see a fan base. So we’ve been branching out into helping artists grow their social media, because it helps them, and it helps us help them too.
Since the followers that we garner our artists are all real, the process takes time. So you can never start too early. On top of that, the more chances we have to pick your music to our contacts, the more chances you have of being posted. So all in all, if you’re serious about your music career it’s never too early to take the promotional side of your career seriously too.
What do you recommend the artist already has in place before they reach out to you for PR?
A couple of good photos, and at least one song that is mixed and mastered. That’s the bare minimum. Ideally, it’s great to deal with artists who have dedicated producers, studio engineers, and videographers, so we know you’ll have a consistent amount of content to promote. We are not as much of a quantity game as we were a couple of years ago when people were dropping videos and songs every day. I think that’s overkill in 2023. These days an up-and-coming artist will be lucky if all his fans catch one new release a month after, as saturated as the game is right now. People’s attention spans just cannot deal with the deluge of content being thrown at them every day. But churning out one quality piece of content a month is challenging, so a key to success is knowing that you have people to make sure that happens.
In general, how much does it cost to get a SOLID campaign that creates a substantial buzz for an artist?
It depends on your budget. We have campaigns that range in the hundreds, thousands, and tens of thousands. Obviously the more you spend the bigger the campaign gets. Generally speaking, if you want to break on a national or international level along the model of a major label artist, absolute ground level is $50,000. On average, it costs more in the range of half a million to accomplish that comfortably. But we know how to stretch a budget. In contrast, we have an album campaign tailored for independent artists that costs a few grand. That campaign obviously won’t get you a fraction of the action of the first one, specifically national radio spins, but if you have lots of good music and you are motivated to go out and find fans and interact with them over a long period of time then you will see great grassroots results.
It’s just math
you cannot keep consistently throwing good music at media and listeners for months on end without building momentum. And artists’ work ethic cannot be overstated when answering this question. I’ve had artists pay top dollar for campaigns who just sat back and did nothing. They thought their job ended when they cut me a check. Artists today have this idea everyone in the business can be bought off, that the whole game is payola. Thanks to social media, the people decide more than ever with musicians succeed in which fail. Basically, you can’t buy your buzz. You can only pay to increase the likelihood. And that likelihood increases when the artist is involved every day, all day.
I know you can’t make guarantees to an artist but what can an artist EXPECT when they hire you?
Again, it depends largely on the artist’s level of involvement, and the amount of content he or she has. If you hire me to promote a single in January and don’t drop another one till June you’re going to lose most of the momentum you generated in January. Even if you landed coverage on two thirds of the sites that you were hoping for. It still doesn’t mean much in terms of views or downloads. If those sites post you 10 times in the year, that’s a different story.
At rock bottom I guarantee posts, college radio spins, and interviews. I can’t guarantee with who. But I can guarantee that the more content you give me to pitch, the more likely it becomes that you will land the placements you’re looking for. A lot of promoters today guarantee posts with certain sites. All those sites tend to not deliver much real traffic. What we do over here is old-fashioned, true blue music pitching. We want our contacts to post your music because they like it. That is progress that lasts.
Do you accept just ANYONE who has money and decent music? Why or why not?
If your music is mixed and mastered and I see people would like it, I’m willing to give it a shot. I don’t have to love it personally. I just have to know that there is a bunch of people out there that would love it. My job essentially is to connect like-minded people. I look in my database of worldwide contacts and I single out people who I think would like your music. As long as I can find a bunch of people in my database who fit that description, we can roll.
Is there a reason artists should ever hire more than 1 music PR firm/person or would that cause conflictions?
I don’t have anything against artists hiring multiple PR companies. In today’s music business you need all the chances you can get.
How many people are currently on your roster?
Right now I have maybe eight active projects. For a full list of everyone we’ve worked with you can check out http://dunndealpr.com.
Can you name a couple of major media sites you have you received coverage for on your client list?
I can’t think of any site that we haven’t landed one of our artists on at this point.
There has never been more new music dropping then there is right now. Be prepared to work 100 times harder than you ever thought you’d have to. Find as much time and money as you can. The less you have of one, the more you’d better have of the other. Let’s work!
Brianna DeMayo from Exclusive Public Music PR
Hip Hop Publicist
Can you name a couple of major media sites you have you received coverage for on your client list?
Sure. I know some really amazing writers in the hip-hop world and as a team we really reach many outlets. I’ve personally gotten artists write ups in The Source, HipHopDX, Karen Civil, All Def Digital, YouHeardThatNew, HotNewHipHop, Hot97 and many more. Combined with a few others on my team we’ve gotten artists on Vibe, Complex and others. I definitely have a few surprises up my sleeves for the near future too. I’m always looking for new outlets and new ways to get artists the exposure they deserve. If anyone wants to take a look at our recent campaigns, search google for “marv mack – own crib” and “china mac dave east – going down.”
When do you personally feel an artist should start looking for music PR?
When they understand EXACTLY what it is and what they are getting themselves into; when they are clear on what their goals are, when they have a finalized product AND when they have already built a bit of an organic following (they already have some fans and a general idea of how to get people interested). For instance, there are many artists that reach out to myself and/or my company in search of promotion or a PR Campaign and they just aren’t ready yet. They must understand that there’s preparation involved, and the more prepared you are, the better results you’ll get when working with a publicist.
Many artists haven’t fully grasped the concept of word of mouth and building organic relationships with their fans. Instead they are on a hunt for someone to promote them and “get them on blogs” without any sense of building a personal connection and organic foundation that will give them more leverage for the campaign. Also, many artists just have the music.
Branding
They don’t have proper branding in place. don’t have a mixed and mastered product, they don’t have a website, all of their social networks are different names, they don’t have professional photos, etc. Presentation has to be on point in order to get the best results. Also, since artists are being bombarded with people randomly emailing them soliciting promotional services, many artists are confused as to what a PR campaign truly consists of and are unaware of what a publicist’s role is. An artist/publicist relationship is like a best friend relationship. Communication must be open.
You must work together to achieve goals (ex: if your publicist schedules an interview, you need to be on it. If your publicist says that you need to be on a call with DJ’s, you need to be on that call). So overall I would say that they need to do a lot of research before looking for music PR. I’ve heard of horror stories of artists jumping into a PR campaign way before they were ready or they didn’t’ do enough research on the company and their results just weren’t what they expected, and in both instances the artists lost money so they really need to do their own research before making any serious moves AND they need to try to handle PR on their own first.
What do you recommend the artist already has in place before they reach out to you for PR?
See, I work a bit differently than I’ve seen many companies operate so I’m going to give you two versions of this answer, one that’s focused on reaching out to me personally, and another that’s more generic.
Typically when reaching out to a publicist or PR firm, you reach out with a final product (your music already recorded, mixed and mastered), you have already garnered some press or have built some sort of organic following on your own. I touched on this in the last answer, but overall they need to have a product that is ready to be put on the shelves. They need to have the content to be able to sustain the campaign (for example: aside from just having a song on Soundcloud or a music video, it’s preferred that they have other visuals (video clips, promo graphics, merch, behind the scenes videos etc.) – content that will help keep the campaign going.
They also need to make sure that they’re presenting themselves professionally online. The entertainment world is a place where a book is judged by it’s cover. People will decide if they want to listen to your music by how awesome your presentation is. If you do not have professional graphics, high quality photos, a well written bio, and a website that is used as the “hub” of everything about you, the easier it is for others to overlook you.
What have you discovered when working in the public relations field?
Now, as for me personally, with Exclusive Public, we’ve separated our services into PR Prep and full blown PR, since there are so many artists that reach out wanting a PR campaign and we discover that there’s still some work that needs to be done before we can move forward with that, so we have the PR Prep in place to get them ready. Pr prep services include consulting and strategizing (everything from figuring out their brand message, to setting up their newsletter, to examining their social media networks to put a strategy in place to get their fans more in tune and interacting with them). And then we also cover the branding and design (website design, EPK/one sheet design, bio writing, graphic design, album covers, promotional graphics, social media header/covers, etc).
We’ve even gotten in the studio with artists to help them pick the best songs for their album, or if the artist has a big catalog, sometimes they’ll send us a zip file of all of their music so that we can listen and give them feedback and figure out what songs to put on a project and songs to release as singles. We really like to help from the ground up.
In general, how much money does it cost to get a SOLID campaign that really creates a substantial buzz for an artist?
That really depends on what you mean by “substantial buzz” – the budget question is always a tricky question for artists. One thing that artists need to understand is that when it comes to marketing, the more money you have, the more you can do. Record labels spend hundreds of thousands pushing singles and albums. So I would say a typical “indie” PR campaign can range from $1200-3500/month with major PR starting at the top range and going upwards of $10,000 per month (and maybe even more). But you’ll find some publicists that can work with you for less than that however those aren’t full blown campaigns, they are just little boosts to help you. Then you also have to figure in other things that are used to create reach but may not be covered by a PR campaign – such as online advertising, and even booking shows, or a radio campaign.
A publicist is one piece to the puzzle. Also, artists have to set specific and realistic goals. Without concrete goals, you have nothing to measure the success of your campaign. A “substantial buzz” is too broad. It can mean taking an artist who isn’t known in their city, to getting them on their city’s main press outlets, or it could mean taking an artist who’s never had any press to getting them press on some big outlets. You have to do what makes sense for you and where you’re at right now. But I will say, if you don’t really have much of a budget for your career right now, learn how to do your own PR campaign, before looking to hire a publicist. Spend some money on Facebook and Youtube advertising, you’ll get better results for a smaller budget.
I know you can’t make guarantees to an artist but what can an artist EXPECT when they hire you for a campaign?
I don’t make certain guarantees but I also don’t take on clients that I cannot get results for. If their music doesn’t fit with my network or the quality of the work doesn’t get me excited to promote it I will not take them on as a client. So if I decide to take you on as a client. you will definitely see results. As far as what results, that depends on the goals set for your campaign (based on where you’re at now in your career) as well as the length of our agreement. Of course if you’ve already built a fanbase and built up some sort of “buzz” we’ll be able to get greater results. If it’s your first time looking into PR and you haven’t built up, our focus will be on getting your fans more in tune with you (instead of just pushing to garner press).
Do you guarantee any marketing results?
One thing that I can’t guarantee is exactly what blogs or publications will post or write about your music, because overall that depends on the writer/outlet, they make the final decision. The only way anyone can guarantee such a thing is if 1. they have a login for the site or 2. they have some sort of monetary agreement (which I don’t recommend. I recommend getting posted because they love your music).
What I DO guarantee from time to time is the amount of publications that I can get your music on. So say you want to get on 5-10 press outlets or blogs in 1-2 months, we can make that happen, we just can’t say which ones. But when you hire me, or Exclusive Public in general, we always start with making sure your digital presence makes the best first impression, and we focus on putting strategies in place that really get your fans interacting and promoting for you. We like to start with the organic reach first, then add some press behind it to push it even further.
Do you accept just ANYONE who has money and decent music? Why or why not?
For PR campaigns or anything involving promotion, definitely not (as stated in the last answer). I’m picky. I’m able to get results for my clients because I’m picky with who I work with and money doesn’t influence whether I think your music is workable or not. However for coaching and consulting, yes I’m very open to help many artists and brands. I’m in the middle of creating some online courses for artists as well, that’ll show them how to do their own professional PR campaign without hiring a publicist (via musicbusinesshowto.com). Music is always what matters most to me. The artist also can’t be a headache to work with (lol) we have to have trust built and communication has to be open.
Is there a reason artists should ever hire more than 1 music PR firm/person or would that cause conflictions?
Yes I actually do recommend hiring more than 1 music PR firm/person in certain instances, because they might have more pull or reach in certain areas or their focus might be a bit different. I’ve actually helped a few of my clients build marketing teams that I worked together with to achieve specific goals for the artist. Remember it’s a relationships business, so I may have certain connections and relationships that another publicist may not have access to, and vice versa.
You just really have to narrow down the goals and make sure that you’re not hiring two/three companies that are trying to do the exact same thing. Communication has to be efficient between all parties. Luckily at Exclusive Public we have a team of publicists that can all work together to push your records and brand but I’m always open to adding more people to the team or working with another company on a campaign, anything that can get better results for the artist.
How many people are currently on your roster?
As far as PR goes, five. I don’t like to work with too many clients at once because I really like to be able to give my clients the attention they deserve. But I also coach artists, so I actually have more consulting and branding clients than anything.
Any big names you have worked with that people might know?
Although my answer is YES, I really hate this question lol because there are many indie artists that may not be on everyone’s radar, however they still have amazing core followings of their own and are still booking shows and making money independently. But as far as the “bigger names” that I’ve worked with, my company did some branding/design work for Dizzy Wright (for his golden age tour), I’m currently working with George Clinton’s granddaughters, Kandy Apple Redd.
I’m also working with Papa Reu who was signed to Cash Money and has songs with everyone from Rick Ross and Lil Wayne to Scarface and Bun B (we’re getting ready to release his new project). I’ve helped out with some digital marketing for Sway Calloway’s new show, “One Shot,” that will be airing on BET in the near future and I’m currently working with China Mac and RED Money Records who’s been building momentum. His last single featured Nas’s artist Dave East and he has tracks with Jadakiss and some others.
Keetria Garner-Chambers from AMW Group Music PR
Hip Hop Publicist
Can you name a couple of major media sites you have you received coverage for an artist on your client list?
Our artists has received coverage from Billboard, Huffington Post, Rolling Out, Paste, Respect, All Hip Hop, LA Weekly and many more.
When do you personally feel an artist should start looking for music PR?
I believe artists should consider Music PR in conjunction with planned releases, performances, etc. Artists tend to focus a lot on the production, videos and the like but bringing that awareness around your brand and your music is just as important.
What do you recommend the artist already has in place before they reach out to you for PR?
They should have the basics: A good photo, a bio if available, Single/EP/Album/Video links and website and/or social media accounts.
In general, how much money does it cost to get a SOLID campaign that really creates a substantial buzz for an artist?
That depends, we have our starter Campaign Digital Boost – Standard starting at $1,500 per month that includes outreach for Interviews and Features, Press Release w/National Distribution etc. We also offer a Basic version of this campaign for $243.50 bi-weekly that focuses on blog placement. The Digital Boost campaign is flexible so you can go month-to-month.
I know you can’t make guarantees to an artist but what can an artist EXPECT when they hire you for a campaign?
Artist can expect to work with a seasoned Team of PR professionals with over 18 years of Music Industry experience. We know what it takes to secure media coverage for artists and we have a large network of direct media contacts that we use in the process.
Do you accept just ANYONE who has money and decent music? Why or why not?
Anyone can sign-up for our starter campaigns, at this early stage almost all will be able to see some favorable results. We are much more selective when it comes to our more traditional and larger campaigns. We’re looking for high quality and/or unique material that will be interesting for the media to cover.
Is there a reason artists should ever hire more than 1 music PR firm/person or would that cause conflictions?
I can’t think of a good reason to hire multiple PR firms as this would probably cause confusion and affect overall results.
How many people are currently on your roster?
We have close to 200 artists on our roster at any given time but we don’t provide PR for all of them at once. We have dedicated teams, campaign managers and publicists that oversee each project.
Do you have any campaign specials available to our readers?
Yes, we can offer a special discount for our Digital Boost – Standard campaign, just mention that you read this interview and get $974 per month (reg $1,500 per month).
Learn more about the campaign by visiting and reach out to get the special: http://www.amworldgroup.com/digital-boost
About AMW
AMW® is an award winning PR and entertainment group that provide a wide range of marketing and event platforms throughout the World. AMW Group partner with both independent and major artists to help bring growth to their brands through pr and publicity, social media, special events, sponsorships, celebrity talent booking and branding services.
www.amworldgroup.com
Keetria Garner-Chambers is overseeing PR and Publicity for AMW Group. She represent both independent and major recording artists and has responded to some frequently asked questions below.
James Moore At Independent Music Promotions PR
Hip Hop And Rock Publicist
www.IndependentMusicPromotions.com
Any big names you have worked with that people might know?
Yes, Phil Collen of Def Leppard, Divinity Roxx (Beyonce’s bassist), client listings are at www.independentmusicpromotions.com.
Can you name a couple of major media sites you have you received coverage for an artist on your client list?
Allhiphop.com, The Source Magazine, the Huffington Post, Popdose, Big Takeover Magazine, Blues Matters Magazine, Yo! Raps Magazine, etc
When do you personally feel an artist should start looking for music PR?
It’s a personal decision and no timing is optimal, but when they have well-produced, well-written music and proper presentation (artwork, photos, etc), then it is as good a time as any to start building the press profile.
What do you recommend the artist already has in place before they reach out to you for PR?
I’m all about the music, so the above-mentioned details are all I require. The artist does not need to be touring or established.
I know you can’t make guarantees to an artist but what can an artist EXPECT when they hire you for a campaign?
I do have guarantees, actually. All of my campaigns deliver quality press in the form of reviews, interviews, features, etc in well-followed publications. The higher the campaign, the more press is delivered. What happens as a result of the press is of course hypothetical territory, but we are the only PR company to guarantee our press results.
My artists can expect to have names behind them like the Huffington Post, Pure Dope Magazine, Rhyme Junkie, Blunt IQ, The Source, etc.
Do you accept just ANYONE who has money and decent music? Why or why not?
No, I don’t. I accept about 30 percent of submissions because I.M.P is an honest reflection of my own tastes and ethics.
Is there a reason artists should ever hire more than 1 music PR firm/person or would that cause conflictions?
That is never a problem. The more people on your side, often the better, as long as they are all competent.
How many people are currently on your roster?
11
John At Artist PR Music PR
Hip Hop Publicist
When do you personally feel an artist should start looking for music PR?
If an artist has original, mastered recordings that can be marketed to fans, radio stations, and other industry contacts. PR can help them get more exposure for their music.
What do you recommend the artist already has in place before they reach out to you for PR?
An artist should have social media pages set up, including at least one link where at least a portion of their songs can be streamed by industry reps to drive interest for their music.
They will be registered with a PRO so they can monetize any airplay they get.
In general, how much money does it cost to get a SOLID campaign that really creates a substantial buzz for an artist?
With our premium membership that is $59.95/month (http://www.artistpr.com/membership-features/) an artist could utilize many different tools and resources and if they have anything newsworthy, like a show, new album, or an awesome video, they could submit a press release and we’ll email blast it out to thousands of our industry contacts. We also have press packages like our guaranteed music reviews or airplay packages that we’ll sometimes offer when our press team has the bandwidth to take on more artists. These Done-For-You packages range from $500-$2,500 and are offered to current or new members until they’re sold out.
I know you can’t make guarantees to an artist but what can an artist EXPECT when they hire you for a campaign?
While we can’t make any guarantees in terms of sales generated, we can guarantee up to 10 published music reviews on different music sites and/or fm airplay of at least 4,000 spins delivered over 8 weeks for our Done-For-You packages
Do you accept just ANYONE who has money and decent music? Why or why not?
While we can’t prevent anyone from subscribing to our premium membership or ordering our PR packages, we do reserve the right to offer a full refund if we’re unable to fulfill our end of the deal.
Is there a reason artists should ever hire more than 1 music PR firm/person or would that cause conflicts?
If an artist wants to work with PR firms who specialize in certain areas, then they might want to consider hiring more than one. We try to offer a full range of tools and resources that can help artists who are at any stage of their music career. We do not have any exclusivity agreements and do not have any long term contracts. In this industry, that unfortunately does have some unscrupulous people, we believe in providing value and overdelivering on our promises whenever we can. You can see more about our beliefs here – http://www.artistpr.com/about/
Any big names you have worked with that people might know?
We’ve worked with Bill Rowe of Jetboy, J-Swift producer of The Pharcyde and The Wascals, H.R. of Bad Brains, Hopeton Brown, Dave Aron, and Tom Zutaut. Feel free to check out our testimonials here – http://www.artistpr.com/testimonials/
Can you name a couple of major media sites you have you received coverage for an artist on your client list?
A couple of the ones we can name are Skope, Vents Mag and Music Existence.
Red Boot is primarily rock based music pr but I wanted to get some insights from another music genre just to provide the answers from another perspective in music pr. Laura understood that and was still kind enough to answer the questions for us.
Laura Goldfarb From Red Boot Music PR
Rock Music Publicist
Any big names you have worked with that people might know?
Gabe Dixon, David Ryan Harris, Keaton Simons, Roots of Creation, Judgment Day, Obadiah Parker, Marching Band
When do you personally feel an artist should start looking for music PR?
After they’ve done these 10 things! (Written by me.) http://blog.sonicbids.com/10-things-you-need-to-do-before-hiring-a-music-publicist
What do you recommend the artist already has in place before they reach out to you for PR?
See above. 🙂 Once those 10 things have happened, I like to first get a private link to an unreleased album (final mixes are fine if it’s not yet mastered), as well as know that they’re working on videos, booking a tour, have album and single artwork done or almost ready, as well as new professional press photos. Social media of course will to be tended to as well. If all of that is in place, it’s much easier to have a dialogue about a PR campaign.
In general, how much money does it cost to get a SOLID campaign that really creates a substantial buzz for an artist?
It all depends on the artist, the level they’re at, what their goals are, and their definition of success. For a super green artist/new band with barely any music released, you can get a baby PR campaign with some firms for under $3K. For an artist who’s more established but maybe is only touring regionally, you can find solid PR campaigns for under $6K. If you’re a nationally-touring independent artist looking for major mainstream press coverage, I always recommend budgeting $10-15K total. This shocks a lot of folks, but the reality is many of those big-time, major label publicists charge minimally $5K/month.
I know you can’t make guarantees to an artist but what can an artist EXPECT when they hire you for a campaign?
Our clients can expect a lot of one-on-one time with us to get to the heart of their music and career goals, work on their public image, and come up with a strong, strategic game plan. A lot of time is also spent trusting us to do our thing, which is mostly hours of personal pitching. Weekly (often daily) communication is a no-brainer, and whenever publicity starts rolling in, our clients receive weekly reports as well. The standard fine print is that specific publicity results are not guaranteed, but our track record is pretty f*cking badass and plentiful.
Do you accept just ANYONE who has money and decent music? Why or why not?
No way! Red Boot receives at least 1 new client submission every day, but we work with only a handful of artists at once. We take our selection process very seriously, and work only projects we absolutely love. Our job is to be advocates, not liars. We genuinely believe in what we’re pitching to press.
Is there a reason artists should ever hire more than 1 music PR firm/person or would that cause conflictions?
I think it depends on the publicists. If multiple publicists or firms are to work together successfully, ego needs to go out the window, and there needs to be a conscious move to communicate openly and frequently. Red Boot works hand-in-hand with a lot of radio promoters, social media marketers, and general online publicists. We agree that we have a common goal — for our client to be successful — and we make it work. We ebb and flow together, help each other out, focus on one another’s strengths, know when to ask for help. If an artist is thinking about hiring multiple firms, that should definitely be a conversation they have WITH their current publicist, or the ones they’re considering.
How many people are currently on your roster?
Red Boot’s family consists of 50+ clients, but presently we concentrate on only 5 at a time.
Can you name a couple of major media sites you have you received coverage for an artist on your client list?
Rolling Stone, Billboard, Paste, NPR, Indie Shuffle, Earmilk, The Huffington Post
And anything else you feel people might need to know.
When choosing a publicist, go with your gut. Find someone you feel comfortable with, someone you can talk to, someone you WANT to talk to. If your publicist is doing his/her job well, they’ll be getting pretty intimate with you and communicating with you often for at least a few months, so make sure they’re someone you feel good doing that with. We like the, “Is this someone I’d be down to have a beer with?” test.
BIO: Laura Goldfarb is known as “The Big Kahuna” of music public relations firm Red Boot PR, a company she started in 2009 and which Examiner.com awarded “Best PR For Indie Artists” in 2014. Her approach to PR involves a family-like vibe and experience as press. Laura started her career as a radio DJ and producer for Internet station BTRtoday (formerly BreakThru Radio). Her weekly show “Jam Session,” now in its tenth year, reports to the Relix/Jambands Radio Chart. She received her bachelor’s degree from Boston University where she was an on-campus DJ at WTBU.
After graduating she joined The Planetary Group to handle tour publicity, and soon worked her way up to head the Publicity Department before leaving to start Red Boot. Laura also writes a column on the “Flying Solo” concert experience for Relix Magazine, and contributes to the Sonicbids blog for their “Ask A Publicist” section. In 2016 she was an official speaker at the SXSW Music Conference. She owns four pairs of red boots, enjoys craft beer, and burns sage to clear writer’s block.
TWITTER: @redbootpr
I’m so happy I decided to put together this article.
I’m even more happy that all of these amazing people decided to be a part of it.
I learned so much in this process and I’m sure you did too.
I hope this helps you in your understanding of how music pr firms and music pr works.
Get your music together and start deciding which music pr firm would suit you best.
Be heard the way you deserve to be.
As you can see having the power of Hip Hop blogs behind you is very strong for your career. Now you just need to go out and really start grinding on making a strong connection with all of these hip hop blogs and publicist who already have a relationship with them. If you don’t have your hands on the 200 Hip Hop Blog Contacts Yet you can get them here.
Then use the information in order to get your music posted!
Good luck my friend.
You got this!
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