4 Tips For Bands On Working With Publicists

4 Tips For Bands On Working With Publicists

DIY is great but it doesn't have to mean Do It [All] Yourself. Having a knowledgeable publicist in your corner can make a big difference in growing your career as a musician. The following tips for working with publicists are a good starting point for building a successful relationship that should go far beyond simply paying for a service.
Bianca Valentino interviewed publicist Emily Kelly of Deathproof PR for her awesome interview blog "Conversations with Bianca". It's a wide-ranging interview and I've pulled out a few comments from Kelly related to her work with Deathproof PR in Australia.
4 Tips for Working with Publicists

1) Know Who You're Contacting & Why

"I’ve noticed that Deathproof is approached by a lot of young bands who email us with information about themselves, followed by the question – ‘so what do you do’? This always makes me laugh because I find it odd that they’d approach a company to ask for help when they’ve no idea what they do. It comes off as lazy and a wee bit insulting."
2) Be Realistic About Your Expectations

"The biggest nightmares occur when the artist or management’s expectations are disproportionate to our own. Working with an artist who believes they deserve only cover stories and breakfast radio is a tough time. Often you’ll see overseas management trying to call the PR shots in other countries when they don’t actually have an understanding of the Australian media landscape."
3) Return Calls or Emails

"I’ll answer just about every email that is sent to me, because I think it’s polite and being known as a prompt and efficient communicator can open lots of doors. I’m always infuriated when clients or peers totally fail to return calls or emails. Even if I get a one-line response asking me to politely fuck off, that’s fine, I just appreciate the 2 seconds it takes to reply."
4) Participate Fully in Campaigns

"One of the big ones [that can make or break a publicity campaign] would have to be the band’s willingness to participate. To make themselves available, be good interviewees, be as communicative as possible with their team and take our advice."
For some thoughts on publicity as well as the work of Emily Kelly and her Deathproof PR business partner Rebecca Reato, check out the interview.
Hypebot Senior Contributor Clyde Smith (Twitter/App.net) blogs about music crowdfunding at Crowdfunding For Musicians (@CrowdfundingM). To suggest topics for Hypebot, contact: clyde(at)fluxresearch(dot)com.

Related articles

• 4 Tips For Bands On Working With Publicists (hypebot.com)
• Complete Musician's Guide To Preparing For A Publicity Campaign (djduece.wordpress.com)
• Complete Musician's Guide To Preparing For A Publicity Campaign (pr2promo.wordpress.com)
• Complete Musician's Guide To Preparing For A Publicity Campaign (hypebot.com)
• How to Make Anyone Like You as a Publicist (inc.com)

NME’s Enhanced HAIM Feature Simply A Baby Step Towards Digital Publishing Possibilities

NME's Enhanced HAIM Feature Simply A Baby Step Towards Digital Publishing Possibilities

As music magazines struggle in the emerging environment, some going all digital, others are exploring paid options. NME is experimenting with an alternative to paywalls with the offering of a feature on HAIM as a separate digital download. It's a fairly small bit of news but points to a larger digital publishing environment in which repackaging and enhancing content has shown signs of success even when the content is available in separate pieces for free online. But even an "enhanced" feature is only a small step towards what's possible.
NME has already experimented a bit with digital content. Last year they launched NME extra offering exclusive digital extras for print subscribers.
Now NME is trying "enhanced" magazine cover features starting with "It's About HAIM" for $1.12.
I could only find this feature via a link from news coverage. When I went to NME I found the regular digital edition which presumably contains a replica of the print version of the HAIM feature. I'm not sure how they're targeting or marketing that offering but it's nevertheless a smart path to explore for many reasons including:
Successful online experiments with rebundling content include multiple variations on creating books based on free available content or blog posts and pricing options that include free online and paid ebook or print copy.
One-off extended features are currently showing returns for publishers with Amazon even creating a series called Kindle Singles.
Traditional magazine features often generate a lot more content than makes it into the article, including photographs, anecdotes, quotes and historical references, so there's often a lot to work with.
For a publication that's already covered a particular act, especially over a period of years, the ability to create not just an "extended feature" but a low-cost digital ebook for fans exists. Whatever you call it, I think there's a big digital sales opportunity that music publications have been missing and NME is simply scratching the surface with this effort.
Bonus: First Listen: HAIM, 'Days Are Gone'

Hypebot Senior Contributor Clyde Smith (@fluxresearch/@crowdfundingm) also blogs at Flux Research and Crowdfunding For Musicians. To suggest topics for Hypebot, contact: clyde(at)fluxresearch(dot)com.

Related articles

• NME's Enhanced HAIM Feature Simply A Baby Step Towards Digital Publishing Possibilities (hypebot.com)
• NME to experiment with online charges (theguardian.com)
• Will Haim's paid-for online feature spell new beginnings for the NME? (metro.co.uk)
• NME.com to trial online paywall this week (musicweek.com)
• Haim covers Hold Me by Fleetwood Mac (davidjamesminogue.wordpress.com)
• Haim (materialwhirl.wordpress.com)

Make Videos That Fit The Artist and The Audience [Leadership Music Summit Panel]

.

Make Videos That Fit The Artist and The Audience [Leadership Music Summit Panel]

An unlikely sounding panel at this week's Leadership Music Summit in Nashville, "Bringing Content to Fruition," kicked off a lively discussion about videos, music marketing and even a bit about building and monetizing a relationship with an audience for the long haul. Opinions varied but all seemed to agree that most choices come down to creating videos that fit both the artist and the audience.

Tuesday's Leadership Music Summit featured numerous talks and panels. A discussion focused on "creating video content...to expand a band/brand's message" touched on a number of interesting points.

Moderated by Hit Shop Records' David Ross, the panel included:

Stokes Nielson - Stokes Tunes/Country Now

Dez Dickerson - The Pavilion Group

Jamin Guy - Streamweaver

Brody Harper - Skorinc

Jared Scheel - Populr.me

High Points of the Discussion

Stokes Nielson got things going early with the audacious statement that musicians should be making videos because they're the "most effective way to communicate with other human beings."

Later Jared Scheel pointed out that video is an "incredible storytelling platform."

But to unleash the power of video, from music videos to backstage chronicles, many of the panelists spoke to different aspects of authenticity.

Dez Dickerson shared the first of many concepts he uses, in this case, to understand the act's "DNA" as a way of maintaining authenticity:

Who are we?

What do we do?

What are we doing it for?

By discussing such questions a band and team can then more easily evaluate a video project and whether or not it's appropriate for the act and the audience.

The panelists also discussed the fact that fitting both the act and the audience can affect such issues as production values. A new act has less money so a low-budget look is appropriate. More established acts are expected to have higher and therefore more expensive production values.

But this was one of the spots where panelists resisted formulating a one size fits all approach.

Stokes Nielson pointed out that first looks are so important that it can make sense for an emerging act to spend more money to make a strong first impression.

While Brody Harper says they've found with bigger stars that more off-the-cuff videos can work cause it offers a more human connection than fans are feeling from social media. On social media, they don't know if a tweet is actually written by an artist or by a team. When the artist is sitting there adjusting their webcame, it's a much more intimate moment even when watched by a large audience.

Other Tips and Insights

Stokes Nielson encouraged musicians to do collabs on YouTube to reach their audiences. In particular, he pointed out that YouTube stars are likely to be open to a collab with a musician as simply a cool thing to do, so reach out.

Jamin Guy suggested making sure your video works for all devices. Sure, it plays, but how does it actually look when played on a big screen vs. a smartphone screen.

Videos are a powerful tool for building relationships with one's audience. Dez Dickerson maintained that the long-term play is a shift from a transactional approach (i.e., buy this new release) to a relational approach (i.e., let's get to know each other so we can be friends for a long time).

As Dickerson pointed out, a hit doesn't necessarily translate into a music career. But if you have an audience, you can have a career.

Hypebot Senior Contributor Clyde Smith (@fluxresearch/@crowdfundingm) also blogs at Flux Research and Crowdfunding For Musicians.

Related articles

• Make Videos That Fit The Artist and The Audience [Leadership Music Summit Panel] (hypebot.com)
• Lady Antebellum's Dave Haywood and Associates Discuss Working Together On Digital Initiatives (hypebot.com)
• REWIND: The New Music Industry's Week In Review (hypebot.com)
• "Data Is The New Hustle" - Is The Music Business Getting Any Fairer? (djduece.wordpress.com)
• Musicians: Why Your Self-Presentation Is An Important Part Of Your Music (djduece.wordpress.com)
• Analysing Music video - Ed sheeran 'A team' (mo10man.wordpress.com)