Spill Magazine’s Indie Music Biz Resource

Skylar Entertainment’s Diane Foy answers questions and provides valuable information on the music business to assist artists in furthering their career. Please send in your music business questions and any suggestions of topics you would like to see covered in this section to thebiz@spillmagazine.com                               http://www.skylarentertainment.ca                    

MUSIC PUBLICITY EXPLAINED

“A publicist is a person whose job is to generate and manage publicity for a public figure, especially a celebrity, a business, or for a work such as a book or film. One of the publicist's main function is to generate press coverage on behalf of clients and to serve as the bridge between clients, their public and media outlets. A publicist writes press releases, manages campaigns and performs other public relations functions.” - Wikipedia

When contacting a publicity company, in addition to sending links to your websites, be prepared to explain when the CD release date is, how you will sell the music, what the touring plans are, if there will be radio promotion and any other marketing plans. Also, offer to mail in a hard copy CD as many publicists will not accept online or e-mail submissions. Most reputable publicists won’t work with a project unless they believe in the artist and think they can have success with it so don’t expect to just contact a publicist and ask what they charge without first sending in music and providing your marketing plans.

Many artists don’t understand that a publicity campaign needs to be planned well in advance of a CD release, tour or event. Press outlets have lead times that need to be followed in order to be considered for placement. For example, newspapers should be pitched four-to-six weeks in advance; major magazines need three-to-six months, while lead times for TV and radio interviews vary.

In order to promote an artist and CD properly, professional press kit components are needed. The publicist will need promotional CDs, a professionally written biography, hi res 300 dpi jpeg photographs, previous press coverage if there is any and a one sheet, which contains the bio, photo, logo, CD cover, track list, release date, websites, press quotes and publicist contact information. The artist should already have a strong web presence and be active on all the main music and social media sites such as MySpace, Facebook, LastFM, YouTube, etc.

Publicists can be hired to write biographies and many assist in coordinating photography shoots and the graphic design of publicity materials. They have a wealth of resources that extend beyond media contacts and are often instrumental in garnering artists’ attention from agents, bookers, managers, labels, distributors, radio promoters, video directors and many other industry professionals.

Publicity campaigns run approximately three months and continue for as long as the artist is touring and has momentum. Publicity companies may charge a monthly fee or a flat project fee plus mailing expenses and, in Canada, GST. Rates can vary greatly depending on the project, how busy the artist is and the experience and reputation of the publicist. It is important to note that hiring a publicist does not guarantee media coverage; the client is paying for the publicists’ skills, knowledge, time, effort, contacts and relationships used to promote the project.

A CD release campaign generally starts with servicing media with an advance of the album and distributing a press release announcing the upcoming release. The publicist will follow up with media soliciting feedback, reviews and interviews for the artist. A second press release can be distributed announcing a CD release party, tour or radio single release. Media will be pitched for coverage in each tour city for profiles, reviews, live coverage and show plugs.

The busier the artist is, the more the publicist has to talk about, the more chance of getting media interest and coverage. Interviews secured will be organized and scheduled and the publicist can assist if the artist requires tips on how to prepare for an interview. As reviews come in, positive quotes can be pulled and credited to the media outlet to use in press materials. The publicist should keep the client in the loop on media secured and solicited and provide a report.

A publicity campaign should not be thought of as a one time thing as publicity can be a slow process and you may not get a lot of press coverage on your first CD or tour, however, publicity just like every aspect of your career is a building process. It takes hard work and consistency to succeed.

-Diane Foy, Skylar Entertainment

www.skylarentertainment.ca

RADIO PROMOTION

Radio promotion is an important part of an artists marketing plan for a CD release campaign. Hiring a professional radio tracker is imperative for commercial radio promotion. They have plenty of contacts, years of experience and they will talk up your single to the right people in the hopes of getting you charted and adds at radio stations. Andrea Morris from AM to FM Promotions and Dale Peters from Dale Speaking, both with many years of music and radio experience, offered up some valuable advice to The Spill for artists regarding radio promotion.

What You Need To Ask Yourself

Before contacting any music business professional that you hope will join your marketing or management team, it’s best to have a general plan of action.  Peters offers some questions to consider before making contact: What do you expect from a radio tracker? Are you familiar with this term? What is your demo? (male, female, ages, lifestyle) What is your marketing / publicity / promotional budget and strategy? Do you have funding applications prepared and applied for? (Factor, VideoFact, Starmaker, MaxFact, CMT) Do you have an agent? A manager? A publishing deal? A record deal?  Who produced your album, and where was it recorded? Do you have an internet / web presence? (Website, MySpace, ITunes, Pure Volume, Last FM, etc) How are you planning to sell your music? Do you have a video? What are your touring plans? You do not need to have accomplished all of these things but it will help to get a good sense of where you are at and what the strategy will be

Don’t Stop at Singles, Sell the Album. 
It is also good to note that even radio promoters that will be working a single want to hear the full album before working it.  “One song does not define that artist,” states Peters.  “Having the entire disc also gives me a chance to hear if there are other potential singles,” Morris adds. “I also like to look at packaging and read lyrics as it’s an insight into how serious an artist is.”

Independent is Alright
One bit of good news for indie artists is that retail distribution or even a record label is not always necessary. It is more important to build a fan base, have a professional website or Myspace and keep busy with your career.  “When it comes to rock radio, touring is really important,” says Morris. “Programmers like to see movement around a track.”
 

What They Consider
There are many factors that radio promoters take into account when deciding to put an artist’s single on the radio.  Along with production quality, lyrics, length, and how memorable the song is, professionals also want to know how serious the artist is at making music a career as opposed to a hobby.  Morris says, “I want to make sure the artist understands what they need to do make things happen.”  Peters adds that “each artist is different and needs to be addressed individually.”

There are many things that artists don’t understand about how radio promotion works. “Most artists don’t have any idea of the number of tracks a programmer receives on a weekly basis,” explains Morris. “There is a lot of music submitted and my job is to make the programmer care about my artist and the song enough to add it, keep it in rotation and add future singles.” Artists also don’t understand the amount of time it takes to get airplay on a track. It doesn’t happen overnight.  “Depending on the traffic out there, it can sometimes take eight weeks to get a station to add a song.”

Campaigns need time to start seeing results so patience is key. “We work singles at main stream radio for 3 months per song, whereas college radio promo requires 3 months for the life of the disc,” says Morris. “I’ve worked some songs for six weeks, others for six months. It depends on the strength of the single.”

Find Your Market
When deciding if commercial radio should be part of your marketing, listen to the stations you think would suit your music and see if your song stands up.  Does your single have hit potential? “Campus is definitely cheaper to work,” says Morris, “but you can’t guarantee sales or tour dates based on campus airplay. Commercial radio is a harder nut to crack, however, you get a lot more interest when you chart, hence more orders for the CD, more and better tour dates and the possibility of being included on compilation CDs.”

Asking radio music directors, programmers and promoters if artists should get their fans to call stations and request their song always gets strong reactions. Bands, artists and fans will say yes of course.  Peters says “yes, but it has to be done strategically.”Morris however strongly advises against it saying, “Programmers are not dumb and are fully aware when requests are generated by the band. I’ve had programmers threaten to drop a track due to the amount of e-mails and phone calls they’ve gotten from [suspicious] fans,” warns Morris.  When a band from say Alberta get fans to call stations out East it soon becomes evident to the programmers that those fans are not in their market.  “Programmers need to see if a track is truly reacting with their audience.”

The Importance of Timing

Timing is another important thing to consider, “the fall is still the most difficult time,” says Peters. “September is a hard time for indie artists on commercial radio,” Morris points out. “It’s the biggest ratings period for radio stations, and programmers tend to stick with familiar artists. Plus, the Christmas season is approaching and tons of major artists release singles in September and October in anticipation of the pre-holiday release of their CDs.”

“January through September is a fine time for indie artists to hit radio,” advises Morris. “It’s always an uphill battle for indie bands, however, if you are prepared to think positive and slug it out, you can make it!”

Links:
http://www.amtofm.com/
http://www.dalespeaking.com/

Breaking the Biz

1. How long should one commit to promoting an album before moving on to the next one? 6 months? 1 year? 

The promo campaign for an album release should start a minimum of 2 months before the release date and continue for as long as the artist is touring and/or has momentum.  Continuously touring will dramatically increase the success of an album as will any newsworthy events or accomplishments.  Generally publicity and radio promotion campaigns run a minimum of 10 weeks as it takes time to start seeing results.  Results are always hard to predict, however, the more the artist has going on the better the chances.  If you get lucky and things take off for your career, the album may have a life of a few years.

2. What is the difference between publicity and marketing? Publicity & radio promotion? Does one have to do all, and which is most important for a new release?

Publicity is one part of a marketing plan not the whole plan.  Marketing is an ongoing process involving everything that can be done to promote and sell the artist and products. Publicity, radio promotion, advertising, packaging, distribution, touring, websites, merchandise etc., all of it is marketing.

Publicity is the part of the plan that attempts to make the public aware of the artist and its music by promoting to the media. A publicist will get the word out through press releases, mailings, e-mails, phone calls and networking to solicit reviews, profiles and interviews.  A publicist also assists in managing the image and perception of the artist and often creates opportunities to promote the artist.

A radio promoter promotes a specific single to commercial radio through their relationships with music and program directors across the country with the goal of getting “adds” on stations and increasing the rotation level of the song to get charted. Depending on the genre, style and production of the music, commercial radio promotion is not always necessary. Many artists find success through campus, community, internet and satellite radio.

Both publicists and radio promoters often promote artists to managers, labels, distribution companies, agents, lawyers and other professionals the artist may require when they feel the artist is ready to go to the next level. They also set your release apart from the hundreds of other artists soliciting the same attention as they have more contacts and ongoing relationships with the media. 

3. How important is cyber-publicity vs. traditional publicity? 

Cyber publicity is online marketing and these days it is one of the most important aspects to an artist’s career.  Setting up and maintaining a page on all the music and social networking sites is vital to growing an artist’s fan base. You can hire companies to assist you in online marketing, however, personal involvement from the artist in blogs, messages and comments is necessary in creating a personal connection with fans. Both traditional publicity and online marketing are important in furthering an artist’s career, however, online marketing can be ongoing, while traditional publicity only comes in when there is a story to tell. 

Questions submitted by: 
EMAR
http://www.emarmusic.com
thebiz@spillmagazine.com