How To Find A Music Publicist You Can Trust

You’ve decided you need a music publicist you can trust to help you promote your next album release. You’re nervous. There are stories you’ve heard from bands who hired a publicist who took their money and disappeared, or maybe the publicist stuck around but made huge promises they simply couldn’t deliver.

The result? Thousands of dollars down the drain.

I’m not telling you this to scare you, but to prepare you to hire a publicist you can trust so it doesn’t happen to you. There’s always some sort of inherent risk in hiring a music publicist, but there are also some things you can do to increase the chances of hiring the right publicist for your band’s needs — and one you ultimately trust.

Click to read more ...

5 Ways To Get On A Spotify Playlist

You’re ready to get on a Spotify playlist, right? But how do you do it when you have no followers, no connections, and you don’t know the first thing about how to make it happen.

I’m the queen of trying to find loopholes when everyone else says it can’t be done. Official Spotify playlist curators are unbelievably elusive and well guarded. They are also not the only way to make your way onto a playlist.

Below are five ways to get your song onto a Spotify playlist starting with two that essentially have no barriers and ending with the official playlists that require more strategy and savvy.

Click to read more ...

Less Is More: Why You Should Pitch Your Music To Fewer Publications

This article appeared first in Sonicbids. 

Logic dictates that the more music bloggers you reach out to about your band, the more coverage you’ll receive.

Not necessarily.

Click to read more ...

6 Tips For A Successful Album Release

This article appeared first on Reberb Nation.

You’ve put in the work, slogged through all the rewrites, did all your mastering, and now it’s album release time. You have a show booked within the next month, so logic states you should make it the record release show and your official release date. Not so fast. If you’re looking for more exposure on your music beyond the traditional friends and family who come to every show, you need to be strategic. Your band is your business, and like any successful business you need to create a plan for your album launch. If you’ve invested your time and money into the recording, don’t you want to make sure it’s heard by as many people as possible?

Below are considerations we make for every album launch to insure the greatest likelihood of success, and they form a blueprint any artist can follow.

Click to read more ...

Creating Small Goals For Maximum Success In 2017

Are you looking towards the end of 2016 and wondering why you didn’t achieve more? Why didn’t your band get signed to a label? Why didn’t you get added to a major music festival? Why didn’t more fans support your music?

When you look at goals from a large-scale point of view and evaluate how you did on your quest to achieve them, it’s easy to get discouraged. It’s easy to say, “What’s the point anyway?” Big-picture goals are fantastic and it’s important to dream big, but sometimes you need to take a step back to look at ways to create forward momentum.

Click to read more ...

5 Ways Great Timing Stacks Music Blog Coverage In Your Favor

I’ve had many a band come to me thinking they could overcome the one major factor that determines whether their band will be covered.

What’s that factor? Timing.

When you are unknown band, you are already faced with the major challenge of no one knowing who you are. As a result, you have to give extra benefits in them covering you. You need to stack as much as you can in your favor. And timeliness is the best way to do that.

Here’s a few ways you can maximize timeliness.

Click to read more ...

7 Common Themes To Secure Music Blog Coverage

This article appeared first on Green Light Go. 

It can often be overwhelming when you’re build a press list for your band. How do you know if the blog will cover you? Why aren’t they covering you? What are they looking for?

Take a look at the seven common themes below to see if you’re setting up your band for music blog coverage.

Click to read more ...

3 Reasons Why You Shouldn't Announce A Release Date

Bands often come to me while they are in the studio with a clear idea they would like to release their album within a few months. However, without a finished product this is rarely a successful strategy. I’ve even seen a few bands announce their album release date on social networks and then have to retract that date, due to a variety of circumstances.

These are three reasons why you shouldn’t announce your release date before you have a finished product.

Click to read more ...

The Best Time to Release Your Album: A Month by Month Guide

Last year I put together this handy dandy cheat sheet to give bands the best time to release their album or EP to maximize exposure. But you know what? Things change. A few months that were fantastic in the past, proved to be fatal in 2014.

So here is the updated, new and improved guide for releasing an album in 2015 and early 2016.

Click to read more ...

Do You Have the Risk Tolerance for a Music PR Campaign?

by Janelle Rogers, Green Light Go Publicity

Risk averse beware if you are entering into a music pr campaign, because it is one risky proposition.

If you are risk averse and have any trepidation, I’m going to tell you that you shouldn’t hire a publicist. Yep, I own a music pr firm and I’m going to tell you not to hire us.

Your heart will break. You’ll go through every emotion under the sun from elation when that influential media outlet says your record is the bomb to utter despair when not a press coverage can be found. You’ll point fingers, blame, question and self-doubt. You’ll stay awake with anxiety wondering why you spent all your money on publicity that isn’t moving fast enough and then ask the publicist daily “Have you heard from…?” in the hopes asking the question will allow it to materialize at the speed of light.

Click to read more ...

5 Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Music Publicist

by Janelle Rogers, Green Light Go Publicity “We hired a music pr company to promote our last album and were really disappointed in the results.” This is something we hear a lot when new clients come to us. I get it. Nobody wants to spend a ton of cash on something and then see very little come out of it. I know I don’t. I could go on and on about starting with a clear vision of where you want your band to go and what you hope to come out of a successful campaign, but first things first – you need to make sure you are in the right hands.

Click to read more ...

How to Release Your Album Successfully (Even If You Don't Have a Record Label)

Whether you paid thousands of dollars working with a great producer or made your own bedroom recording, chances are you want people to hear your music.

Over my 20 years in the music industry I’ve seen bands and even record labels make the same mistakes which ultimately prevent their record from standing a chance for success.

In order for people to hear your music and increase the chances your album or EP release will be a success, you need to create a solid plan before you release the record.

 
1. Do NOT release the record the same day you receive your masters back or your CDs arrive on your doorstep.

This is the #1 mistake we see bands make. You’ve spent months, if not years, on your album and you just want people to hear it. I get it. However, as counterintuitive as it may seem, you greatly reduce the amount of people hearing your music by releasing it right away.

Click to read more ...