WHAT DOES A PRESS RELEASE LOOK LIKE?
The press release is super important: It can be the make or break as to whether your release is successful or not, so spend time on it and get others to read it over.
It’s similar to writing a resume and sometimes you don’t know where to start. The easiest starting point is to bullet point some key factors such as who you are, what you’re releasing, your musical history, career highlights and what you’ll be doing next e.g. touring.
Writing your press release is pretty similar to writing your band's biography, except you need to make it more focused around this specific release and the story around it.
The story you're telling has to persuade the person who reads it to listen to your music. The reader should relate to your story or the story around the song, and like you before liking your music.
The first paragraph of your press release is the most important as if it’s not engaging, no one will read on and you’ve completely wasted your time sending it and their time reading it. The first line should be something catchy such as “With over 3 million Spotify streams, indie rock band … return with ….”. Obviously not every band has the credentials to have something like that as their hook, but you can still make it interesting, using past press or support slots to engage the reader.
On average, 8 out of 10 people will read the headlines, but only 2 out of 10 will read the actual body of the email, showing the headline is the make or break. I’ve found writing the full press release before the headline helps as you have worked out what the most important points are already, so you can use these to work out the headline and use that for the subject bar. Make it powerful, using an active voice rather than passive.
For example, ‘After securing over 3 million Spotify streams on debut single, [insert band name] return with [insert song title]’ carries more weight than simply‘[insert band name] return with new single [insert song title’].
Must-Read: How to Get the Most Out of Your Radio Airplay?
ALWAYS:
- Indicate the release date (sounds stupid but many forget)
- Include images of the band but also the artwork
- Add your social media links
- Have the private SoundCloud link
- Proofread
- Include contact details
- Ask yourself if the press release could be published as is in a blog or magazine.
NEVER:
- Make it super long, no one will read it
- Make it too cliché
- Start the press release giving your entire musical background.. but if it’s not interesting or impactful to where you are right now, cut it out
- Brag. Why would you need promotion if you're better than everybody else?
- Use stupid fonts and colors. If you can't hire a graphic design and you don't know how to use the tools tastefully, keep it simple, clear, sober. Don't distract the reader with too many images, different fonts types, logos everywhere etc.. all that matters is the content of your text.
