Should you hire a PR for your release?

hire-a-pr-or-not
What exactly does a PR do?

There's nothing you can't do. Sky is the limit! 
Question is can you do it right and do you have the time for it?

DIY PR is free and good on many levels when you do it right and when you put a lot of time and efforts into it. If not done properly, it can be a total waste and damaging for your music and image.


Here's how to do it right :         🔍

#1. RESEARCH all the contacts of the medias you'd like to reach and get your music featured on and get the names of the people you'll send your emails to. The first lines of your email will be the first impression the person who reads it will get. Starting with "Dear John" will give you way more chances to be read and answered than a random "hey," or "hi".
Gathering all those contacts will take time, but keep in mind that this time is a long term investment.


#2. ORGANIZE your contacts 
- by media types (radios, blogs, playlists curators, magazines..)
- by location : it will be useful when you go on tour to be be able to contact the radios located where you'll be playing to promote your shows. Trust me, you'll thank yourself that you did it before touring!
- add as many details as possible in your spreadsheet to make it easy to share the news and tag the blogs, radios etc. on your social medias at the time of the release (because you'll be very busy answering all the emails, sharing on social media each and every new article, airplay, playlist..., sending a newsletter to your fans, engaging with people, scheduling sponsored posts and ads, etc etc etc).

I personally have 9 spreadsheets :
RADIOS in English
RADIOS in Spanish
RADIOS in French
BLOGS in English
BLOGS in Spanish
BLOGS in French
PODCASTS
PRINTED MAGAZINE
PLAYLISTS CURATORS

For each I enter those informations: Organization name, first name, last name, email, website, social media, occupation, location.



#3. WRITE A PITCH 

Think about the best way to sell a new product, but instead you're promoting your music..!
How to write a pitch ? What is a pitch in music? 
It shouldn't be too long, and you'll use it for playlists submissions, you'll incorporate it in the emails you send to blogs or radios, and in your biography. It's the short version of the press release.

In a few phrases you'll present the best way possible your new release with catchy words and the best highlights (for example that your new song was produced by a Grammy award winner super famous guy).
The "pitch" in what will make people want to listen to your music.


#4. GET ALL YOUR MATERIALS READY 

Each media won't need the same materials and in the same format... some radios need wav. files while others ask for mp3. ; most of them want a download link but some want the mp3 attached in email. 
Same goes to the blogs : some will copy-paste your press release, some will need your artwork and other a lot of pictures. While the playlists need a pitch and your streaming links and sometimes the lyrics!

I suggest you gather all the necessary materials in their many forms, well organized in files, in a Dropbox link. That way the link won't expire (unlike wetransfer), and you can adjust the content of your file with what is requested as your promotion goes.

And that's just for online submission. Many radios still only accept physical submission : you send your CD and another bunch of different material... for that, see my post about PHYSICAL SUBMISSIONS FOR RADIO.


#5. DON'T COUNT YOUR HOURS

For some of my campaigns, I write the biography, press release and emails in 3 languages to target the most medias possible worldwide. 
This technic helped me figure out in which countries the audience is the most receptive to my music, then target my ads accordingly and plan my tours where my audience is the biggest.
It's a full time job, I'm telling you...

The more emails, the more results.

FINALLY, when you have everything ready, start sending emails. As many as you can. Keep in mind that all those efforts have a 1-5% ratio to turn out into a review / airplay etc..
So... make the maths... if you send 100 emails, chances are you'll be disappointed with your results.
I personally send thousands!

ANSWER TO THE QUESTION: 
If you have a month to spare and do only that, do it yourself! If not, then you should hire someone. 


Feel free to contact me for any help you need!

hire-a-pr-or-not
Is a PR needed when releasing a song?

Checklist for your music release DIY PR campaign:
- organized contacts
- emails content (1 version for each media type) with links to streaming + music video
- pitch
- press release with a nice picture
- Dropbox link with all your materials


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