Music and vision are great, but they don’t suffice. Public relations (PR) can make or break a musician’s career. Music PR is vital because it spreads the word about upcoming singles or albums, creates buzz, and keeps current fans engaged. How can musicians make the most of music PR? Here are 6 tips that will help you do exactly that.
Maintain a strong social media presence.
Half the battle is won if a musician has a strong presence on many social media platforms. They already have an audience that likes them. These are some ways to grow and solidify your online presence.
- Interact with your followers by liking comments and replying to them.
- Live streaming – More.
- Uploading regularly.
- Producing quality, engaging content.
An online presence for a musician should be current, so they can be contacted from anywhere. A musician with a strong online presence will be well-received.
The unique selling point is solidified.
What is it that makes this musician unique? People won’t pay attention to PR if they see them as just another performer. This could not only have no effect but also cause musicians to lose their followers.
Musicians should instead work hard on their image and stay true to it. It doesn’t mean that musicians’ image cannot change. Just look at Taylor Swift! This doesn’t mean followers or fans should not be able to say, “this makes sense for the artist,” and relate to what the musician does.
What is unique about new music? What does the new music have to do with the story of the musician? This should be clarified in the lead-up.
A holistic story is possible.
Having great visual content makes it easy for PR materials to be easily understood by fans. It’s easier to understand information through great photos or art pieces. It’s also great for working with other online personalities, such as artists, editors, or photographers.
Be patient
Publicity is not a sprint. It’s a marathon. Musicians cannot expect instant results. It’s best to focus on these two points and start promoting music months before its release. It is important to set a release date. Then, a pre-release campaign will be launched to generate excitement, grow an audience and convert casual listeners to loyal fans.
This can be used to help the audience understand the motivations behind the music and the place the musician was when it was recorded.
Plan PR campaigns
A musician should put together a press release and a bio. Then, decide who to contact to promote their music. If the musician isn’t confident in writing press releases or creating bios, outside sources may be able to help.
Offline PR campaigns could include radio stations, newspapers and magazines, but online could be podcasts or other artist’s platforms, blogs, etc. It is up to the musician to decide the who. Promoting them can reflect on the musician and help strengthen their image.
Online buzz is more important than an offline buzz in this day and age. Here are some tips to promote music in 2021.
Hire a publicist with care
It is not the same thing as hiring a musician to be a publicist. Publicists will be part of your team. They should share the same visions and have the same short- and long-term goals. A musician should not hire a publicist if they don’t like it for any reason. It’s as simple as that. This is why musicians should be wary about publicists reaching out to them. It will often be a cash grab.
The success of PR campaigns depends on the musician and the publicist. The musician cannot just sit back and allow the publicist to do all of it and then blame them for not getting enough results.