Promotional Work

[Orphax]

As this is something that has to do with labels as well I thought to start a topic about promotion of releases.
This is because so far I have been having a hard time to get magazines, blogs and such to review material I have released on my label and I guess I am not the only one.

Do you have special tricks?
Do you have certain contacts?
What are your thoughts about how some zines work with this?

And so and so on.

[flspectro]

http://www.musesmuse.com/col-virus-onlinemarketing.html


Bassically it says that getting a little personal with the reviewers is tha way to go. It sounds logical  to me but...

[rupske]

I have some input from the other side of this situation.

I do a radioshow on minimalism/ambient/drone/... together with some people, and we are explicitly warned not to ask for promotional material ourselves. So everything has to be requested via the organisation of the radio station. In practice, this means we only get (some) promotional material from reasonably large labels (e.g. type, kranky), that have good distribution in europe.

So most of the music I select is the music I hear of thanks to the internet/tips from friends and the albums that I buy.

unfortunately, I don't really see a solution for this unfortunate situation 

[taylordeupree]

that's really interesting.. as i tend to ignore requests for radio press unless it's coming from an individual who seems genuinely interested and knowledgable about 12k..

if i got a request from some "higher up" at a radio station, i'd probably write it off..

so, it's sad that there may have been legitimate, and good, stations out there who i've turned down due to the DJ who's really interested, not getting to voice his request.

to that, i say, have the DJ/individual email ANYWAY and perhaps give a heads up that someone else from the station may be contacting for promos...

this ties into how i deal with press in general (which i'll write in another post!)

I have some input from the other side of this situation.

I do a radioshow on minimalism/ambient/drone/... together with some people, and we are explicitly warned not to ask for promotional material ourselves. So everything has to be requested via the organisation of the radio station. In practice, this means we only get (some) promotional material from reasonably large labels (e.g. type, kranky), that have good distribution in europe.

So most of the music I select is the music I hear of thanks to the internet/tips from friends and the albums that I buy.

unfortunately, I don't really see a solution for this unfortunate situation 

[tokafi]

As this is something that has to do with labels as well I thought to start a topic about promotion of releases.
This is because so far I have been having a hard time to get magazines, blogs and such to review material I have released on my label and I guess I am not the only one.

Do you have special tricks?
Do you have certain contacts?
What are your thoughts about how some zines work with this?

And so and so on.

I know just how hard this is, because I am actually on both sides of the debate - as a writer and occasional label-curator. A personal approach is definitely helpful, but it is just a tiny part of the equation. If there were a single advice I would have to give it would probably have to be persistence. If the music is interesting enough over a long stretch of releases (which I definitely feel is the case for Moving Furniture), results will come in time. Establish personal contacts and then keep asking them whether they'd be interested in covering future releases - even if they haven't in the past. One of the labels which has been really good at this is Dragon's Eye, whose albums, for different reasons, I was unable to review for a while. But Yann just kept sending me stuff and eventually, I picked up the pieces again. That really installed trust in both sides, which I feel is essential.

For print mags, I'm afraid, you will almost always have to go the route of a promoter, further raising costs.I'm not sure if these costs are really worth it, that's something Taylor may have some experience with - which I'd actually be interested in a lot.

I'm actually writing a series of workshops for one of the mags I work for on this exact issue, which I intend to port to tokafi at one point. I'd love to meet over coffee, too, in Amsterdam, to talk about these things in person - I'm sure to pass by from time to time 

[taylordeupree]

i have a few different approaches... for one, i hire a press company in Berlin to do european print and radio press. it's expensive, but i think it's worth it.. especially over years of being published in some good magazines overseas... it has a last effect.

i also send copies of releases out myself to a few other foreign writers as well as US writers... what i tend not to do is send to places that i don't think will write about it. copies are limited enough that i'm not going to spam 100 writers who could give a shit about the music.. so i've built a small, but solid, list of press people who i know will write about the stuff if they can.

be smart and target.. and realize that writers are busy and simply can't cover everything they get.

many reviews often just rehash the press release.. and it's really refreshing when you come across a writer who has obviously spent time with the release and approaches it from angles i didn't even think of myself.

those guys (and gals) are keepers

[Orphax]

As this is something that has to do with labels as well I thought to start a topic about promotion of releases.
This is because so far I have been having a hard time to get magazines, blogs and such to review material I have released on my label and I guess I am not the only one.

Do you have special tricks?
Do you have certain contacts?
What are your thoughts about how some zines work with this?

And so and so on.

I know just how hard this is, because I am actually on both sides of the debate - as a writer and occasional label-curator. A personal approach is definitely helpful, but it is just a tiny part of the equation. If there were a single advice I would have to give it would probably have to be persistence. If the music is interesting enough over a long stretch of releases (which I definitely feel is the case for Moving Furniture), results will come in time. Establish personal contacts and then keep asking them whether they'd be interested in covering future releases - even if they haven't in the past. One of the labels which has been really good at this is Dragon's Eye, whose albums, for different reasons, I was unable to review for a while. But Yann just kept sending me stuff and eventually, I picked up the pieces again. That really installed trust in both sides, which I feel is essential.

For print mags, I'm afraid, you will almost always have to go the route of a promoter, further raising costs.I'm not sure if these costs are really worth it, that's something Taylor may have some experience with - which I'd actually be interested in a lot.

I'm actually writing a series of workshops for one of the mags I work for on this exact issue, which I intend to port to tokafi at one point. I'd love to meet over coffee, too, in Amsterdam, to talk about these things in person - I'm sure to pass by from time to time 

Thanks.
Indeed during my time as writing for EARLabs I got a regular package from Dragon's Eye Recordings. They always kept on sending stuff.

And would be great to meet up sometime. Just let me know when you pass by Amsterdam again in that case.

[Orphax]

i have a few different approaches... for one, i hire a press company in Berlin to do european print and radio press. it's expensive, but i think it's worth it.. especially over years of being published in some good magazines overseas... it has a last effect.

I have also worked with Dense.de for the first release.
Ed did a great job, though I am not sure if it really helped me a lot. But that might also have to do with having very little shops/distro having the release.

i also send copies of releases out myself to a few other foreign writers as well as US writers... what i tend not to do is send to places that i don't think will write about it. copies are limited enough that i'm not going to spam 100 writers who could give a shit about the music.. so i've built a small, but solid, list of press people who i know will write about the stuff if they can.

be smart and target.. and realize that writers are busy and simply can't cover everything they get.

many reviews often just rehash the press release.. and it's really refreshing when you come across a writer who has obviously spent time with the release and approaches it from angles i didn't even think of myself.

those guys (and gals) are keepers

I try to do that as well. There are a few people I know who are writing already and I try to keep in contact with them for new releases. Also seems best to me.

Thanks for the reply.

[Secret Music]

Interesting that I should pick this as my first post to the forum. Hope it's an acceptable introduction.

I'm a DJ who plays New Age/Ambient/Electronic music at a small college station in upstate New York. I've been doing this since the dawn of time, it seems. Promotion isn't an easy thing, especially in this day and age. You'd think otherwise with the Internet and all, but it's more about a return on your investment. I've always been very aggressive in seeking out new and interesting music to play. Takes some work, but the rewards have been incredible.

  To answer Rupske, I don't know the politics of your station. We're pretty open minded about such things (and it helps that I've been there forever). I get things sent to me directly as it's easier that way. But I can see why some stations are more stringent about that. They want to build up the station's library. It's a fine line. The best I can tell you is to try and work with your music director to try and encourage them to try new things. There's actually been some interesting things on our playlist of late (12K/Type/Dragon's Eye), which is a good thing. I've always encouraged other radio people to think outside the box and seek out new things to play. Sadly, many of them just don't have the time or inclination. I'm hoping more DJ's and reviewers will ease their stance on digital promos. They've certainly made my life easier.

  For the musicians and labels out there who are looking at promotion, I've found that for the most part, paying for promotion isn't a great return on your investment these days. If you can afford it, great. Better to seek out interested parties. Connect with other musicians and labels for contacts. Even talk to DJ's and reviewers. We tend to know some of our compatriots. To echo Taylor's words, be smart and target. Better to send out 25 or 50 copies to people you know will give it the attention it deserves than 250 or 500 copies to people who just don't care. Send an email of introduction. I've discovered a lot of great music from people sending me random emails. And if you don't get a reply, it's not the end of the world. Some people are just too busy. Keep in touch and keep them apprised and see what happens.

  It's not an easy time for the music business, but I'm hopeful that if people work together, we can get through it.

P.S. Taylor, in response to your earlier post, we should talk sometime.

[Le Berger]

Meaningful exposure... it's a motherf*cker! 

I like flspectro's take on it, getting on a first name basis & building a rapport with reviewers is definitely bound to get more attention to your stuff than whatever new random things flood their inbox. One thing to remember here is that most bloggers, e-zines & actual physical publications definitely are receiving a crapload of submissions, kind of like labels with demos. So yours can definitely get buried in there and receive limited attention, if any.

Plenty of those are doing this as a hobby or as freelance writers and are in a very similar position to artists not getting much retribution for their works, they also are bound to get more traffic and hits from speaking about things that are already somewhat hyped, there's definitely a phenomenon of 'close circle of friends' & scratch my back I'll scratch yours, etc. The factors are multiple and working against anybody trying to break from anonymity.

In a sense it depends what you're after, both in the immediate and the medium to long term. I say that because in terms of immediate return on investment, dishing out your precious $ for specialized marketing (e.g. Taylor mentioning press agency in Germany) or buying ad space in The Wire or any such campaigns, you're not likely to see that money back. But if you hire the right people or go about it with a clear vision of what you're trying to accomplish and building a name for yourself (or label...) eventually it should pay off in terms of recognition. But even still, it's a gamble.

Apart from that, I'd say keep trying, build as long a list as possible of contacts and with every release do the full leg work of contacting those people and presenting your stuff as enticingly as possible, yet as succinctly too (they like knowing what you're about very quick instead of fishing through 12 pages or press clips and artist bio, not to say that you shouldn't make this stuff available, just not as the 'meat' of your communication with them)

[adamwilliams]

Yeah, as already mentioned it's difficult as a writer to even scratch the surface of what you'd like to cover. It's easy to have one quick listen and throw something online but if you're going to spend time with the release and try to understand where the artist is coming from then you're bound to money/time constraints. I tend to listen to everything I can and then if I can't cover it, I'll keep an eye on the artist and try to make sure I get them some exposure when I get chance, even if that's on their next release - not a perfect method I know.

In an ideal world, I prefer dealing with labels and artists because you know they're actually passionate about the music than somebody who is paid to promote it, but I've dealt with PR people before with no issues.

[rob]

Anyone perchance have a list of reputable journalists they send promos to for press consideration?  Been out of that mode so far long now that many of the people I used to send stuff to have moved on. But now I'm ready to send stuff out again, and was wondering if anyone had a list of quality scribes who go beyond one sheet regurgitation?

Thanks in advance!

[runningonair]

Just check out the review sites that deal with the sort of music you are producing.  Look for reviews of work you feel is on the same line as your own.

[bojanix]

First of all I have to say that I find all your posts very helpful.

I've recently restarted my label called ETALABEL after a 3 year break with a new release by an artist called Noiko http://www.etalabel.com/index.php/noiko-honey/.

So I faced the same problem. What to do to find some journalists, bloggers, etc. who would like to review the new album. I think I am even in a more difficult position because my goal is to promote young artists who have never released anything. So it is really hard to convince people to write the review.

First of all I have some experience in the e-PR. I call it door-to-door internet PR. I worked for a company and I had to establish contacts with many, many individuals who potentially could be interested in what the company offered. Using that experience I started digging in the internet and creating a database of the sites and blogs where you can read reviews. I also asked my friends who had some "tested" links / addresses. I also started reading some reviews of albums which are similar to what I release. Than when a journalist is mentioned under the article I tried to establish a contact with him / her.

The album "Honey" by Noiko was released 2 weeks ago and so far I have had 5 good reviews written in my country (Poland) and 3 written in English (if you click the above link and scroll down you can find the links to the reviews).

I would say that it is easier when you feel that the music you release will go to the reviewer who can be interested in it. There are also some places where you will get a review for sure (like Vital Weekly).

It is also very difficult for me to find out if what I release is interesting for the potential listeners. As you may noticed I placed a post in the "Self promotion section" and there was no answer, no reaction. So I really don't know if you guys here, who I see as very, very experienced, find this album interesting or not. The same thing is with the reviewers. Although some may say that the album is interesting, you will never know if they are really going to write something or not. Than the question remains, "should I write and e-mail to the reviewer and ask him if he is going to write something, or not?" Some may see it as a rude behaviour, some not (and this also depends on the country of origin of the reviewers, cause the people in Eastern Europe see these things quite different than people from UK or the USA). I see it as a very delicate matter. It would be also good to find out what the "other side" thinks about it - I mean the reviewers who have already said some interesting things here.

[tokafi]

You're bringing up a very important point here, Bojanix, since whether or not a mag or blog is going to write about a release isn't necessarily related to the quality of the music - in some cases not even to whether or not they like something or not. There's a multitude of reasons at work here: Temporary swings in taste (the reviewer may simply not be in the mood for drones/death metal/disco/dub at this particular point in time), time issues (the reviewer may have some pressing deadlines in his dayjob) as well as trying to keep a balance between different styles and between well-known and new names, for example, between following one's instincts and trying to cater to the tastes of readers.

For me, when I decide to review a release, I make a commitment to the artist and the music and this usually involves an intensive period of spending time with the work, reflecting about it, doing research and then penning, editing and correcting a review. During this period, all new music arriving on my desk is on hold, even if it's absolutely fantastic. My working process is particularly time-consuming, but in the end every journalist has a limited amount of disposable time. So if a reviewer tell you he or she is interested in an album but then doesn't write about it, there's no contradiction from my point of view. There's an element of luck to getting a review in the sense of contacting a reviewer at the right time with the right release. I missed out on the releases of German artist Field Rotation at the time of their first release, for example, but may write about them now, as they're being re-released on vinyl.