By Michael Raine |
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From the megastar on the cover of Rolling Stone to the up-and-comer interviewed for a popular blog , there may be a lot more to those media spots than you realize . There is likely a media strategy laid out months in advance and carried out by a publicist working their web of contacts . Sure , some artists do it successfully themselves , and others ride a wave of grassroots buzz , but they ’ re the anomaly . Generally speaking , if an artist has ambitions of being known beyond their city or region , at some point , they ’ ll hire a publicist . But at what point ? Are You Ready ? First and foremost , and this should be obvious , the artist needs music that is ready to be heard and live dates in support of that music . Until there is music that can be proudly shared and distribution for it , as well as live shows , any publicity will only lead to a dead end .
“ I think the crucial question is , do they have something to promote ?” says Samantha Pickard , president of PR agency Strut Entertainment , which has led Canadian publicity campaigns for Taylor Swift , The Weeknd , The Rolling Stones , Dean Brody , and many others . “ I think in this day and age that many , many emerging bands of all genres can basically do a
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lot themselves . This is an age of selfpromotion and artists are able to do a lot of the initial outreach to blogs and online media themselves . I definitely recommend that if money is an issue and you don ’ t have a ton to talk about .” Pickard says that doing some self-promotion gives artists knowledge of what it entails and an appreciation for the job that a publicist will eventually do on a larger scale .
With this initial outreach , the artist ’ s goal is to get a handful of public voices on their side . As Sari Delmar says , paraphrasing Bruce Springsteen , “ It ’ s hard to start a fire without a spark .” Delmar , who is the founder and CEO of AB Co . ( Arkells , The Dears , The Sheepdogs , etc .), says that when there is media traction already , even on a small , regional level , it is a sign that many more media opportunities can be found . “ That is always ideal for us when we get calls that say , ‘ There is some
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organic buzz . There are these champions that already exist in the market , so how are we going to capitalize on that ?’ We say , ‘ Great , you ’ ve got these five people who love you already . Let ’ s get their articles to go up and then we can go and talk to our massive database of media outlets and get them excited .’”
Finding A Good Fit Before we get ahead of ourselves , an artist does not necessarily
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have to be ready to hire a publicist on the spot in order to reach out and set the groundwork for a future working relationship . All three well-respected publicists Canadian Musician spoke to – Pickard , Delmar , and Killbeat Music Founder Ken Beattie – say it ’ s not uncommon for them to meet with artists that are not immediately ready for their services , but whose music they like and could see working with in the future . It |
10 • CANADIAN MUSICIAN |