{"id":23163,"date":"2022-10-05T19:16:31","date_gmt":"2022-10-05T23:16:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/?p=23163"},"modified":"2025-10-09T17:54:21","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T21:54:21","slug":"press-and-pr-for-musicians","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/press-and-pr-for-musicians\/","title":{"rendered":"Press and PR for musicians: How to take a holistic approach with your campaign"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Illustration:<\/strong> Najeebah Al-Ghadban<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It takes a holistic, all-hands-on-deck approach to sell records or tickets, grow streams, and position yourself for meaningful opportunities in today\u2019s crowded marketplace.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Yes, a glowing Pitchfork<\/em> review might help sell out records, or a TikTok video might go viral.<\/a> But more often than not, any win is the result of a cumulative effort to capture interest, raise awareness, and drive sales, streams, and profitable opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are several elements that play a role in a successful release: press outreach, digital marketing, ads,<\/a> distribution,<\/a> playlisting, tours, residencies, word of mouth, sync licensing,<\/a> and radio promo. I’d like to say that the most important element, however, is the quality of the music, and oftentimes it is. But sometimes, I just don’t get it. Though music is so subjective, I do know successful acts can often have a whole team behind them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since we don\u2019t all have that luxury, below I\u2019ve shared what I (with some help from PR expert Laurie Kearney<\/a> of Riot Act Media<\/a>) know about building a successful promo campaign around a new release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expectations, teamwork, and the truth behind successful press and PR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When artists are paying a relatively significant amount of money, they understandably want to see direct results. The truth is press coverage, even in the best outlets, rarely equates to record sales, streams, publishing deals, etc. It isn\u2019t a golden ticket. Rather, PR is a piece of the puzzle that drives credibility, SEO, and awareness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ideally, all those elements lead to better coverage, a bigger fanbase, more streams \/ sales \/ tickets, and more projects. Press just happens to be one of the flashier, most public-facing puzzle pieces, making it so coveted. It\u2019s also heavily gated and very competitive. We have more music available to us with way fewer high-quality music and culture-focused media outlets than ever, making public relations a highly challenging job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We asked Riot Act Media publicist Laurie Kearney if, in her experience, top-tier press coverage can still lead to album sales. She shares, \u201cIt\u2019s certainly not as common as it used to be! There are some larger websites where we do see this happen and it\u2019s always great\u2014but more often, I see actual record sales coming from a strong team effort between the label, artist, publicist, and the rest of that team. That means using socials effectively, touring, livestreams, having interesting merch or bonus content to offer, etc. This is also just my personal experience, as I tend to work more with newer, emerging, and more niche artists!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All of this teamwork and collaborative effort happening in the background can make one big press hit look like it was the linchpin of success, but more often than not, it\u2019s a result of an organic effort. It\u2019s very likely that the writer behind that review was influenced by the quiet industry buzz around the release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We asked Laurie about a campaign she worked on\u2014MJ Lenderman\u2019s Boat Songs<\/em> on Dear Life Records<\/a>\u2014which got an 8.3 rating and was dubbed Best New Album by Pitchfork<\/em>.<\/a> The first run of LPs sold out almost immediately after that. She disclosed, \u201cThe MJ Lenderman LP success (via Pitchfork<\/em> and other outlets) really stemmed from the efforts of a super strong and supportive team\u2026 Dear Life Records,<\/a> for example, is incredible. On the PR side of things, I really tried to give writers plenty of lead time to listen in to the record, and once it resonated with a handful of folks, there was exciting organic growth from there!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As someone managing acts in 2022, I find that keeping hopes high and expectations realistic will protect your emotional state, to a degree. Demanding a Rolling Stone<\/em> or Fader<\/em> feature as an up-and-coming artist will only win you a not-so-great reputation in the industry. However, expressing what you\u2019d like to aim for helps your team understand what to work towards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to set goals for your press and promo efforts<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

What you want from a press and promo campaign will differ depending on the level you\u2019re at. An established career musician will probably focus on album sales, ticket sales, and streams. An emerging or developing artist will have more rudimentary goals\u2014things like building a fanbase from scratch <\/a>or growing one beyond their local market. For the latter, they need their first press quotes and any substantial coverage that will lend them credibility in the industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Laurie shares, \u201cFor a lot of indie labels and newer or emerging DIY artists, seeing their work shared on a site is considered a ‘win’\u2014a chance to widen their audience, even just a little bit, and develop a foundation of press that can be built upon. Ideally, you want to see some original content and strong writing that can be quoted, but sometimes even just having the basics shared can generate some new fans.\u201d Everything is relative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m working with an up-and-coming artist on her first release now. She\u2019s unsigned and has taken it upon herself to hire a PR person, a radio team, and me. Her goal with the release campaign is to build a foundation and gain traction. Every new fan and follower is a win. What she doesn\u2019t want is to yell into the echo chamber of existing fans, friends, and followers. Our strategy is focused on introducing her music to new and relevant people in the industry including other artists, as well as building streams and followers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are some examples of what objectives could look like for the different promo channels:<\/p>\n\n\n\n