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There are many questions to ask before contacting a publicist or PR firm to determine the answer to that question.  A publicist needs to be able to present an interesting story in addition to great music.  What is special about you or your band that sets you apart from the many other artists in the same market and genre?

• Are you playing live shows often, drawing crowds and building a fan base?
• Have you recorded a CD or EP that will be released to retail and/or online outlets?
• Does your band have a professional website?
• Are you active on social media – Facebook page, twitter, YouTube, etc.?
• Is there a regional or national tour in the works?
• Have you done some publicity yourself in your local area?
• Do you have a professional biography?
• Do you have professionally shot photographs?
• Have you had your music licensed to tv or film?
• Is there another aspect of your life or career that is unique?

One benefit of hiring a professional publicist is that they can get your music into the right hands and open doors that may have been previously closed.  Publicists spend years building and maintaining their media and industry contact list and most importantly their relationships and reputation with those contacts.

YOU ARE READY, NOW WHAT?

Now that you have decided you are ready to hire a publicist to help you get to the next level, can you afford to pay one?  Professional publicists can charge $1,000 to $1,500 or more per month and often require a 3-6 month minimum.  Are you rethinking that are you ready question?   You have probably already spent more than this amount on instruments, gear, recording, touring and other necessities of being a musician, however, if you are serious about a career in music, you must think of marketing and promotion as necessities.

The good news is music publicists are music fans and if you truly are ready and they love the music often they will tailor smaller campaigns for you to get started. If national touring is not a possibility at this time, the publicist may concentrate on regional media and a shorter time frame.  Think about your budget before contacting a publicist to at least have a range in mind of what is possible.  Be honest about your budget, if you know you can only manage $2,000 or other amount, tell them.  Some publicists are flexible and will work with you in the beginning stages.

FINDING & CHOOSING A PUBLICIST

The best way of finding a publicist is to ask other performers and industry in your circle for a referral. If there is a band or artist similar to your genre of music that has a good buzz going on, visit their website and see who is listed as their publicist. Next step would be Google terms like “music publicist” “music publicist city or country)” or if your genre of music is specific “jazz publicist” or “metal publicist”.

Check out websites, if the website is not professional it may tell you that the publicist doesn’t value presentation and image.  Read the company profile and publicist bio, check out their past and present clients, read press releases they have written and see if they are active on social media.  Social media is a huge aspect of promotion therefore; everyone involved with the band should be active on social media.

After your research you should have a few options to consider and initiate contact with.  For a first contact an email outlining who you are and what you are looking for is best.  Give a little info on your band or you as a solo artist, your history, what you have achieved so far, upcoming plans and most importantly links to websites where they can get more info and listen to your music.

From there you will see what the response is, if you don’t receive a response after a week or so contact again  and remind them who you are (best to include original email in body of follow up email).  Often the publicist has just been busy and a gentle reminder shows you are serious and reminds them to get back to checking out the info you sent. Or very likely your email went to spam, junk or was accidentally missed.   If they are interested they may put a rough publicity plan together for you to give you an idea of their approach and rates.  They may also tell you any number of reasons why they can not take on the project and/or refer you to another publicist more suited or more available.

WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN YOU HIRE A PUBLICIST

Hiring a publicist does not guarantee media coverage, no matter how good the music is or how much you have going on; there are many factors beyond anyone’s control that determines what media will cover.  Like with all aspects of your career, think of publicity as a building process.  You may not receive a lot of coverage on your first tour, however, the more often you play a city the more people will come out and the better chance of receiving press.

An ideal plan would start a minimum of 6-8 weeks in advance of CD release or first tour date.  CDs need to be mailed out, bio written or updated, press release written and distributed and time for contacts to receive these before follow up pitches for coverage starts.  Media outlets have lead times to consider:  daily papers 3-4 weeks, weeklies 3-6 weeks and monthly magazines can be 2-6 months.

Your publicist should keep you updated on the process and results as they happen and provide a report on media received and solicited.  If you don’t hear from them it may mean there is nothing new to report, however, the more in contact you are with your team the better so ask how things are going and if they need anything more from you.  Keep the publicist updated on all your efforts and results too as it helps the publicist if they have something new to pass on when pitching or following up with media.  Think of all aspects of your career as a long term building process.  Learn everything you can about the business, work on your craft and network, network, network.