When hiring a music PR agency to assist in promoting your music, a new tour, a new video, whatever it may be, it is important to ensure that as a band you are fully prepared and expectations on both sides are understood. Be prepared you are with your assets but also prepared to take on the workload on your end to ensure the best campaign results, the better success you will have. PR should not be viewed as a standalone service, but rather a service that can enhance the promotion you are doing yourselves.
Expectations
when hiring a PR ensure you fully understand what their services entail and that you have a realistic understanding of what results you may expect. There are many factors that can impact PR results and your agent will do their best efforts to get as many results as possible. Aligning expectations is particularly important when working closely together. A PR agent will expect you to have planned some form of release schedules (do, of course, discuss this with your PR, they will be able to offer advice) and have finalized materials that are required weeks if not months in advance of the chosen release date.
PR is all about brand awareness and putting you in front of as many media outlets as possible. It works best alongside your own marketing strategy and promotional efforts. You will be expected to put the work in running your social media accounts, and be able to undertake any possible interviews and features that will require your time and energy if they are offered to you.
Preparations
Gather Assets In Advance –
The asset list below shows what will be expected for a single/EP/album campaign (please note these may vary depending on your campaign type)
- Music – in High quality MP3 format
- High quality artwork (for album/EP and any singles)
- High quality band photo(s) (landscape for PR, portrait for social media).
- Biographical information
- All social media and streaming links
- Pre-order & merch links
- Lyrics
- Video links (set to ‘unlisted’ on YouTube prior to release)
- Decide on which tracks are to be singles and their release order
Plan Your Time and Energy –
There are a number of things to be aware of that will require your time before, during and after the campaign.
- Prepare a release schedule including singles to ensure maximum advance promotion time. Last minute date changes are sometimes necessary e.g., if a release date is a bank holiday in the US or UK, for example, but planning ahead can avoid this issue.
- Post on social media, especially focus on sharing press and thanking media outlets.
- Promote your release through social media and mailing lists, for example.
- Interviews – these can be in written, phone or video format depending on the press outlet and can be across different time zones. If you have a preference or limited availability, inform your PR ahead of the campaign.
- Ensure your digital distribution has been handled in advance.
- Prepare physicals and/or merch.
- Upload music videos to YouTube (set as ‘unlisted’) in advance of their release.
PR is an investment. Your PR will want to ensure they can do their job effectively but that requires preparation and effort on your part as a band. If you are unsure of what is required from you, or what the next steps are in a campaign, ask these questions and inform your PR if any plans need to change so they can ensure the campaign continues to run smoothly.