Mentor Anne Leighton answers some member questions
Q. How does a successful regional band contact newspapers, radio stations and television to start their self promotional activities?
A. Basically a person needs a typewriter and a telephone. Write a great press release talking about an event -- get a literate friend to check it. Every piece of writing sent out should have another person checking it -- nobody can edit themself. Call the local media, get the name of who receives press materials. Mail it to them in a very timely fashion. And follow up. Always give your number twice when you leave messages. "Hi this is Brian Whitney, my phone is 555-555-5555, and I'm following up on my press release about my gig at the Dive on New Year's Eve. I would love to get a write up, do an interview with you. Looking forward to hearing from you (or whatever's natural to say). My number is 555-555-5555. Thanks."
Q. Also, how does someone get a press release to hit the AP/UPI wires?
A. Basically send the wire services a canned article -- two or three paragraphs in pyramid-writing style. They'll put them on the wire service. It's up to the affiliates to use the piece.
Q. Does it take a publicist to do all these things, or can a band just starting out, learn and do some of these things for themselves?
A. I think a band starting out should do their own press. Until a band has 7 to 10 gigs a month in areas other than their hometown, it's not worth their while to hire a publicist. I believe that bands or artists are a better publicist for themselves than a publicist could ever be -- they have something more at stake than anybody else -- THEIR OWN CAREER.
Q. And can you recommend a good book that tells how for us beginners?
A. There is one really good book about publicity -- MICHAEL LEVINE'S GUERILLA P.R.
Supplementary reading includes Raleigh Pinskey's 101 WAYS TO PROMOTE YOURSELF, THE MUSICIAN'S ATLAS has very good regional media leads throughout the states. Dale Carnegie's HOW TO WIN FRIENDS AND INFLUENCE PEOPLE gives advice on the best and most heartfelt way to schmooze-- love the journalists. And Roger Ailes' YOU ARE THE MESSAGE is THE book for the 21st Century on how any public figure or wannabe public figure has the obligation to himself and his career to be true to your craft and aware of your fellow man.
Q. How does someone find the right publicist to help them out?
A. MUSICIANS ATLAS and THE YELLOW PAGES OF ROCK are good leads. I can offer leads for some pretty good publicists depending on your goals and budget. Use word of mouth. A lot has to be done with a publicist who believes in you. But also you need to realize that different publicists have different specialties. You hire me if you want the best tour publicist in America. You can also hire me if you're a heritage artist of any pop or rock style. You hire someone like Mary Arsenault if you have a record label and plan to coordinate an artist's growth.... Mary's also great at classy artists. A You hire Veronique Cordier if you want a GREAT writer and someone who can place hard-to-like bands like Motley Crue and Metallica. Mary and Veronique are also divine at tour press -- someday I'll be working with them. You hire Perry Cooper or Ida Langsam or Laura Kaufman if you want an industry schmooze. If you have a big, big budget and an artist that requires TV attention go for Mitch Schneider Organization or Susan Blond. If you want a diehard metal publicist -- try Paula Hogan, Mike Mazur, Ronda Saentz. If you want the best Ska and underground publicist in America, Ms. Ilka Pardenas is great. Ilka's a great tour publicist-- a GREAT tour publicist -- kicks my butt. If you want hype for an ugly magician who does nothing but lie on his butt like David Blaine, hire Lois Smith.....Seriously PMK are THE show biz PR firm.
Q. What services should you expect from a publicist and how involved are they?
A. Crassly put a publicist's job is to make you famous. Seriously, a publicist tries to make you more famous. We write bios, press releases, and send them to the media. We put on our emotional kneepads and beg the media to cover our client. I believe a publicist should believe in their client-- I have never had a client that sucked, and have been really lucky.
Q. Do you hire a publicist on a situational basis, or can/should you look for one to cover your career?
A. There are a variety of ways of working with publicists. And there are a variety of publicists. I have one client (Jeff Berlin) that I handle media relations for every aspect of his career. This includes handling tour press, finding situations that can generate press for him, and also handling publicity for his projects -- most notably his albums. I also generate media attention for his school -- THE PLAYERS SCHOOL in Florida. Generally speaking a publicist that handles EVERY aspect of an artist's career is like a best friend -- objectively giving feedback from a media expert's point of view. However there are circumstances where an artist might need a specialist to focus on an aspect of his or her career like a special event. A great example is Cher has a main publicist -- Lois Smith at PMK. However Cher recently starred alongside other artists in a Diva Special, and there was a special publicist for that event.
Another example is when an artist is internationally known. Jethro Tull are world-famous, and perform through Asia, Australia, Europe and North America. I work with them in North America, and that emphasizes their tours and albums. However there is a publicist at Mobile Fidelity who handles all the product -- albums that are reissued by their company. This includes Jethro Tull re-releases. If their publicist receives an interview request, and Jethro Tull are on tour in the United States, she contacts me. If they are at home, it is easy for her to contact Jethro Tull productions and get the ball rolling for the interview.
Another example is when an artist is just beginning his or her career. At that point he may not be able to afford a private publicist, and -- because the artist can't afford to pay a publicist, he might be segueing into a label. He might have worked with a local kid before the signing. That local kid should then feed the publicity leads to the label's publicist and hope that the band is successful enough to call their own shots one day -- hiring the kid to do their press.... if the kid has pursued a publicity career and grown.
Q. Since publicists are all masters at promotion, how do you know the one you are going to hire isn't simply promoting themselves into becoming your worst nightmare?
A. Publicists are generally not masters at promotion. Publicists are (hopefully) masters of hype and schmooze, and acquiring space in the media for their clients. How do you know the publicist isn't simply promoting her or his-self into becoming an artist's worst nightmare is a hard thing until the publicist begins doing dumb things, like schmoozing the artist as opposed to getting media placements. a good publicist generally does not go on the road with a band. A good publicist is not looking to be best friends with a musician, unless they were already.
Basically a nightmare is someone who hampers you more than helps you. If the publicist spends his or her time telling the artist her problems -- most of which are little, or spends too much time trying to talk with the artist, then the publicist is not doing his or her job. Like a great agent, a publicist should be selling the client.
