From single and album launches to music festivals and the personal PR for music artists, life is far from boring as a music publicist
Two of Australia's most accomplished music publicists, Rina Ferris and Val MacIver, join me to give you an insight into working within the music industry as a publicist. They both worked at record labels for many years but now work for themselves, managing the publicity for some of Australia's most respected and awarded artists including Keith Urban and Jimmy Barnes.
In this episode, they share their thoughts on what sets an excellent music publicist apart, how they entered the industry, the kind of tasks you are responsible for when overseeing the publicity for an artist plus their tips for working for yourself.
“Always leave space in your daily task list to manage unexpected issues. If you are working with multiple artists, there is bound to be things pop up you weren't expecting, so you need to be fluid enough to deal with them"
Listen to the full episode on The PR Pod podcast for more about working in music publicity. You'll also find this episode on your fave podcast players, just search "The PR Pod".
WHAT SETS A GOOD MUSIC PUBLICIST APART FROM A BAD ONE?
Good communication skills and being able to manage different personalities
An efficient worker
Results-driven
Team player
Agile problem solver
Level-headed enough to make reactive decisions in the heat of a moment
WHAT DOES A PERSONAL MUSIC PUBLICIST DO?
Works with an artist's record label to oversee the direction of the PR strategy
Depending on the role split with a record label, they can be responsible for all the media coverage for an artist around the release of a single or album
Facilitates interview requests and the interviews themselves during a tour
Oversees the PR strategy and any other commercial arrangement the artist may have
TIPS IF YOU START TO WORK FOR YOURSELF
Be comfortable with writing and being able to write quickly
Be an agile problem-solver
Define your niche, focusing on servicing elements you really enjoy of music publicity
Know your strengths and weaknesses. Brilliant at creating an interview schedule but not so hot at writing media releases? Outsource the releases to someone you know will do a better job. Be comfortable with your weaknesses and come up with practical solutions to overcome them
If you'd like to learn more about working in other sectors of PR, such as hospitality, beauty or lifestyle, you'll find those episodes here.