Becoming your own publicist

As a musician, you are in the business of creating a sound. As a publicist, you will be in the business of creating and promoting an image. There are some distinct similarities and differences between the two jobs. You can’t create a sound for your band until you know what you want the band to sound like. As a publicist, you can’t create an image for yourself or your band until you have decided what that image should be. It isn’t enough to say, “Here I am.” You have to say, “Here I am AND THIS IS WHY YOU SHOULD CARE.”

You wouldn’t go to a gig without a set list, a list of all the songs that you will be playing that evening. Or at least you shouldn’t. There are some bands that do, but they usually end up losing their audience while they’re arguing about which song they should play next. Ever been in a band like that? I have. It sucks.

Likewise, you wouldn’t set out to build an image without a list of the steps you are going to take to do the job. You can try, just like you can play a gig without a set list, but you will end up losing whatever attention you had managed to attract. When you do it right, the results of an effective publicity campaign can be like putting your drummer on steroids. People will begin to notice your band.

Few people who aren’t in media realize how many news stories are created by public relation departments that write, distribute and encourage media outlets to run stories about their clients. If Big Joe Bob’s Burproprion Review releases a new album, then it’s the job of the publicist to bring it to the attention of these media outlets and to treat is as a newsworthy event. That may be done through a story about the band, a news story about some charitable event where the band performed, through an album review or by any number of means. But it needs to be done.