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Press
Releases
We’ve now talked
about sending Newsletters to your current fans but
how do you issue general announcements to people
who may never have heard of you? For that you may
need to write a press release. Press releases are
a means to make important announcements such as
the release of new CDs, new contracts or
endorsements, new concert or tour plans. You might
want to let a larger slice of the general public
know about these events using a press release.
Do I need a Press
Release?
The first step is
to evaluate whether or not your news is worthy of
a press release. Creating a new press release for
every concert or tour date is excessive. You need
to pare that down to a single announcement of your
tour then figure out who would be interested in
this news. Remember that a press release is a tool
but it should not be misused or you will find that
many outlets will stop running them. When deciding
whether or not you should write a press release
ask yourself is this news item something that my
fans would like to know or is this something of
which a broader group should be aware. You will
need to look at targeting the market that is
affected by your tour. One idea is to send a press
release to those media outlets that operate and
distribute in the geographical markets where
you’ll be touring. Another approach would be to
focus on only those media outlets that cover your
genre of music. As with any advertising, be
selective and know your audience.
How do I write a
Release?
Take a professional
approach by writing about the band in third person
as if a reporter was writing an article on the
band. If it’s a story about the band going on
tour, you might start the article with the some of
the details of the tour. Include the facts of the
tour (who, what, when, where) but keep the article
short as you don’t want overwhelm readers with
every detail on each venue. Provide your contact
information or the address (URL) of a web page
where you list all your tour information.
Put a little time
and thought into your headline. The headline is
what is in newsletters and newsfeeds so try to
create an interest in your article. Choose your
words carefully to excite interest while
remembering that this is a professional
communication and stay away from shock or schlock
statements.
If you wanted to
personalize the press release, come up with a good
quote from you or your band mates regarding how
much you look forward to the tour or an anecdote
about one of the tour stops if you’ve visited it
before. If you have a great relationship with one
of the venue operators, you might even get a quote
from them. Whatever you include in your release,
above all keep it short.
If you are writing
about your new CD, try to excite interest in your
band without the hard sell of ‘Buy my CD Now!’
To create interest you might want to pull together
some quotes from reviews, particularly if you have
been favorably compared to a well-known artist in
your genre. Write about what is new and unique
about your music and how listeners can sample what
is on your new CD. I’ve known artists that
included information on unique instruments that
they have used on their CD or written a more
general article on using recording gear that
mentioned their new release.
Things not to
Forget in Your Press Release
As with any
publicity materials you need to include the
following:
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Contact
Information including telephone numbers,
contact names, web sites and email addresses
-
Addresses (URLs)
and/or links to web pages with additional
information about the subject of the release
-
Headline
-
Dateline
A sample of a good
basic template for a press release is located at
on the press-release-writing.com site at http://www.press-release-writing.com/press-release-template.htm.
Where can I
distribute my Press Release?
There are several
places that offer bands the ability to list their
news in a daily, weekly newsletter that they
produce. Some of the better sites are:
Some press release
writing and distribution sites are fee-based
services. The following is a list of some of the
better services:
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