When hiring a publicist, what questions should I ask?
WELCOME TO THE PR PARTICULARS, A SERIES OF INFORMATIVE POSTS DESIGNED TO EDUCATE ARTISTS ON THE PROCESS OF PUBLIC RELATIONS. WRITTEN BY EXPERIENCED MUSIC PUBLICISTS, THE SERIES IS SPECIFICALLY COVERING BEST PRACTICES THAT LEADING MUSIC PR FIRMS USE IN THEIR DAY-TO-DAY STRATEGY AND EXECUTION FOR CLIENTS.
What Questions Should I Ask a Music Publicist When Looking to Hire One?
You have a new album, single or tour and it’s time to hire a publicist that specializes in the music landscape to help generate awareness, so what questions should you ask the potential publicist you hire? If the project at hand is music-based, you’re best off hiring a publicist with a track record and history of working in the music landscape as the space is nuanced and varies from strategic practices of corporate-style public relations. Some questions you should be prepared to ask the PR team you’re considering hiring are outlined below.
If the project at hand is music-based, you’re best off hiring a publicist with a track record and history of working in the music landscape as the space is nuanced and varies from The strategic practices of corporate-style public relations.
By the time you’ve considered the possibility of hiring a publicist, you should have some understanding of what their role is. When you connect with a PR firm and decide to take the next step in engaging a publicist, come prepared with details about your project what your goals for a publicity campaign would be, and ideally, you’ve already shared some of the new music with them. Most reputable music publicity firms will want to hear the project and understand the artist/band to see if they feel that they want to take on the project. At Milestone Publicity we have a hard rule: only take on a campaign if you feel the music is good and you know — with certainty — we can deliver results.
When seeking out a music publicist, find one that aligns with your vision for the project and comes with a quality reputation, quality relationships, and a deep knowledge base of how to operate a publicity campaign.
Some questions you may want to ask include:
Is your firm taking on new clients currently?
Does your team have the bandwidth to take on my project?
What is your fee for a PR campaign on a project like mine?
How much experience does your firm and publicists have working with artists in my genre?
In terms of competing for media coverage, how many active clients do you have that are also in my genre?
Do you feel that we’d be able to get media coverage on this project?
With my project rollout and timeline, when would I need to engage the PR team and how long do you envision the campaign running?
Not every PR firm is the same. When seeking out a music publicist, find one that aligns with your vision for the project and comes with a quality reputation, quality relationships, and a deep knowledge base of how to operate a publicity campaign.
