Results tagged “publicists” from Life's a Pitch

A few awkward publicist things on a gloomy Wednesday!

First, a journalist forwarded the following (amazing) press release the other day:

Susan Boyle will return to the states this month to perform the title track off her forthcoming album 'I Dreamed a Dream' (Columbia) on ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" on November 10. Then, to celebrate the album's global release, on November 23rd, Boyle will make her live morning TV debut singing "TK" on NBC's "Today Show." (FRAN - Can you confirm the song?)

Produced by Steve Mac (Leona Lewis, Kelly Clarkson), Boyle's album debut 'I Dreamed a Dream' is out November 23rd ( Columbia). The 12 track collection features her signature songs "I Dreamed A Dream" and "Cry Me A River," as well as her haunting rendition of Rolling Stones' "Wild Horses," Madonna's "You'll See," The Monkees' "Daydream Believer," and "Who I Was Born To Be," an original recording written especially for Susan.

First, a story: Once upon a time, there lived a fair(ly) young princess who blogged about classical music PR from her Happily Ever Harlem tower. On one particular morning, she used a word to describe a Dragon of Industry that angered him. In retrospect, a less cavalier synonym would have conveyed her point, but it was too late: the Evil Wizard Internet had swept up the post and the Google Alert Fairy had delivered The Word to everyone who would read it. Now the Dragon protects his cave, because the Blog Princess cannot be trusted and may actually be a Poison-Apple-Wielding Blog Witch in disguise. They would all basically live happily ever after, but not together. The End.

________


MySpace exploded on the scene when I first started working at IMG Artists. Each department got an intern, and while I was looking through Old Fashioned Resumes, a colleague of mine was clicking through MySpace pages. "We'll learn more from here than we will from those resumes," he advised. Onto MySpace I went, and lo and behold, there we had potential employees double-fisting 40s, girls kissing girls, and lots of...*exciting*...Halloween costumes. Not ideal for a publicity intern, although I guess that depends on how one defines "publicity." For those of you who don't know, unlike Facebook and like Twitter, MySpace pages are viewable by the public; that is, you don't have to be a member yourself to see what people have posted there. While Facebook is private, so many people have joined at this point (and can have secret accounts) that "private" is essentially public.

Around this time, the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, etc. featured stories about how Facebook and MySpace were affecting job interviews and college admissions. Students would spend a lifetime building the perfect college application only to have their young life's work squandered by some choice language on a friend's Facebook wall. Similarly, artists, publicists and managers can spend their days putting forth the best possible image for themselves and their clients, but one Tweet about hating a venue, one blog post about a journalist, and everything we've all be working for can be spoiled. And as a publicist friend once e mailed to me, "I can make my client look good, get her on TV, protect her image, but I can't help her if she wants to Tweet about True Blood getting her all hot and being a metaphor for her life." True Blood, the Downfall of Us All. (Which reminds me: Eric the Vampire, c-a-l-l me.)

I follow Imogen Heap on Twitter because, while I don't love her music, I think she or someone on her team is a marketing genius. My fellow ArtsJournal blogger Andrew Taylor over at The Artful Manager writes about the success of her most recent album here. Consider yourself warned, Heap: I fully plan on stealing you Flickr album art competition at some point. Yesterday, though, Imogen Heap got my publicist hackles up when she Tweeted this:

Gonna see a doctor tmw morning. Feeling pretty shocking but my throat is having the most trouble. Not good I'm afraid. Not good at all :( x 3:49 AM Nov 8th from Tweetie

Maybe we in the classical music industry are just more (spoiler alert) conservative than other music industries, but I couldn't help but think of the ramifications if, say, soprano Danielle de Niese had posted this same thing on her Twitter feed. Her manager would have gotten twenty phone calls, probably within an hour. The Times writers who follow her on Twitter would probably have mentioned something to the Arts, Briefly editors. Her publicist would have had to do damage control for a week. Rumors that she was getting surgery would have started flying.

Imogen Heap did, in fact, cancel her concerts. She Tweets:

I'm so so sorry but I'm cancelling tonight's show. Just seen the doctor. Throat's not in good shape. More soon. Really gutted. Bad start :( about 19 hours ago from Tweetie

No...@therealahhmee, don't leave! I'm so sorry. I'm not gonna make it tonight. I feel awful to disappoint you and everyone else. X xabout 19 hours ago from Tweetie in reply to therealahhmee

Hoping to do tomorrow's show. Will sleeeeep lots. Santa barbara... Will let you know about rescheduling or refund. This is so crap!! Xxx about 19 hours ago from Tweetie

Well, this made me think: yes, she's revealing that she's sick and ultimately canceling her concerts, but maybe telling her 1,250,481 (!!!) followers herself lessens the blow. Would they rather read it from her "personally" with x's and o's, or get a formal e mail from a promoter telling them their tickets would be refunded? Who can stay mad at someone who says they're "Really gutted," after all?  And let's not forget how composer Nico Muhly said the New York Philharmonic's website looked like a Tampax ad in an interview with the Boston Globe and then reiterated the sentiment on his blog in September 2008. The epilogue to this story is, of course, that the New York Philharmonic paid for and will premiere a new work by Nico this spring. In both cases, no damage done, not damage control required.

So I, as a publicist, am torn: MySpace (at one point), Facebook, blogs, tumblr accounts and Twitter are all fantastic ways for artists to connect with current and potential audiences, and when used well can be a more powerful PR tool than a major newspaper feature. On the flip side, though, we all get lulled into a false sense of security with these things. This morning, for example, I almost Tweeted, "Do you think my neighbors can hear me singing 'Giants in the Sky' in the shower?" Backspace, backspace, backspace; you are a PR PROFESSIONAL, Ameer - you know better than to put anything about THE SHOWER on the Interweb! (Of course now I just did, so apparently I do not know better.) 

Incidentally, this goes both ways.  During the World Series, I noticed that one New York writer implied on Twitter that he would rather watch the next evening's baseball game than review the (presumably boring) concert he was assigned to. If it had been my client's concert and it was "in print" that the critic reviewing didn't really want to be there? I would be furious and dead-set on requesting another writer or none at all.

You get sucked in. You think no one's "actually" reading (they are) and you think no one "actually" cares (they do). As mentioned above, I've gotten myself into trouble with some folks in The Industry with this blog. Sure, some of my in-the-doghouse episodes come down to differences in opinion about a publicist having a blog, but some of them are squarely my fault. Would I say things I write here in an interview with a newspaper, blog, radio station or magazine? Mostly, but not entirely. Why not control the media we can actually control?

Many thanks to @cjpr: Christina Jensen, Christina Jensen PR; @CarnegieMatt: Matt Carlson, Carnegie Hall; @dotdotdottweet: Steven Swartz, DotDotDot Music; @SarahBaird: Sarah Baird, Boosey and Hawkes; @BklsweetMedia: Amanda Sweet, Bucklesweet Media;  @glennpetry, @seanmgross, @PhilipWilder: Glenn Petry, Sean Gross and Philip Wilder, 21C Media Group; and @mlaffs: Maura Lafferty, New Century Chamber Orchestra for their help with this. Now stop Tweeting and answering blog questions and revise some bios!

These interviews were conducted via carrier pigeon, i.e. e mail.

___________________


How long have you been using Twitter?
@cjpr: Since March 2009.

@CarnegieMatt: About seven months.

@dotdotdottweet: Since last winter - don't recall exactly when I started, but it was definitely BO (Before Oprah).  

@SarahBaird: I began listening in March 2008 but didn't join the conversation and start tweeting until March 2009.

@BklsweetMedia: One week!

@glennpetry: We began using Twitter last season 2008-2009.

@seanmgross: I signed up for Twitter over a year ago, but I didn't start actively using it until about six months ago.

@PhilipWilder: I began my life as a tweeter about 9 months ago.

@mlaffs: Since April or March?


Were you motivated by personal or professional reasons?
@cjpr: Professional.

@CarnegieMatt: I was initially motivated because Carnegie Hall was planning its own Twitter account (now launched @carnegiehall) as part of an expanded social media effort. So I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. That said, my feed is really meant to be a personal account - I comment on non-musical matters as well, and it's linked to my personal email account. If I could do it again, I suppose I wouldn't have picked @carnegiematt as my handle since it's not reflective of everything you read there.

@dotdotdottweet: Mostly personal - thought it might be fun. Its promotional potential wasn't immediately obvious to me.

@SarahBaird: I was curious about Twitter and I appreciated the ability to see trends and participate in conversations, share experiences. The major impetus for me to join was SXSW. I was heading to Austin and knew that I'd only be able to see about 20 of the thousands of showcasing bands, and meet about 20 of the thousands of interesting people. So Twitter was a way for me to tune into the larger conversation and tweet-up with people who were zipping around to different venues. I'd say it's personal-professional for me. I tweet as Sarah-Baird-Who-Works-for-Boosey-&-Hawkes. So a person who follows me isn't following a company megaphone, but the same person they'd see if they were my colleague, working in my office. None of my personal friends follow me on Twitter (who aren't involved in the industry).

@BklsweetMedia: Professional but just like most things in my life, those boundaries are blurred.  I actually sent out a tweet last week about DC Green Works and my great meeting with them about bayscaping in my yard.

@glennpetry: I would say we were motivated by both personal and professional reasons, which is why we maintain both "personal" and "professional" Twitter accounts.

@seanmgross: I use my own Twitter account mainly for personal reasons.  I let my friends and "followers" (although I don't like that word...it makes me sound creepy, like I'm trying to be David Koresh) know about a new restaurant that I discovered, an interesting article I read, or something unusual or funny that happened to me that day.  However, I don't share anything that is too personal, since my Tweets can also be seen by colleagues and clients. For our company, I oversee a separate 21C Media Group Twitter feed that is one of several ways that the press and public can elect to receive information on our clients (other ways include our website, news release emails, RSS feed, and Facebook page).  Each tweet includes a one-line news item and a link to a news release on our company's website.  It's not meant to be the most interactive Twitter feed.  We encourage our artists to Twitter on their own if they are interested and have the time to commit to it, as this is where the true power of Twitter lies.  Our feed is engineered to be more of news feed, like CNN's but with a much more singular focus.

@PhilipWilder: Since I travel tons for work, as well as my life as a "bi-coastal", it initially seemed to be a good way to keep in touch with friends and colleagues. Now, I have a good amount of followers - friends and strangers - and have many discussions with them over Twitter and through email when 140 characters isn't enough.   Of course, 21C posts daily Tweets on breaking news about our clients too. Mine are more of an inside view from Behind the scenes.

@mlaffs: Initially, I wanted to get to know the tool and the user base before even considering using it for my company, since I've seen a lot of arts organizations mis-use social media. Since then, the relationships that I have built have offered both personal and professional value.

About a week ago, I had coffee with an arts marketer from out of town. She mentioned going to the opera with a prominent critic, and having--a meal or a meeting, I don't remember--with a prominent New York presenter. She was by no means bragging about these things, just telling me what she had been up to during her trip. No judging, I started, but if you've never worked in the city, how do you know these people? "Through Twitter!" she said.

I've never joined Facebook, and I had no burning desire to join Twitter. It's Thursday at 11:40pm, and I'm watching the Phillies (hopefully) beat the Dodgers, answering e mails and writing this blog post. Point being I work a lot, so the thought of adding personal Facebook and Twitter updating to the mix makes me want to move to Tahiti and sell sunblock. But Twitter for work purposes got my attention (label me with whatever -aholic you must), and I started looking into which publicists and which journalists were active members of the twitterati. More importantly, which publicists and journalists interacted with each other on Twitter. Were stories being pitched? Introductions being made? Contacts being found?

When soccer moms in army-grade Hummers would double-park on New Canaan's already-narrow Elm Street, my mother would always mutter, or sometimes shout, "Some people think the rules don't apply to them."  She would declare a similar sentiment when we'd be in line for the movies and would hear a parent tell his or her child "just say you're 7" to get a cheaper movie ticket. Some people think the rules don't apply to them...and by all means teach your child to lie.

I sent out a press release last night with extremely specific instructions on how to access, download, and burn a review copy of an album, stating very clearly that physical review copies would only be available at a promotional rate. Of the 20 people who e mailed me back asking to be mailed physical review copies, only one asked what the promotional rate was and how he could order a copy. Lewis Lanese from Stereo Times, you are the reason there's a patch of hair still left on my head, and I thank you for that.

Sure, there was an entire paragraph explaining that physical copies would only be mailed at cost, but she can just send me a copy, right? Mailing one isn't a big deal. My favorite response to my calm and polite reply e mail asking if someone saw the download instructions was, "Yeah, I just didn't want to have to look for my password." SOCCER MOM IN THE HUMMER! Elm Street. New Canaan Playhouse. Amanda spins into Fembot self-destruct mode and blows up.

Beyond this strange sense of entitlement, I suspect a lot of people just don't read press releases. My favorite response last night was "Please send for review  -- John." I think he just saw the artist's name and hit reply. This could have been such-and-such artist recites the Gettysburg Address backwards and in Pig Latin and he would have responded the same way. But what of the content? What of my prose?

Last week, F. Paul Driscoll, editor-in-chief of Opera News, offered the following advice to publicists on this very blog:

The most effective way for any publicist to secure a story or profile in ANY magazine is to present a pitch that reflects a working knowledge of the magazine.  That starts with the magazine's readership.  Who are they?  Why do they buy the magazine? Clearly, our readers buy a magazine called OPERA NEWS expecting its editors to present opera as topic one, but that doesn't mean that every "opera story" is right for us...And  --  last but not least  --  it helps a pitch if the publicist has read at least one issue of the magazine and can identify just where in OPERA NEWS a potential story might fit best. 

Those same words of wisdom, I think, can be/should be applied to journalists. Not reading the press release I wrote, revised, sent to a copy editor, revised again, formatted and tested on three e mail accounts does not instill in me a great desire to bend over backwards for you. How about "Please send a copy for review...because I noticed in your release that only the deluxe edition of the album will be for sale in the US and would like to pitch a piece to my editor about the different ways classical music is being packaged and presented differently in the US vs. Europe."

Perhaps this is asking too much, and I'm not being sarcastic. Journalists are inundated, I realize, with press releases, so the e mail subject really may be all they have time to read. In that case, however, we need to think of a more efficient and effective ways to communicate with them. Everyone might win that way; I don't think any publicist would breast-beat over the demise of the 800-word press release. 

I did receive an e mail from a journalist in response to a different press release last week that simply read, "can't wait!". And that just made my whole day.

I was told at a meeting a few weeks back that I should teach a Learning Annex class on blog etiquette. I tell you this not to announce that I'm an expert on the subject, although not being an expert on the subject isn't going to stop me from writing this post; the problem within the problem, perhaps? No, I bring this up because while blogs have been in existence for over a decade, from PR standpoint we still don't know how to interact with them. At least I don't, and I have a blog of my own.

The Learning Annex class comment was made after the group told me about a situation that had come up in response to a press release they had sent out the week before. There was an explosion of posts and comments about the press release on a handful of music blogs, including one New York Times' writer's blog, and the organization had no idea how to respond, if at all. So many options!  Should they post a comment? Personally contact commenters involved in the discussion who had been affiliated with the organization? Initiate a private exchange with the bloggers "offline"? Send a formal statement? Find an editor figure to call? Write a blog post on their own site? Each response option had both potential positive and potential negative ramifications; worst, if the organization didn't respond at all, the bloggers would conclude they were oblivious or apathetic.  Or perhaps even more disastrous, the organization would respond and only prolong a debate that would have otherwise died of natural causes.

I wrote here about how Cleveland Orchestra Executive Director Gary Hanson (and/or his team) posted the same statement in the comment field of any blog that mentioned the Don Rosenberg firing. I won't get riled up about it again, but that is a classic example of realizing blogs are important but not knowing how to interact with the culture. In my experience, statements like his should be e mailed to bloggers in official press release or media alert form, just as Letters to the Editor or correction statements would be e mailed, mailed or faxed to the print media. Comments are a different beast entirely, as they are intended to be tailored responses to specifically address topics in an original post or a previous comment. On this blog, the best example of commenting I've received on a post was from the Detroit Symphony, whose website I was highly critical of. Rather than e mail me and ask what business I had critiquing the website they had just spent a good chunk of change on ("who asked you?"), their Director of Marketing, John O'Dell, simply commented for all to read, "'Rome was not built in a day.' Stay tuned." He acknowledged that he was aware his website was being discussed and alluded to future developments. Their website still gives me a headache, but I am extremely impressed by their public relations.

Readers may remember specific posts of mine that may have offended some organizations. It's true, I've gotten my fair share of angry personal e mails. These e mails frustrate me, but not because the blog or I am being criticized. Quite the opposite, actually: I wish readers with concerns or differences of opinion would publish their comments, just as I put my opinions out onto the interweb every week. Here are some of my responses. I've cut and pasted but removed names.

Dear Record Label,
The issues you raise are interesting and important, and your perspective is obviously well-earned and quite valued in the industry. That being the case, I'm disappointed you didn't submit your thoughts as a blog comment and have asked that I keep your e mail between us. Should you change your mind, I would be thrilled to post your note on the blog in whole or in part.

Dear Presenter,
...Also - if you want to post any of this e mail as a comment to the post, it can be totally anonymous; only I see the e mail addresses.

Dear Publicist,
Thanks for your note and your phone call, though I'm disappointed you didn't post your thoughts as a comment! The point of the blog is to spark discussion about "behind the scenes" PR topics that no one has wanted to talk about in public (ironically enough), and I'm certainly happy to be argued with. So please feel free to post your e mail in its entirety.

To date, no one who has sent an angry e mail has agreed to post their angry e mail as a comment. What then, I wonder, do they think is accomplished from just communicating with me? Will I be wounded, take the post down, alter my writing in some way? Nope, but I will most likely be extremely interested in the contrary opinion, as, I imagine, would other readers. The only thing I really do with these e mails is respond with what I've pasted above and then forward them to the ArtsJournal editor, Douglas McLennan. I feel that since he asked me to be on his site and hosts my ramblings, he has the right to know that some people out there are unhappy with said ramblings. While I always click 'send' worried he's going to kick me off ArtsJournal, he inevitably writes back something like, "Great! People are reading and care about what you're saying!" OK then.

This personal e mailing is not limited to negative correspondence. I receive positive comments a few times a week; not just "I like this blog" notes or whatever (which are lovely, and thank you for those), but actual constructive thoughts about posts and comments, sent just to me. When I suggest they post their thoughts--even post their thoughts anonymously!--they shy away. Again, I am so glad you're reading and caring, but what am I supposed to do with your e mail? Know you're smart? Tell a friend about the insightful e mail I received?

I'm not trying to discourage extra-cir-blog-ular (if that wasn't so awkward I would copyright it) personal interaction, here. I enjoy corresponding offline with bloggers I don't necessarily know personally, and it's always a treat to meet them face-to-face eventually. The same goes for readers: when San Francisco-based publicist Karen Ames organized our publicist summit (i.e. six bottles of wine) last spring, I was so thrilled when Maura Lafferty, Marketing and PR Coordinator at New Century Chamber Orchestra, came and introduced herself. "Oh! You comment on the blog all the time!" I said, all the while thinking, "I'm glad you're a real person and not just my sister writing in under a pseudonym to make me feel better about myself." This wasn't someone who had ever contacted me directly, but I recognized her from the comments she made in the public forum. Conversely, though, there are people who have contacted me directly, never having commented, and I've enjoyed getting to know them as well. But most of them commented to say hello, not to offer private content commentary. The third slice of this is talking to people I already know about what I've written in the blog, the most terrifying recent example of this being when I got coffee with an editor last month and he mentioned looking forward to seeing my haircut. So blogging has become a way - like various social networks - of updating acquaintances without actually updating them. 

Where does this off-the-record vs. on-the-record culture leave us? Is anything accomplished by an anonymous comment? I understand that sometimes people's jobs prohibit them from slapping their personal opinion in a blog comment field, but if readers don't know where a commenter is coming from, how much can they value his or her opinion? I could be commenting on my own posts, for all anyone knows! And if a discussion that was started in a public forum is made private, who benefits? Two people? What conversation could be sparked and what progress could be made if those private discussions were submitted for public consumption?

Alright: this post will either get a lot or zero comments.

Update 9/3, 9:31am: Since posting this entry, I've received four private e mails about it.  There is one public comment.

Because 1. no one wants to read about The Life and Times of Amanda Ameer every day and 2. because there are many, many people out there who know more about publicity and marketing than I do, every week I try and post an interview with someone else in the field. Usually, I do this on Fridays, but that clearly didn't happen last week. Or the week before.  But TODAY we have a continuation of the critically-acclaimed (for realz - a few critics e mailed and said they liked it) Life's a Pitch feature Better Know a Publicist. See the Interviews column to your right for the other publicist interviews. Now here's Glenn Petry from 21C Media Group on Publicity 101.

Glenn Petry has worked in the music scene - both promoting and performing - for more than 15 years. He co-founded 21C Media Group in January 2000 and has been the Director of Public Relations since its inception. He developed his interest in promoting classical music while touring the US with the experimental rock band Drunken Boat, after which he became a consultant to the classical music industry for a dozen years. Working with both record labels (such as Deutsche Grammophon, Decca and Philips) and artists (such as Cecilia Bartoli, Renée Fleming, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Gil Shaham, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and many others), he expanded the reach of classical artists beyond the specialist press into the mainstream media.

On the marketing side, Mr. Petry pioneered new ways to present classical music to the public (from CD packaging to music videos) and forged innovative partnerships that created synergistic successes on behalf of classical music, while maintaining his deep involvement in many other musical genres, including jazz, reggae, electronica and world music.

What is the purpose of a press release? And what, in your opinion, is the most important aspect of a press release? How does that element accomplish the purpose?

The purpose of a press release is to provide information that is of essential interest to its readers. In our case this means vital and accurate information about upcoming performances, new recording releases and any artistic activity that resonates with the reader and piques his or her interest.


Similarly, what is the most important aspect of an artist biography? How long should a bio be, ideally? Should it include press quotes? Why or why not?

An artist's biography should tell the story of the artist as interestingly and briefly as possible. Paragraphs listing the various venues where an artist has performed become unnecessary when the artist is well established. Quotes can be helpful if they bring color to the artist's story; they can add both credibility and eloquence to an artist's reputation.


How far in advance of a CD release or concert do you send/e mail press releases? How many times do you usually follow-up journalists after sending the release?

We typically send out initial information about 6 weeks before a concert, tour or recording release (sometimes more, sometimes less, depending on the size and complexity of the project), and then we follow up with one or two 'reminder' or 'tune-in' press releases in the lead-up to the event. As far as following up with individual journalists goes, this is done very much on a case by case basis, again depending on the journalist or outlet being pitched.


In 2009, what do you consider successful coverage for a client's concert? How has the definition of "coverage" changed since you started working in PR? For example, do artist's personal blogs/websites/Twitter feeds count as media coverage?

The definition of success has unquestionably changed in the last 15 or so years since we began working in the classical music industry. There is less 'expert coverage' overall, and more importance is placed on "buzz", general awareness, and word on the street; organic, everything-counts multimedia coverage - including discussion on blogs and social media networks - is vital to the success of any concert today.

A journalist friend forwarded a press release earlier today that included this:

XXXX, the feisty mezzo-soprano from Kansas who was born to
play Rossini's equally feisty comic heroine, Rosina, fell and broke
her right leg early in act one of The Barber of Seville on Saturday,
July 4th, the opening night of an important revival at London's Royal
Opera House, Covent Garden.  She returned to the stage to finish the
evening's performance, and blogged into the night about her adventure
and its aftermath.  She then showed up on every operatic weblog in the
world.  The Kansas City trouper said "the show must go on", and she
plans to be back on stage in the sparkling production tonight
(Tuesday, July 7), as well as in subsequent performances on July 10,
13, 15, and 18.

Every operatic weblog IN THE WORLD??? In the world? The whole wide world?

Who counted?

Publicists - myself included - are notoriously over-the-top; I like to think it's part of our charm.  But this kind of melodramatic PR boilerplate really slays me: the best of anything in the world, the greatest anyone of their generation, the most unique performer/performance (which isn't even grammatically correct, because something can't be the most-superlative, but - no matter).

That's not to say that this isn't a fantastic story. (Sister is apparently going to perform in a wheelchair??) But I think in press release-writing and bio-writing we sometimes out-promote ourselves. Where the artist has performed, what he or she has accomplished, what the critics have said about him or her should be enough to "prove" that someone is "one of the greatest artists of their generation" without a publicist having to explicitly say it.

Of course then I remember writing my college essays: apparently, my first drafts were completely un-self-promotional. ("I'm pretty good at the harp." "I do some community service.") My guidance counselor said that everyone else was going to exaggerate their accomplishments in their essays, so I certainly shouldn't downplay my own for the sake of modesty. So if I never say my clients show up on every blog in the world, does that put them at a disadvantage?

I would not win the ASCAP Adventurous Programming Award for eating. I tend to like what I like and stick with it, the result being that I go to the same four or five restaurants all the time.

Two of my favorites are Pomodoro and Covo, and my friend Joe has come to both with me. At Pomodoro, they make fun of me for asking for more Parmesan after I've eaten down to the portion of the rigatoni that's not under a cheese blanket, and at Covo, they know I'll order one of three things every time and that I'll want to sit outside no matter how cold it is. One night, Joe and I went to another restaurant down the road from my apartment called Largo for drinks. "Do they know you here, too?" he asked. "No!" I snapped, "I'm at the deli next door every day and they're owned by the same people, but I've actually only been here two or three times." So we get our drinks, drink them and two more, and soon enough the bartendress is vacuuming and closing out the register. We're the only people left and we're wondering why they haven't asked us to pay. "Hi there - can we pay?" I ask. "Oh...well, that guy over there is my manager, and he says you're next door all the time, so the drinks are on him." Of course Joe looks at me incredulously and says, you get free drinks at the place you've "only been a few times"?

A couple months back, Elizabeth Maupin at the Orlando Sentinel posted the following on the newspaper's blog:

There's a New York writer named Amanda Ameer who finds marketing ideas everywhere. This time around, it was at her friendly neighborhood spa, which gave a discount because she came through the recommendation of a friend and another discount for scheduling a facial two months in advance.

Good marketing ideas can come from anywhere, Ameer points out, and she has some others -- including one or two that are tried all the time in Orlando (New York isn't always the forefront of things) and a bunch that are not. Check out her column for some ideas that might be very good for you.

"Including one or two that are tried all the time in Orlando (New York isn't always the forefront of things)". I've noticed a few commenters on this blog from Florida, coincidentally (or not) enough, have said they've tried what I've posted about. Margo from the Bach Festival Florida is a good example. She's commented a few times, one time to that same facial post about box offices being open during and after performances:

This season we introduced a Flex Ticket Package for the first time and during the first few performances of the Season we left the Box Office open through intermission and after the performance, encouraging patrons to upgrade their single ticket to an entire flex package, or even to a Series package. We didn't sell out our Season doing it, but we certainly sold more tickets that way than we thought. I would say overall it was really successful. However, by the time we were a few performances in to each series in the season, we weren't selling enough to make it worth the money in staff time. So, I would say do it at the beginning of the Season and evaluate from there.

A week or so after Elizabeth's post and Margo's comment, my friend Justin sent me a link to this NPR story about the New World Symphony, also in Florida:

If you're in Miami Beach with 20 minutes to spare, the New World Symphony has a proposal: a mini-concert for $2.50.

Howard Herring, the symphony's president, tells NPR's Melissa Block it is an attempt to win a new audience.

The program includes a Mozart Clarinet Quintet, followed by two works -- Handel Passacaglia arranged by Halverson and the Bartok Contrast for clarinet, violin and piano -- and a Brahms Clarinet Quintet.

Is Florida just a hot bed of excellent classical music marketing ideas? Possibly. Or, in general, are presenters in smaller cities simply better at marketing than those in big cities like New York? It makes sense; presenters in more tight-knit communities know their patrons and local business owners, often personally. Of course the manager at Largo would cover my drinks; I buy four Caesar salads a week from him. Similarly, if I were promoting a concert in my neighborhood, I'm sure Largo would hang up posters, put postcards in the take-out bags, and host the opening night party. The manager at Covo has been booking bands and jazz ensembles from City College, which is a few blocks up, to play at the restaurant bar every Friday and Saturday night. He gives them a nice place to perform, their friends come to the restaurant to see them, hopefully everyone comes back for dinner one night. This is how neighborhoods work, but do New York City presenters think of New York as one giant neighborhood, or do they strive to build organic relationships with leaders and groups in different communities?

I was surprised in the elevator one night when my neighbor Kenny told me he had just come from a play. "You went to a play," I teased. "Seriously?" The play was The Jim Jones Project, and, as the title would seem to dictate, featured the rapper Jim Jones. I asked Kenny how he had heard about it, and he said a friend told him and there had been TV and radio spots. So I, who read Playbill.com obsessively, had heard nothing about this particular Off-Broadway show, and Kenny, ESPN SportsCenter devotee, knew all about it and bought tickets. Though we live three feet apart, we are not - according to the marketers of that show - the same community.

Dan Bauer, the press director at McCarter Theater and my former boss/current friend, knows everyone in Princeton. He's worked at McCarter well, a very long time, and lives right there in town. He knows the difference between physical neighborhoods and social communities, and can identify what press and marketing coverage reaches both. He knows because he lives where he works and is an active member of the community he is reaching out to. Would Dan be as effective promoting a play in New York? Probably: these things are partly publicist personality type and hard work. But it wouldn't be as natural, and it would take a lot more time.

Of course, Schweppes, Apple and Club Monacco have been marketing to me for years without having a clue where I live, who I hang out with, or what I like to do. But can arts organizations afford - time or money-wise - to throw ads against walls and see what sticks? Or should they work toward organic presences in communities within larger location communities? LA seems to have created a community around their orchestra, as have Cleveland and Phoenix. Those are big cites, by any definition, so have they created these communities from scratch, as it were, or did they form a unique orchestral community from many existing communities?

An aside: is it possible for a presenter to "know" a community too well? That is, they think they know exactly what their community wants to see, and consequently refuse to book anything new? Or their press department keeps going back to the same media outlets because it's easier to pitch to people you already know, but other opportunities may be out there?

To begin, I'm posting this entry from over 10,000 feet. If we're being completely honest with each other, I did start writing it at LaGuardia two days ago, but I finished it and am pressing 'Save' among the clouds. Raise your hand if you love living in 2009! The fact that $12.95 gets me internet in mid-air for my entire flight almost redeems Delta after having me land in Salt Lake City, de-board the plane for 35 minutes, get back on the same plane, sit in the same seat, and continue on to Boston. The one benefit, if we can call it that, of this aerial pit stop was seeing a man wearing two wedding rings on two separate fingers, to whom I gave the I-saw-Season-1-of-Big-Love-on-DVD-buddy stink eye.


I was sitting on the steps at the Bang on a Can Marathon last weekend, and near the end of the (or at least my) evening it occurred to me that I - ever a creature of habit - had plopped down at the exact steps-spot on which Greg Sandow and I sat last year.  Greg was out of town this time around, so I texted him at 8:42pm to tell him about my location. He texted right back, and our exchange continued until 9:35pm, on and off, including but not limited to subjects such as there being a pianist playing a drum (Greg has his own piece with a pianist playing a drum) and whether or not the concert was streaming live on WNYC (at which point I walked over and asked the marathon publicist Christina Jensen about this on his behalf). For a few select moments, I got the sense that the journalist who was sitting with my friend and me was throwing "what does she keep doing on that phone" looks my way. Was I being rude? I figure it's Bang on a Can: everyone's coming and going and texting and standing and talking and snacking. And besides, for those 53 minutes I was spreading valuable information about the marathon and the pieces being performed in real-time; one might call it "the A1A1 virus" marketing. So I clicked away to Greg, confident that I was doing everyone on stage a great justice and decidedly not being disrespectful to anyone or anything.

Reading the reviews of the marathon later, I had a few moments of "wait  - when was that piece?". It seems I had missed a few things whilst clicking. I did stop texting during Julia Wolfe's Thirst because that was the new work I was most looking forward to - wait, looking through my phone now it seems I did send one text to Greg to say it was fantastic - but the rest of that hour was kind of hazy. Whoops.

I ran into publicist and proud Twitterati member Steven Swartz at one point that Sunday. While not a usual participant or advocate in/of Tweeting during concerts, Steven had been recruited by the marathon administration to be part of a Bang on a Can Twitter Team, which ended up generating 9.5 hours of Tweets.  When I ran into him, Steven told me how much he enjoyed David Lang's new piece, For love is strong. "I even stopped Tweeting at the end!" he said, "It was so moving." Steven and others were charged with the task of live-Tweeting as a form of media coverage, but it seems that when he actually wanted to focus on the music, he stopped, watched and listened. My texting and Steven's Tweeting led me to wonder: there has been a lot of writing on this blog and others (see Greg on the topic here and here, Opera Chic here) about Tweeting, texting, taking photos, live-blogging - just about anything a person can do with their fingers - during classical music concerts. "People do these things at rock concerts all the time, and look how much more popular rock music is than classical music" is the overarching argument we make.  But are you really listening if you're thinking about spelling a composer's name correctly in your live-blog entry? When you're fiddling around with the zoom and color swap settings on your camera? And if you're commenting on something that just happened, wouldn't logic dictate that you're missing the thing that's just-happening next?

I thought I was paying attention while texting Greg, and Steven thought he was paying attention while Tweeting. Maybe we were, in a way. It seems, however, that the line between passive and active listeners is thin.  Is one audience member's viral marketing another's I'd-rather-be-elsewhere sentiment?  And who defines the difference between "rude" and "comfortable"?  Would it have made me more comfortable to not have food and wine and chocolate* at my apartment when some friends were coming over to watch the Tonys on Sunday? "Comfortable" in that it would have saved me two subway stops and some money, yes, but why invite people over at all if I was so concerned with the extra errands? I could have just watched the Tonys by myself in my underwear and messy, foodless apartment; Lord knows it's happened before. Additionally, when bloggers (including myself) and presenter marketing departments decide texting/Tweeting/painting their toenails during performances will Save Classical Music, do they think about or ask the artists? Are pieces and performances created and intended for audience members who are also doing something else? I agree that these initiatives can raise awareness about artists in great and organic ways, but has anyone asked the artists what they think?

Fortunately, I happen to know some artists, so I asked: how do you feel about audiences live-Tweeting/texting/blogging/photo-essaying during performances of your music, David Lang, and how do you feel about the above when you're on stage, Hilary Hahn?

David:

People texting or blogging during concerts doesn't bother me.  I think one of the best things about listening to music is that you get to decide how much attention you want to spend on it, while it is going on.  And I guess it is sweet to think that something live may be so exciting that a listener simply has to share it in real time.  But I wonder if the idea of connectedness is changing the the way people experience things now.  It could be that the ability to stay in constant touch may make listeners come to feel that they themselves are not having a valid experience unless they are letting someone know about it. And if the action of music is some kind of mystic direct communication between the person making it and the person receiving it that is a big loss.

Hilary:

I'm all for Tweeting and spreading the word, but not during performances. Between pieces, maybe, if you can stop when the music starts up again; while standing in line for the restroom, definitely; at intermission or on the train afterwards, definitely. The problem is that acoustic performers rely on the audience's attention and focus and can tell when the audience isn't mentally present. Your listening is part of our interpretive process. If you're not really listening, we're not getting the feedback of energy from the hall, and then we might as well be practicing for a bunch of people peering in the window. It's just not as interesting when the cycle of interpretation is broken.

If you are Tweeting, then you might as well check your emails, and then you might as well just turn on the camera and make a recording for YouTube, and then you might as well have a little chat online while you're at it, or play a game of Tetris or Scrabble, or write down ideas for that presentation you have to give next week. In that case, really, the question is, why are you here? Are you enjoying the beauty of the live concert experience, in which moments are fleeting and you have to get caught up in the flow because it will never be the same again?

There's also the distraction factor. The stage is a great vantage point and a prime spot of acoustical convergence. It may be possible for you to do multiple things at once, but the same may not be true of the performers and your fellow audience members. They may not be able to keep themselves from wondering what you're writing instead of just listening and concentrating on their own individual experiences. You may not be able to delve into your own listening experience if you're thinking about what other people should be thinking.

Finally, it seems to me that listeners make things difficult for themselves by observing themselves in the third person and putting their thoughts into a narrative before those thoughts can fully form. I feel that concerts can be a break from outside pressures and influences. For audience members, a concert should be like a vacation on a distant beach with a stack of good books. Comfortable seats. No one trying to call you. No one breaking into your trains of thought. No way to reach the outside world. Just a time to shut off and calm down and treat yourself to something truly wonderful. If we can't sit through a classical concert we pay decent money for, and we can't take two hours out of an evening to shut out everyone else's demands and opinions and thoughts, where does that leave us?

*I'm not going to pretend I don't always have chocolate in my apartment, guests or no guests. I just threw that in there for dramatic effect.

Publicist Log, Day 4: Today we have Rebecca Davis, who I have known 4eva, 4eva-eva. Rebecca was Director of Publicity at Universal Music Classical when I was Publicity Manager at IMG Artists, and then we worked on Hilary's Schoenberg/Sibelius exploits together, and then I covered for her at Universal when she was on maternity leave last fall. She's since started her own firm, and here's what she has to say for herself:

Rebecca Davis is a publicity, promotions and marketing consultant with over ten years of experience working with musicians on the world's leading major and independent classical record labels including Decca, Deutsche Grammophon, Philips and Naxos. Clients include singers Juan Diego Florez, Rolando Villazon, Danielle de Niese and Cecilia Bartoli, violinists Janine Jansen and Caroline Goulding, conductor Kristjan Jarvi, the Australian Chamber Orchestra and composer Daniel Felsenfeld. Rebecca has also implemented successful media campaigns for artists including Renee Fleming, Anna Netrebko, Lang Lang, Bryn Terfel, Hilary Hahn, Anne Sophie Mutter and Osvaldo Golijov. Rebecca's strong relationships with journalists in the music media as well as mainstream outlets throughout the US has helped her secure coverage for artists in all major outlets in print, online and on radio and television. Rebecca has a special passion for bringing classical music to a broad mainstream audience as well as to the classical press through targeted pitching, creative story-telling and special events. In an increasingly diverse, ever-changing and often competitive media market, Rebecca uses an enthusiastic voice and in-depth expertise in promoting classical music to help artists achieve meaningful and impactful visibility in the national media. For more information, please visit: www.rebeccadavispr.com
 

What is the purpose of a press release? And what, in your opinion, is the most important aspect of a press release?  How does that element accomplish the purpose?

Most simply, a press release is a snapshot of an artist's current story. The quality of the writing and presentation of a press release can make a huge difference in how much attention an artist receives for any given tour, recording, or news item. The most important aspect of a press release is the solid information it includes. We're publicists so we're naturally pretty excited about our subjects and a little hype is hard to avoid, but a good press release is not about hyperbole and marketing but rather a tool to convey actual news about an artist.  In my experience, if you want a journalist to read your press release, you have to provide them with the facts quickly and concisely.  If a press release is too florid but short on hard information it will quickly be sent to the recycle bin and you risk having future releases downright ignored if a journalist doesn't feel they can trust you to provide information that would be of interest to their audience.
 

Similarly, what is the most important aspect of an artist biography? How long should a bio be, ideally? Should it include press quotes? Why or why not?

Along with the press release, a bio is the backbone of an artist's media campaign. It should be well-written and concise to work for programs, liner notes, artist and management webpages, Facebook and other social networking and anywhere else it might appear.  Though there may be some adjustments made for each iteration, the information in the bio and tone of the writing should be consistent anywhere it appears.  I'm a big fan of the one-pager as well as the biographical timeline that Deutsche Grammophon uses for their artists.  It gives a nice snapshot of the career, what happened when and, to my eyes, is a quick and easy read. 

I do tend to include press quotes in my materials when they make sense as that gives journalists an idea of what their peers in other markets (or countries) are saying about my artist.  I won't indiscriminately note that, for example, the Kalamazoo Chronicle liked an artist when she came to town when I'm pitching a new record. If I want to convey what makes a recording of I Capuleti e Montecchi special, however, I could tell you that Anna Netrebko and Elina Garanca sound swell together but it probably carries more weight to tell you that Opera News called their pairing "fortunate" and said "their voices are well matched and they blend beautifully." Press quotes can also be helpful when you are pitching an artist who may have a solid, enthusiastic  following somewhere overseas (like the vivacious and utterly jaw-dropping Australian Chamber Orchestra), but are still relatively unknown to media in this country.


How far in advance of a CD release or concert do you send/e mail press releases? How many times do you usually follow-up journalists after sending the release?
 
For monthly publications, I plan on at least a three month lead time (and sometimes much more) to develop a story and make sure interviews, photo shoots and other creative aspects of the story can be worked out by deadline. Weeklies, I would do about six weeks in advance, dailies a month in advance. It all depends on the piece though.  For a straight record review (yes, they do still happen) the journalist probably doesn't have to spend as much time working on the story as they would for a 1000 word profile with photos. So, the short answer is that it entirely depends on the kind of story I'm pitching and how far in advance each outlet works.  I'm currently working on pieces running anywhere from June to December.

How and when to follow-up depends on the preference of the journalist.  I have people who say everything from "just keep reminding me" to "please don't follow-up, if I'm interested I'll let you know" and everything in between.  Journalists can have very specific preferences about when they want to be called, emailed or even faxed and as publicists, we try to keep up with that to make sure we are feeding them the right information for them in the way that they like to receive it. 


In 2009, what do you consider successful coverage for a client's concert? How has the definition of "coverage" changed since you started working in PR? For example, do artist's personal blogs/websites/Twitter feeds count as media coverage?

These elements are extremely essential to reaching an audience directly and an important facet of artist marketing.  I wouldn't categorize facebook, twitter, youtube and artist websites as "media" coverage though, because there is no pitching involved, the artist and his entourage do the upkeep on those sites without relying on journalists as a third party.  I define successful media coverage for an artist or project to be when you are able to get not just one great story on an artist but a variety of interesting pieces across several kinds of media (in print, on line, on-air) that run around the same time so that they really impact not just concert and recording sales, but take a musician to a new level of notoriety and recognition and ultimately win new audiences to their artistry.


Who owns the problem of selling tickets and CDs?  Is it a publicist's job to secure press that will have a direct impact on sales, or does some press accomplish something beyond or different from sales?  Should marketing - ticket sales, ad copy, poster design - be kept separate from publicity, or do efforts often overlap?
 
In the short-term, a publicist needs to justify his or her fee by securing impactful pieces that will help with CD and concert sales.  But, there are also pieces that we work on over long periods of time that may reach a very wide audience and build recognition, but do not always have a direct affect on sales.  I have gotten reviews in limited circulation publications that have had far more impact to record sales than appearances on national TV shows reaching audiences in the millions, but in general any kind of coverage that is worth the artist's time will help build the profile and impact sales.

In my experience these marketing and press materials can and should complement one another. As a publicist, I work closely with the artist, management, record label, website manager and presenters to make sure that this happens. I'm a big believer in branding and consistent messages across platforms.  The more a person sees an image, the more they are affected by it.  If they see one image of an artist about his concert, another about an unrelated CD project, and a third on his website, I think it subtly undermines the effort to ingrain an artist into the popular mindset.
 

When in their careers should artists hire a publicist?

Quite simply, when there is a compelling story to tell.  Ideally, that includes recording projects and a busy tour schedule plus an interesting newsworthy hook.  If the artist's story is juicy enough sometimes that will make up for a lighter tour schedule or the lack of a major current recording.  It bears noting that even if there is no record deal, an artist needs to have a high quality recording for a publicist to service to journalists and radio stations.

Additionally, some publicists (myself included) will consider short term projects of just a few months when there is a big tour or a new release. The artist may not be quite ready for full-time press representation if, for instance, they spend most of their time out of the country and only need someone advocating for them with American media during the period they are active here.


If an artist doesn't have a publicist, what is the best advice you can offer them for self-promotion?

I would say they should do two things.  First, be sure your webpage and social networking pages are regularly updated with news about your career.  And don't forget the basic element of making sure there is clear contact information available if a journalist wants to cover your story. Secondly, read, listen, watch and pay close attention to what journalists are talking about and what radio stations are playing so you can pitch your story in the unique context of that particular outlet.  Our jobs as publicists are to know our media, to have those relationships so that we know when a story might be of interest to the journalist and their audience.  The biggest mistake an artist (or inexperienced publicist) can make is pitching a story to a journalist without first finding out what interests that person, what they've written about in the past and why that story makes sense for them. 

A third thing an artist should remember is good old-fashioned manners.  Be sure to say "Thank You" when a journalist covers your concert or recording (an email is fine, a note is even better).  And if they aren't interested for any reason (or are unresponsive as is more often the case), be nice, don't pout, and try again next time.


How do you choose clients? Is there a set criteria in your company, or do you decide on a case-by-case basis?

Again, I go back to the simple criteria of there being a compelling story to tell that is worth sharing on a national level.  The artist has to be exceptional at their craft, it should go without saying, but also   different enough from their colleagues in the same field to warrant the attention of news media.  For instance, a new recording of the Four Seasons from a bright young violinist is not likely to garner media attention on its own because the story has been told before.  If however, you are like Janine Jansen and record the work in an arrangement no one has heard before and become a huge sensation on iTunes with pop music level sales, you have yourself a pretty terrific story.  A good publicist should be able to help an artist craft and articulate that story as well.

I also look at what is happening with the artist over the coming seasons to determine if there will be enough going on to justify having a publicist on long-term.  Significant touring at important venues in major cities coupled with great recordings are important factors that help me determine if the artist is at a level where they will need someone consistently managing their profile within the media.

For a long-term client I love a multi-faceted artist like Kristjan Jarvi who is a true musical omnivore, a brilliant conductor, educator and new music advocate.  Those artists often have so much going on that they offer the best variety of ways to pitch to media and keep the story interesting.


Do clients on your roster know who the other clients on the roster are? Do they care?

I would imagine artists are aware of the caliber and kind of artists I have on my roster before they come to me, but I have never had someone say they want to work with me because I do or do not work with anyone else.


Should publicists run Facebook pages, blogs, Twitter accounts, MySpace pages for their clients, or is that essentially the 2009-equivalent of answering interview questions for them?

Whether it is the publicist, an assistant or the artist themselves posting to these sites and networks, it is just essential that they really reflect the artist's voice.  If they don't, then offering that kind of "relationship" with the artist through these sites is really very false.  I like to think fans are smart enough to sniff out if an artist is posting status updates themselves or if it is being done by someone disconnected to the artist as a person.


If you weren't a classical music publicist, what would you be?

I would probably be singing.  I'm a classically trained soprano myself who has moonlighted in the music business ever since high school.  If I wasn't doing this I would be singing some way or another either professionally, avocationally, or teaching.

It's Publicists Gone Wild this week on Life's a Pitch. Each day, we'll have answers to the same eleven questions from different New York City publicists. Today, we have Steven Swartz, who hails from the publishing (and apparently ukulele) world(s)! Steven and I met...actually, when did we meet?...but our paths cross early and often at cool-kid "new music" events throughout the city.


Steven Swartz never set out to be a publicist.  He studied music and philosophy at Swarthmore College and earned a PhD in composition from University at Buffalo under principal teacher Morton Feldman.  A teaching job proved elusive, so he moved to NYC, embarking on a career that would eventually span journalism, radio, the recording industry, and music publishing.  From 1990 to 2006 he served as Publicity Manager for Boosey & Hawkes.

In 2007 Steven founded Dotdotdotmusic, providing PR, writing, and consulting services to the new music field, specializing in artists whose music transcends styles and genres.   His clients include cellist Maya Beiser, composer Douglas J. Cuomo, New Amsterdam records, Signal, the MATA Festival, and others.  Steven has also enjoyed a parallel career as a recording artist, singing and playing ukulele in the "avant-folk" combos Songs from a Random House and Bedroom Community. Website: www.dotdotdotmusic.net. Twitter: @dotdotdottweet.


What is the purpose of a press release? And what, in your opinion, is the most important aspect of a press release?  How does that element accomplish the purpose?

I think any publicist would agree that it's not enough to convey the essential information -- you have to answer the reader's unspoken question, "Why should I care?"  Ideally, all of the elements of the release work together to provide that answer, but the heavy lifting is accomplished by the narrative you create in the release, and the context you provide to support and enrich that narrative.

Hard to say what the single most important element is, though I think the first two paragraphs are crucial: while the first gives the vital info, the second tells "why this event is different from all other events."


Similarly, what is the most important aspect of an artist biography? How long should a bio be, ideally? Should it include press quotes? Why or why not?

There's a type of bio that you'll often find in concert programs -- a laundry list of accomplishments. I find that absolutely deadly. It's a biography, not a job application! 

Most artists do see the bio as a kind of resume, not realizing that it can serve as a powerful marketing tool, especially on the web.  Phrases from a well-written bio can turn up in coverage for years to come...it's a tremendous opportunity to shape perceptions.

If you only have a few hundred words to work with, you certainly do want to mention the major prizes and credits. But a good artist bio tells not only what the artist has achieved, but how she became the particular artist she is.  There are always formative experiences and influences, and often some interesting twists and turns along the way.  Without belaboring these things, an artist's bio can sketch a compelling narrative arc, while still making room for the credentials that establish the artist as bona fide. 

I use press quotes sparingly, and not in every instance.  If you're writing a long bio, say 1000-1200 words, there may be room for a few well-chosen gems.  A short bio should run about 350 words, and you should always have a bio/blurb that tops out at 150 words.


How far in advance of a CD release or concert do you send/e mail press releases? How many times do you usually follow-up journalists after sending the release?

Anywhere from three months to six weeks out for the initial release.  No hard formula for how many times to follow up.  Some people are fine with repeated nudging, others need to be prodded gently and sparingly.  Know your contacts and what they respond to best!
 

In 2009, what do you consider successful coverage for a client's concert? How has the definition of "coverage" changed since you started working in PR? For example, do artist's personal blogs/websites/Twitter feeds count as media coverage?

If your artist is a gifted blogger, like Darcy James Argue, whose Secret Society blog is eloquent and influential, he can serve as a very effective adjunct to your own efforts.  But I'd hardly consider an artist's own blog as "coverage," though positive comments from his peers can be useful as blurbs.

This week on Life's a Pitch, the royal "we" is talking to NYC-based classical music publicists. Everyone gets the same questions, and presumably no one has seen anyone else's answers! Here's Jennifer Wada, with whom I had the pleasure of working on the Hilary Hahn/Josh Ritter concert at the Metropolitan Museum of Art last spring.

Jennifer Wada is a New York-based public relations consultant in the performing arts whose clients include the Metropolitan Museum Concerts series, the Orchestra of St. Luke's, the George London Foundation for Singers, composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, and conductor Kent Tritle, among others.  Prior to opening her own business in 2000, she spent 18 years at Carnegie Hall, the last nine of them as the director of public relations, from 1991 to 2000, overseeing the media profile of the landmark institution.  Ms. Wada is a graduate of Vassar College, from which she received a bachelor of arts degree with a major in music.  She was also for many years a member of the Japanese taiko (folk drumming) ensemble Soh Daiko of New York City.
 

What is the purpose of a press release? And what, in your opinion, is the most important aspect of a press release?  How does that element accomplish the purpose?

To convey the news compellingly - what an artist or organization is doing.  If applicable, this should be done in such a way as to convey how this ties in to the artist's or organization's overall goals, purpose, point of view, ethos, etc.


Similarly, what is the most important aspect of an artist biography? How long should a bio be, ideally? Should it include press quotes? Why or why not?
 
An artist's bio should say up top what makes him/her distinctive, and convey what is most important to him/her - ideally, these are related! - as well as the most recent accomplishments.  I am a fan of having short and long versions of bios, and press quotes can serve a distinct purpose:  to legitimize or bolster claims to qualities that anyone can make, particularly if an artist isn't super well-known, and to have praise be in the words of an authoritative voice, a voice that's not one of the interested parties.


How far in advance of a CD release or concert do you send/e mail press releases? How many times do you usually follow-up journalists after sending the release?
 
A month ahead for releases (though if an event has not been previously announced at all, as part of a season, for example,  I like to send a notice out up to three months earlier). Some journalists will receive targeted follow-up from me.


In 2009, what do you consider successful coverage for a client's concert? How has the definition of "coverage" changed since you started working in PR? For example, do artist's personal blogs/websites/Twitter feeds count as media coverage?

To your second question: Clearly, there are fewer print or broadcast outlets now, more online, which of course provide much less broad, but more instances of pinpointed, exposure.  And to your third question:  the initial posting or feed becomes "coverage," or serves the purpose of visibility, if it becomes viral.

Since I'm going to try to keep my trap (fingers?) shut all week, I'll just say two quick things now:

One. Last night at the bar Union Pool in Williamsburg, I received the best response yet to my response to the question, "So what do you do?" 

"So what do you do?" "I am a classical music publicist." "That sounds difficult." (The usual response is, "Oh. Cool. What does that mean?") This guy went on to ask what media opportunities there are for classical musicians, and of the outlets that do exist, how many of those translate to concert ticket sales? Photographer Jeremy Sachs-Michaels from Union Pool May 24, 2009 (whose stuff turns out to actually be good), you are correct, sir: it is difficult.

Two. This week, we'll be hearing from other NYC-based classical music publicists with whom I have worked to varying degrees. Let whatever record there is show that I have, without exception, found my co-publicists in the city to be supportive and collaborative. I have asked for contacts, sought out advice, and bounced story ideas off them and received feedback without a trace of animosity or competition. So here-we-go...First up is Christina Jensen, who had the unfortunate experience of me shouting about journalists "toeing the line" on our first phone meeting. We worked together when her client ACME performed four Wordless Music shows at the Whitney Museum last summer. That seems like a very long time ago.

_____________________


Christina Jensen officially founded her PR firm in 2007 after working day jobs for six years in marketing, fundraising, and orchestra management at various Boston and New York arts institutions, and moonlighting as a freelance publicist. She played the violin through college and for a little while afterwards, and had brief affairs with the flute and piano. At this moment, she represents 15 classical music clients including André Previn, Simone Dinnerstein, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (tours and recordings), Lisa Bielawa, the Chiara and Cypress string quartets, ACME, Jefferson Friedman, and more.

 
What is the purpose of a press release? And what, in your opinion, is the most important aspect of a press release?  How does that element accomplish the purpose?
 
A press release serves a couple of purposes which I think are equally important, in most cases. An event or concert related release should inform the calendar editor of the answers to the 5 Ws (who, what, where, when, why) in a simple and unfussy manner. For the features editor, freelance writer, or critic who might read further, the release should give some insight into the artist's mission, motivation and personality. A press release should tell the artist's story from the angle that you are emphasizing at that moment in the artist's career.

 
Similarly, what is the most important aspect of an artist biography? How long should a bio be, ideally? Should it include press quotes? Why or why not?
 
Again, I think the most important aspect of an artist's biography is his or her personal story, and a description of the projects/repertoire they are currently exploring.  Artists need bios in a few different lengths - short, medium and long - for use in program books of different sizes, on the web, in press releases, etc. I think it's fine to include press quotes but I try to pick juicy ones that convey something, rather than just strings of adjectives.  I will say that artists' bios, at least for me, are a process of negotiation with the artist and manager. Managers I have worked with tend to want to include more lists than I tend to include when left to my own devices - lists of performance halls, lists of conductors worked with, lists of orchestras soloed with, lists of teachers, lists of concertos played, etc. - which I have been told is helpful in the booking process because it lets presenters know where artists have been, where they're going, and what they can do.  


How far in advance of a CD release or concert do you send/e mail press releases? How many times do you usually follow-up journalists after sending the release?
 
For a CD release, I like to mail promo copies to longer lead magazines four months in advance if I am going for review coverage, and even further in advance if I am hoping for a feature about an artist who may be unfamiliar to the contacts to whom I'm sending the CD.  I mail to radio and short leads six to eight weeks or so before the release date.  For concerts, I send press releases at six weeks in advance for larger cities like New York with a follow up release for calendars and short leads three weeks in advance.  I try to jump on long lead magazines for concerts as well, months in advance.  In smaller markets I just do one release at four weeks out.  I follow up with journalists twice after sending the press release - three times if I'm particularly keen on a story, just really hopeful, or if they've been out of the office.


In 2009, what do you consider successful coverage for a client's concert? How has the definition of "coverage" changed since you started working in PR? For example, do artist's personal blogs/websites/Twitter feeds count as media coverage?
 
The definition of successful coverage changes for each of my clients, for each of their concerts. Artists naturally have higher and lower profile performance dates within one city, and you must prioritize which dates you are really going to go for. For a high profile performance, I consider the coverage to be very successful if I can get one or two feature articles placed in print media or on a well-read webzine or blog, event listings preferably with photos in print and online media, a radio interview, possibly a news television interview, a review in the "paper of record," and a couple of reviews in online sources like blogs or webzines.  The addition of online media as desirable and valued places for coverage is what has changed most in my time working in PR.  I don't think that artists' personal blogs/websites/Twitter feeds count as media coverage, but I do think they can help gain media coverage by providing a personal link to the artist. Also, if someone re-blogs or writes about an artist's blog, I think that might count as coverage - right?

I'm enjoying the growing list of what me and my people do wrong in the comments section of this post. To re-cap, journalists don't like it when publicists:

• ...use ALL CAPS in the subjects or bodies of their e mails.
• ...mail discs with no liner notes/track listings/context of any kind.
• ...blindly send press releases to journalists who have no history of writing about that artist/concert/repertoire/genre.
• ...don't include audio or video clips in their press releases.
• ...act all lover-scorned when editors aren't interested in their clients.
• ...send releases under the oh-so-attention-grabbing subject line "Press Release".
• ...over-package physical CD mailings.
• ...do anything BUT include releases in the bodies of e mails - no attachments, no external links.
• ...seat themselves next to critics at events and concerts.
• ...talk about other clients at concerts they've invited critics to review.
  
• ...don't actually have a reason for pitching what they're pitching, besides being paid to do it.

To this list, I will add, journalists (also probably) don't like it when publicists:

• ....pitch journalists about artists/concerts they've already written about (simple...Google...search).
• ...include huge photo files.
  
• ...don't spell-check.
• ...write poorly.
  
• ...don't think it's their job to come up with and put forth creative story ideas.

 
THAT SAID, two can play this game! Classical music publicists of the world, what do JOURNALISTS do that annoy you most? Be Brave, little ones!  More accurately, Post Anonymously!

I'll start:

I'm all about taking the on-a-pedestal mystery out of the classical music industry, but my gears get slighted grinded (ground?) when journalists write about the trials and tribulations of arranging and conducting an artist interview in the feature said-interview was intended for.

Opera Chic brought these OC Register and San Diego Union-Tribune features to her readers' attention(s) last week, and while both pieces are otherwise interesting and very well-written, I have to wonder if the journalists really had to mention that Maestro-elect Dudamel only gave them ten minutes? And that his publicist interrupted the interviews? And that he was running behind?

The hardest part about preparing for a 10-minute telephone interview with Gustavo Dudamel is figuring out what to do with all that energy.

Not with it, actually, but without it: What if his legendary pep didn't come across in a chat crammed between six other interviews? What if he was worn out, or distracted? Because if there's one thing that pops out from all of Dudamel's five-star YouTube clips - the one attribute both fans and skeptics say defines him - it's that indomitable energy.

The second hardest part was getting a hold of the man...It took nearly a month of planning, with entreaties from certain well-connected individuals to other well-connected individuals, dozens of e-mails and phone calls to the presenter and publicists, and one minor last-minute rescheduling, but at 2:53 p.m. last Friday, I was on hold for Dudamel. He was at his publicist's office in midtown Manhattan, wrapping up another interview. Running just a little behind schedule. (San Diego Union-Tribune, November 21, 2008)

You get ten minutes, take it or leave it. I took it. I called at the appointed time. Sorry, we're running behind, please call back in 20 minutes. OK. I went and did the dishes, then called back. Can you hold for three minutes? OK. Then Gustavo Dudamel comes on the line.

He doesn't seem to know to whom he is talking, so I introduce myself...

[ten minutes later]

"Excuse me, Tim, it's Mary Lou Falcone (his publicist) interrupting rudely, I apologize. But we need to cut it as we have someone waiting, OK?" (OC Register, November 21, 2008)

It certainly makes for good reading (as I've said time and time again on this blog, people love behind-the-scenes drama), but that time-crunch is a fact of artists' lives: when an artist is touring 300+ days a year, he or she is forced to do interviews in a crazy speed-dating fashion! Of course it's not ideal, and the concept of a ten-minute interview is pretty silly, but if you couldn't get what you needed in ten minutes (fair enough), why not tell Dudamel's team thanks but no thanks, we'll wait until he has a bit more time?

This kind of thing is very frustrating for publicists and artists: we try to make time for everyone, and then sometimes get punished for it. Last spring, a writer e mailed me to fact check Hilary's interview with her. No, not what Hilary said in the interview, but rather how many interviews had she done before their's, what time did she get up to do interviews that morning, and how many journalists had I turned down for interviews on her one press day in New York City? Erm....while I appreciate that this makes Hilary (and Dudamel, in the cases above) look all in-demand and celebrityish, I'm not entirely sure it's fair to the artists.

And one more thing, before I hand it over: Just as Greg Sandow commented in the publicist post that press releases should give him a reason to care about their subjects, let me go on record as saying that features and reviews should probably do the same.

Hailing from 2004, this piece from the site The Dance Insider was sent to me in response to my post yesterday. Writer/editor Paul Ben-Itzak actually gives awards/taglines to the publicity firms he likes working with, calling the piece "Best Publicists in NYC". I love hearing what journalists think of publicists. Here's an excerpt:

...here are some things you should look for -- at least from the perspective of this writer and editor, who not only covers dance concerts but reviews hundreds if not thousands of press releases from around the world and has relationships with dozens of press reps, with a view towards seeking coverage from other Dance Insider writers for the potentially more interesting events. First, your publicist should know dance and dance media. (Sounds pretty basic, but you should see some of the press releases I get... or never receive.) He or she should know your work or, if that's not the case, be open to learning about it. Ideally, he or she should like the work so that subsequent press releases will be written with passion, attempts at securing coverage made with conviction. The publicist should be able to write with freshness about your 'product'; take a look at previous press releases to see if the same generic adjectives and verbs come up over and over again. Your rep. should have manners. Ideally, he or she should have an exhaustive press list and, even better, demonstrated mutually respectful relationships with editors who determine coverage. In other words, you want to know that your publicist's press releases will be read, and his or her calls returned.

I especially like his point about knowing the genre you're publicizing (seems obvious, but...), or at least being willing to learn. After my first meeting with Eric, I was so nervous about having an opera client that I went directly to the Borders at the Time Warner Center and bought Anthony Tommasini's Times Opera Essential Library book; I read that puppy cover-to-cover before our next meeting.

I even learned a new, mildly insulting word from the Dance Insider post:

This is a publicist with Authority, one whom critics and editors regard as a colleague, not a "flack." (There's a reason journalists sometimes apply a word describing unwanted fire to publicists; no one tries to duck Murray's press releases.)

Fascinating. Reminds me of orientation week at Dartmouth when this Class of '29 or whatever guy asked me if I was a "co-ed" at a football game. I had...no idea what that meant.

In addition to being a good read and offering an interesting perspective, use of the word "flack" aside,  the Dance Insider post includes contact information for the writer's favorite publicists. I think having a directory of publicists (in this case, for classical musicians and opera singers) would be useful. Once you decide you do need a publicist, where do you look? I will work on a list, but will refrain from editorializing on each firm like he does, perhaps just listing clients and contact information instead. Boring, I know, but for the best ((boo)). So, send on over an e mail if you want to be included in the little directory,

Sometimes, I'm ashamed of my race.

I've heard tales of publicists pitching writers about an artist who the writer had literally covered the month before, publicists sending out mass e mails to any writer they can find on a publication's website (one classical journalist told me she was contacted about a local football game), and publicists asking journalists if they had ever written about the artist he/she was pitching. I mean, if you don't have your own artist's press kit in front of you, let's do some brisk Googling; let's not go ahead and ask the journalist. And who can forget the NYC venue that misspelled its own name in a press release, a story I've mentioned before. One journalist told me that he got a thank-you note from a publicist for his "kind words", for a review of a performance he had canned; did she even read the review? I'm sure I've made these mistakes - and many, many others - myself, so I'm not throwing stones; just, sympathizing with our comrades in the press.

Here's an e mail from a close-to-top symphony orchestra that a journalist friend received and sent me this morning:

Whether your publication is interested in concert and event coverage, musician, board and philanthropic profiles, education and outreach or society news, I hope you will consider utilizing the X Symphony Orchestra as a source of current up-to-the-minute news and features.

No pitch? Just a quick, "Keep us in mind!" for good measure? Seriously? "What shall I have my people write about today," muses Joe Editor, "I know! That symphony orchestra press person told me they had concert and society news, should I need it..." 

But then I sometimes feel bad for my own kind as well. Both a manager friend and I were fairly-to-moderately appalled to receive a mass e mail from the editor of a well-known music magazine yesterday:

If you've heard any good stories, or know of any good projects or new happenings, please let me know.

Oh sure, I heard a good one the other day: The Pope walks into a bar...

Are publicists and editors really so busy that neither party can do their homework? The levels of vagueness on both the symphony PR person and the magazine editor's parts represents a total lack of respect for the receiver of the pitch: my time is more valuable than your time, you do the research. The magazine editor could have, at the very least, customized her e mails for record labels, and then management, and then publicists, and the symphony could have included a list of concerts or some general information about their (preferably new) education programs and philanthropy efforts. It's great that your news is up-to-the-minute, but...what is it?

These two examples from the last 24 hours have spurred me to be overly specific in my own pitches going forward. "You last reviewed The King's Singers' performance of X composers in Y year at Z venue. This is what they've been up to since then. This is what they are doing now. Here are some angles you can bring to your editor", etc. etc.. Yes, we're all very busy, but let's step back and think about what we're e mailing before we click send. We'd all give pitches a little more thought if we had to handwrite them and drag ourselves over to a fax machine, or pick up the phone and say what we had to say on the spot, so why not give the same attention - or any attention at all - to e pitches?