Christina Jensen<\/a> 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 Andr\u00e9 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.<\/i><\/p>\n
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?
<\/b>
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. <\/p>\n
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?
<\/b>
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. <\/p>\n
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?
<\/b>
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.<\/p>\n
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?
<\/b>
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?<\/p>\n
\nWho owns the problem of selling tickets and CDs? Is it a
\npublicist’s job to secure press that will have a direct impact on
\nsales, or does some press accomplish something beyond or different from
\nsales? Should marketing – ticket sales, ad copy, poster design – be
\nkept separate from publicity, or do efforts often overlap?
<\/b>
This
\nis an interesting question. I believe it is a publicist’s job to worry
\nabout ticket and CD sales, which should follow as a result of good
\nmedia exposure, but there are many other issues that influence sales
\npositively or negatively over which publicists usually have little
\ncontrol and which remain the territory of marketing departments. For
\nexample, when I am publicizing a chamber music ensemble tour going to
\nvarious venues across the country, making seven or eight stops, I am
\nusually not consulted about ticket prices, when and where to hold the
\nconcert, or where to place ads. I do, however, always speak with the
\nmarketing and PR folks at the venues (often the same person anyway in
\nsmaller venues) to ask about the size of the hall, what they are doing
\nto promote the concert, how many tickets they expect to sell and how
\nmany have sold, and which media outlets they usually see the most
\nresults from if they get coverage in them. They are usually happy to
\ndiscuss all of this with me – though a couple of times, I have been
\ntold that it is against the venue’s policy to discuss ticket sales.
\nThat’s frustrating. I try to fit my efforts in with what venues and
\nlabels are already doing, and if I think of ideas for what else they
\ncould do I don’t hesitate to offer suggestions – even if it’s
\ntechnically a marketing idea and not PR. In some cases, I have been
\nknown to send emails directly to lists of teachers and schools in an
\neffort to get group sales going. I don’t have a lot of rules about
\nwhat I do and don’t do.
All of that said, there is definitely some press that accomplishes something beyond sales. Feature stories in magazines like Gramophone<\/i> and BBC Music Magazine<\/i>, Strings<\/i> or The Strad<\/i>, International Piano<\/i>,
\nor general interest magazines if you are lucky enough to place a
\nclassical musician in them, are very valuable not for the number of
\ntickets or CDs they move but for the opportunities they give for
\nartists to define themselves. These stories are great for informing the
\nclassical music community, for including in press kits, and for sending
\nto press in tour cities for background and interview preparation. I
\nbelieve they are also useful for managers to send to potential
\npresenters of the artist for future bookings.
<\/p>\n
When in their careers should artists hire a publicist?<\/b><\/p>\n
I
\nthink artists should hire a publicist when they feel like they have a
\nplan to move their careers forward into the future – when they have a
\nvision that a publicist can get behind and work with them to achieve.<\/p>\n
If an artist doesn’t have a publicist, what is the best advice you can offer them for self-promotion?<\/b> <\/p>\n
I
\nwould tell them to create a website and a list of email addresses of
\npeople that they know (or would like to know) and start keeping those
\npeople informed about their concerts and recordings. They can also use
\nFacebook or Twitter to let people know what they’re up to. There is a
\nlot of contact information for press available online if you search for
\nit, and I think it’s fine for artists to send concert and recording
\ninformation to them as well as long as they avoid messages that come
\nacross as desperately saying “please, please write about me, I am soooo
\ninteresting.” <\/p>\n
How do you choose clients? Is there a set criteria in your company, or do you decide on a case-by-case basis?
<\/b>
I
\ndecide on a case by case basis. I have to appreciate their music and
\nfeel I can get behind their mission, when we meet or talk by phone I
\nhave to like them, and I have to have enough time available in my
\nschedule to be sure I can meet their needs. I talk to most of my
\nclients a few times a week at least, and if we work together for awhile
\nthere are bound to be tough things to get through, so if there are any
\nweird vibes or I don’t feel like we see eye-to-eye on things from the
\nbeginning, this is a red flag for me.<\/p>\n
Do clients on your roster know who the other clients on the roster are? Do they care?
<\/b>
Most of them know each other and many of them work together from time to time. <\/p>\n
Should
\npublicists run Facebook pages, blogs, Twitter accounts, MySpace pages
\nfor their clients, or is that essentially the 2009-equivalent of
\nanswering interview questions for them?
<\/b>
It depends on the
\ntype of social networking you’re doing. I maintain some artists’ pages
\non MySpace, but these pages don’t pretend to be the artist. I don’t
\nanswer mail as if I was the artist writing. I would not ghost Tweet for
\nanyone because it feels too fake for me. I don’t maintain any personal
\nFacebook pages for artists, but I do have Facebook fanpages. I often
\nmention my clients on my own Facebook page and Twitter feed, because
\nmany of the contacts I have on those sites are from the music world
\n(and the rest are family members and friends from elementary school in
\nIndependence, MO who already think I’m the crazy girl who moved to New
\nYork).<\/p>\n
If you weren’t a classical music publicist, what would you be?<\/b> <\/p>\n
Well,
\nin reality I’d probably be doing some other arts-related job like grant
\nwriting or marketing. But in college I started as a chemistry\/music
\ndouble major, and entertained ideas of majoring in archaeology or
\nEnglish (they were summer school flings). Just a couple of years ago I
\ntook the intro class at FIT in interior design. The real question is
\nwhat would I be doing if I never played the violin, which I started
\nwhen I was three. Music has always been the main thing in my life,
\neven when I’ve tried to get away to do something different.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,9],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-267","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-interviews","7":"category-main","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/lifesapitch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/lifesapitch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/lifesapitch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/lifesapitch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/lifesapitch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=267"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/lifesapitch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/lifesapitch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/lifesapitch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/lifesapitch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}