10 Ways to Ensure You Never Get a Reply From the Band/Publicist You Emailed

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One of the great things about running this blog has provided us is the opportunity to engage with a wide range of music industry professionals on a daily basis. From publicists and marketing gurus, to bloggers with big dreams who are still in college, the spectrum of people we consult when creating content is pretty vast. You never know where the next great idea will come from, but you know it will come in time.

Recently, one longtime reader of the blog shared with us their list of reasons why bands and/or publicists may not be replying to a writer’s emails. Some of the points made were obvious, but as we have learned time and time again it’s never safe to assume people understand a certain concept or process unless you’ve walked them through it before, so we decided to run the list in full. A few items have been altered ever-so-slightly for the sake of editorial fluidity, but the points remain the same. Here we go…

1. Your subject line references Satan and/or includes the word(s): “hails”, “perfunctory”, “slappin’”, or “skunked.”

This one applies mostly to the metal world, but those hoping to work with Katy Perry or Miley Cyrus would be wise to keep mentions of the dark lord to a minimum as well. Every email sent should be viewed as an extension of yourself, and as such should reflect the level of professionalism found in your work. You don’t want to come across as a fanboy looking for early access, and you certainly don’t want to sound like an inexperienced critic who relies far too heavily on edgy adjectives. Just keep your subject line direct and simple and you will be fine.

2. Your subject line is empty.

This may actually be worse than mentioning Satan in your subject line, if only because the presence of the word ‘satan’ would mean you actually put effort in your pitch. There is nothing professional or engaging about blank subject lines. In fact, they make your message appear more like spam than anything else, and we all know how people respond to spam.

3. You begin the body of your email with “Look…we both know”

No, we don’t. Unless you’re best buds with the person you’re email you should never begin a letter with something as vague and presumptuous as the phrase highlighted in this point. There is nothing you both know until the receiving party receives your request, and even then they probably have some questions for you. Do not assume anything when contacting other professionals. Instead, always make it a point to introduce yourself, your outlet, and the purpose of your message right at the top of every email. This way, confusion will be kept to a minimum.

4. You put more time into the out of context Proust quote for your signature than you do in the actual content of your email. 

What this means is that your message reads like it was copy and pasted from a hundred similar pitches mailed to a hundred different artists or outlets. While there will be some who reply to these type of emails, most prefer a more personal approach. Address people by their name, reference the artist/album you’re writing about, and make it a point to present yourself in an intelligent. Bands and publicists often receive dozens of emails a day, if not more, so make sure the content of your message is worth their precious time.

5. Your signature is basically just a bunch of random GIFs of you wearing a gas mask and throwing up the horns.

Remember the three or four times I mentioned professionalism in the points above? If your signature appears to be something created by a middle school student setting up their first-ever email account it may actually lower the likelihood of you receiving a response. Artists and publicists are always seeing someone to cover their latest projects, but they want that coverage to come from respectable outlets they believe will benefit their talent. Establishing their belief that you can provide such benefits begins with your first email. Don’t mess it up.

6. You misspell stuff

Spellcheck has been around as long, if not longer than the internet. There is no excuse for your poor grammar in 2015. 

7. You’re a pompous ass

You’re not the next great thing in music journalism. Even if you are, don’t act like it. You may be able to expose artists to large audiences, but that doesn’t make you a one man Rolling Stone or give you the right to act as if you are somehow above anyone else in the music industry. Being humble in this business will get you much further than walking around with a chip on your shoulder. 

8. You (repeatedly) mention the time you smoked weed with a celebrity only to find out later it was just a random homeless woman at Arby’s.

While it’s true that a lot of wild and crazy stuff can happen during interviews, it’s considered incredibly unprofessional to brag about those exploits when attempting to establish one’s standing in the business. No one cares how many shots you did with Escape The Fate in the basement of The Crofoot, nor does anyone want to know who won in the blunt rolling contest you had with Juicy J in Atlanta, at least not in a pitch email. If you can fit that stuff into a feature that’s one thing, but tales of debauchery set against what should be professional situations are not going to impress anyone in music.

9. Your request turns into a 2500-word invective against “The Machine”

Everyone is busy in music and no one has time to read everything sent their way. Your chances of having your email read, let alone responded, increase exponentially with the less words needed to make your inquiry known. Be thorough, of course, but also try to cut out any unnecessary information. Tell the band or publicist who you are, who you write for, and how you would like to cover them and/or their latest project. Add details that answer any obvious questions they may have (length, time frame, format) and provide information on how to follow-up with questions of their own. Beyond that, there is very little your initial outreach should require. Remember: Keep it simple.

10. It’s been in your Drafts folder for six months even though you thought you sent it. Dummy.

No one is above this mistake. You’ve either done it, or you will do it sometime in the future.


This article was created with help from Jonathan K Dick, who requested that we also give credit to Trevor Shelley de Brauw. Thanks guys!

James Shotwell