As you may have noticed, our blog has undergone some changes since our last update. We are always striving to better serve the music industry and make our content more available to those in need, so we decided Tumblr would be the perfect place to share our latest news and insight with all of you.
Our goal with this page is to not only further the Haulix name, but to aide in the creation of a more productive and informed music industry. If you have any questions about products, blogs, or how you can setup a demo of our promo tools, send us a question on here or email james@haulix.com.
Continuing our ongoing feature highlighting the people behind the industry’s best sites and zines, today we are excited to unveil a new interview with Gun Shy Assassin founder Chris Harris. Chris has a long history in journalism, both in music and out, and has been doing a number of interesting things with his site in recent months. Through editorialized reporting, which often leaves us laughing at our desks, Harris and his team have carved a unique niche in the heavy music world that continues to propel them to further up the reporting hierarchy. You can learn about the man behind GSA, as well as the advice he has for those hoping to make it in metal, below.
After you read our interview, be sure to stop by Gun Shy Assassin to see and read Chris’ work. We also encourage you to Like GSA on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.
H: For those unaware, please state your name, the site you work for, and your role at said site:
C: My name is Chris Harris, and I am the founder and CEO of GunShyAssassin.com, a three-year-old metal site named after a line in a Pig Destroyer song; bonus points if you know the tune.
H: You have worked in music journalism for a number of years. What first inspired you to enter this career field?
C: I’d say I’m a journalist first, a music journalist second – only because the depth of my experience is not limited to one field of journalism alone. I have written for a number of national publications and organizations, doing hard-hittin investigative pieces and fluff stories on pop stars. My love of music first drew me in, and it is now my passion for it that keeps trying to push me back out.
H: They say the first album a person falls in love with represents the genre they will follow later in life. What was the first album you truly connected with?
C: "They" don’t know shit. Because Jane’s Addiction’s “Nothing’s Shocking” led to my liking Swedish black metal.
H: There are an ever-growing number of metal websites in existence that offers news comparable to GSA. What is it about your content that sets GSA apart from the rest?
C: Honesty. At the end of the day, we’re one of the only metal sites that’ll actually call it like it is, without of fear of reprisal. We’ll desescrate sacred cows, we’ll pick apart bands people hail as important, and we deliver honest commentary from some of metal’s heaviest thinkers, including Early Graves frontman John Strachan, Jesse Leach of Killswitch Engage, Revocation’s Dave Davidson, Mark Hunter of Chimaira, Brian Fair of Shadows Fall, and Tim Williams, frontman for Vision of Disorder. With our guest column series, we’ve become something of a hotbed for metal musicians who aspire to write.
H: You have featured a number of indie/unsigned bands on GSA. What are your sources for music discovery?
C: Of course. Most contact us, but we run a weekly feature on unsigned bands who just happen to be readers, too. Sometimes, we come across gems in the rough, But that’s only sometimes.
H: What advice would you offer to bands and artists hoping to appear on GSA in the future?
C: Be smart and play your ass off.
H: When it comes to receiving music for review and feature consideration, which services do you prefer and why?
C: Haulix is pretty solid.
H: If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?
C: The rampant favoritism that seems to pervade.
H: Before we let you go, can you tell us a bit about what GSA has planned for the remainder of 2013?
C: More guest columns, more sarcastic criticism, more contests, more reviews, more interviews, and more exclusives. Also, we’ll have more updates from Chris Adler of Lamb of God, the focus of a casual series of interviews you’ll find only on GSA.
Today we are excited to be debuting a new recurring feature on the Haulix company blog that will highlight the faces behind the industry’s most popular news outlets. If you are a writer who would like to be featured in an upcoming column, please email james@haulix.com at your earliest convenience.
On November 7, 2009 Zack Zarrillo was a high schooler with a passion for music and an interest in all things internet. The next day he took the first step toward what has quickly become a full time industry career by launching his own music news source, PropetyOfZack.com. Covering the punk and alternative community, POZ quickly gained notoriety for its original columns and high quality video content. In 2012 PropertyOfZack joined the SpinMedia family as part of AbsoluteVoices and the rest, as they say, is history in the making.
We recently spoke with Zack about the early days of POZ, discovering new music, and what he thinks the future holds for himself and the rest of the music industry. You can read our conversation below. If you would like to learn more about zack, visit POZ or follow him on Twitter.
H: For those unaware, please state your name, the site you work for, and your role at said site:
Z: I run PropertyOfZack, a website I founded and created in 2009. My every day duties are to make the site run in the ways a viewer sees it and to lead our team into getting and creating great content. It keeps me pretty busy.
H: What inspired you to start your own music blog? Did you go to school for writing or journalism?
Z: PropertyOfZack was started by accident. It slowly morphed into what it is now, and I’d say it really took a solid six or more months before I even truly realized what I hand in my hands with my team. I’m currently finishing my sophomore year in college and I’m in a music industry program. I don’t and probably won’t take any journalist or writing classes. I don’t consider myself a journalist.
H: Many sites out there cover the punk/alternative community featured on POZ. What would you say sets your site apart from the rest?
Z: I’d say there are four other sites that are similar in size and reach as PropertyOfZack. We seem to be a little more niche. We’re more strict about bands we cover, and we have a wide, but specific range of features too. We love giving bands a voice on our site, and our viewers love it too.
H: You feature a lot of indie/unsigned artists on your website. What your sources for music discovery?
Z: I just pay attention. If there’s buzz or enough people recommend something to me, I’ll listen most the time. We also take submissions for Showcases, and that’s a great way to find new bands. We covered many more small bands in our beginnings, but slowly transitioned away from that due to demand. About two years ago we brought out Showcase to help smaller bands as best we could. It’s been a success.
H: Let’s say a band wants to contact you about featuring their music on your site. What advice would you offer bands to help themselves stand out for from the others vying for your attention?
Z: Sending large paragraphs worth of information to me is rarely going to work. Spelling my name wrong is bad. Spelling my website name wrong is equally puzzling and not so good. Be straight forward, get to the point, and sell me on something. We like posting about bands – it’s better for the site in general. Just make it easy.
H: When it comes to receiving music for review and feature consideration, which services do you prefer and why?
Z: Haulix is my favorite advance listening website. Major labels use horribly outdated and painful services that are so frustrating I tend to give up on bothering listening to the music. Haulix is trustworthy and reliable. Props to Haulix.
H: If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?
Z: I wish it was a little easier for those who work as hard as they do to be more financially successful. I hope one day that changes.
H: You tweet a lot about having big plans for the future. Before we let you go, can you tell us a bit about what PropertyOfZack has planned for the remainder of 2013?
Z: We just launched a new studio feature called Love Sessions. We’re releasing pilot episodes this summer and will be diving into season one in the fall. It’s going to be a great feature for us and our future. What else? Much more graphic design avenues will be seen on the site. We’re also going to have an overhauled design up.
It’s no great secret that the competition for the attention of bloggers and label reps is tougher than ever these days. The digital age has made connecting with these individuals easier for everyone, and in doing so made it more difficult than ever to get noticed. We asked a panel of journalists from a variety of musical backgrounds what tips they would offer artists/bands hoping to email them pitch letters, and below you will find the top 5 responses we received. Be on the lookout in the coming weeks for additional tips on getting noticed and be sure to follow us on Twitter to ensure you never miss an update.
1. Grammar. Grammar. Grammar. This may seem like an obvious response, but it’s probably the most important tip we can offer. Every single journalist we approached for this article admitted to deleting and, in some cases, never reading pitch letters with grammatical errors. The pitch is an introduction of yourself and your art, but it’s also the first example of your business acumen and attention to detail that others will encounter. You only get one chance, so be sure it’s delivered void of any avoidable errors.
2. Keep it simple. Journalists know you’re excited about your music and want to share every detail about your efforts up front, but they’re also aware of the thousands of similarly anxious and excited musicians hoping for their break that have or will contact them as well. Avoid being lumped in with those that over-embellish by refining your letter to be simple and to the point. Phrases like “here’s a much needed breath of fresh air” and “I’m sure you get this all the time…” should be cut immediately, along with any band history stretching more than 3 sentences. This letter is a handshake and a hello, not an in-depth discussion about your history as an artist. You want to intrigue writers, not bore them.
3. CDs are dead. Long live high quality digital servicing. Though some may argue their place in retail, most music journalists prefer music be submitted for consideration through digital means rather than physical. Packaging is nice, but digital is faster, easier, and requires less postage. That said, journalists are also not fans of music sharing services that come coupled with walls of advertisements. You don’t want journalists thinking about whatever pop up ads appear while trying to hear your music, you want them thinking about you and the brand you are trying to market. Haulix allows artists to create personalized pages for their music that offer high quality streaming and watermarked downloads, as well as in depth analytics to help track overall engagement.
4. Avoid impossible/unknown comparisons. One trick many artists you to quicken the introduction process with journalists is to compare their work to musicians that may be more recognizable. While many of the writers we spoke with agreed that this is a helpful tactic, it can lead to disinterest if the artists name are too famous, vague, or (on the opposite end) unknown to the journalist. If you’re going to use comparisons, we suggest researching the artists each writer covers and reworking your name drops to coincide more closely with their tastes.
5. Be specific. When writing a pitch letter, make sure you have something to promote and that your letter only promotes that thing. Journalists want new music that is actually new, not just unknown to the masses. If more than a few months have passed since your last EP or album, don’t send a pitch letter unless you have a tour, video, or additional major media item to promote. Bloggers are not interested in six month old albums unless it’s attached to whatever new thing it is you’re trying to promote. Sell them on what is new first. If response is strong, then you can approach about cover more/older material.
Hello, everyone. My name is James and I am the newest member of the Haulix team. In the coming weeks I will be rolling out a slew of new blog content, as well as manning our various social networks. Before we get into that, however, I thought it would be a good idea to introduce myself.
My background in music started when I first heard Blink-182’s ‘Enema Of The State’ back in 1999. From that day forward I dedicated my life to promoting music and the supporting the musicians behind it. This life choice lead me to work in booking, tour promotion, radio, blogging, social media, management, and beyond. Now I have joined the Haulix team to help further our social presence, and I could not be more excited to get started.
So what lies ahead? A lot. We plan to bring you relevant and engaging content regularly starting this week, and we’re planning more features for the future.
**This is part of a series of interviews that showcase Haulix customers who successfully use digital promos in their day to day operations.**
Earsplit PR, an independent publicity collective, was spawned accidentally back in 1999 when founding tag team Liz Ciavarella and Dave Brenner worked at Nuclear Blast Records together. What started as a side gig to help promote bands that deserved more recognition turned into a full-fledged husband and wife business venture that represents some of metal’s top tier bands. The company specializes in extreme metal marketing/promotions and helps get bands and their music/tours noticed by consumers both stateside and abroad.
When asked how many artists and what genres of music they deal with, Earsplit had this to say, “Our roster is forever expanding/morphing. We’re always working several dozen highly active bands at any one time. Right now we have over 200 clients; some are active touring bands, others are lower-key studio-type projects (others are simply working on new records and temporarily dormant). We interact with an incredible array of musicians, managers and label folks over the course of a day. EarsplitPR focuses predominantly on the metal realm and other forms of heavy music; everything from classic heavy metal to lo-fi cult black metal, American and Swedish death metal bands who’ve been active for 20-30 years, brand new indie acts, experimental/genre-bending scene forerunners and anything in between.”
When it comes to a typical work day, “[It’s] long and hectic. It’s generally an endless stream of email, phone calls and various forms of communication between labels, bands, management companies and writers. Press releases are written, interviews are scheduled, reviews are logged, speakers are blown… it’s always an adventure at the Earsplit Compound. There’s never a moment where something doesn’t need to be done."
We asked how strong of an impact written buzz from the media is, before an album is released. "It is one of many factors that go into building an album for release, and definitely an important one. With the incessant flood of music available to metalheads, and music fans in general, these days, it’s integral that a band stay in the spotlight.”
Digital promos were always meant to decrease or eliminate the costs that traditionally came with mailing out physical discs. Earsplit added, “While physical product is always a treat, it’s generally not cost effective to mail 300 – 400 CDs any more nor do you get the same response. Promoting records digitally allows us to reach a far wider audience." Since going digital, their job has literally changed. "Our rates are far more affordable now that manufacturing and mailing costs have generally been eliminated from the equation. A single package containing two CDs to Europe can cost up to $7 each; that adds up quickly when you’re trying to hit even just a handful of editors and writers.”
Has watermarking proved to be a sufficient defense against early leaking? Earsplit responded, “While watermarking isn’t on its own a foolproof method in preventing leaks, it is a major deterrent. On the rare occasion we’ve had a track leak via Haulix, the staff was very on point and immediately traced it to the leaking party.”
In conclusion, we were eager to hear their take on where the music industry is headed, as well as their advice for anyone considering moving to a digital promotion strategy. “Like anything else in life, change is imminent. We are not a record label, but speaking from our perspective — as fans and as publicists —the digital market is definitely taking over. That however doesn’t mean the death of the music industry. It just means a need for different sales strategies. Bands are touring more; they’re selling more merch. Diehard fans are buying vinyl again and though more and more folks are purchasing the digital release, there will always be fans — and we think this goes for metalheads in particular who are generally more “collector” prone — who appreciate packaging and the sheer excitement of buying a new CD. There are also more properly-promoted indie labels sprouting up and selling more product than ever. [This] creates a bit of a "middle class” in the record sales market, rather than a band being either a major act or an unknown band.“ They continued, ”[As far as their experience moving to digital promotions] just what we said earlier: [benefits are] cost effectiveness, a farther reach and the security in Haulix’ watermark capabilities has really helped us in all our promoting endeavors.“
**This is first in a series of interviews that showcase Haulix customers who successfully use digital promos in their day to day operations.**
Clawhammer PR, ran by Scott Alisoglu and Ryan Ogle, provides promotion and media relations services for underground metal bands and labels. Ryan gave us a glimpse into their business. “We take the burden off their shoulders so the bands can focus on their music and the labels can focus on day-to-day operations.” Both coming from a journalist background he says, “I feel like having seen the PR game from a writer’s perspective gave us a little extra insight when we first got things rolling, nearly three years ago.”
Promoting In A Challenging Industry
When asked how many artists and what genres of music they handle, Ryan had this to say, “Since day one we’ve worked with a variety of acts and labels that fall under the ever-expanding metal umbrella. We’ve worked everything from metalcore to avant-garde black metal and even a couple of very cool folksy, atmospheric, cerebrally awe-inspiring bands. We seem to have found somewhat of a niche with the death metal crowd though thanks to clients like Dark Descent Records, Ibex Moon Records, Chaos Records, Abyss Records, Rotting Corpse Records, Deathgasm Records and our brothers in the band Gravehill. We’re also currently handling North American promotion for Listenable Records and Debemur Morti Productions (both from France). Nordvis Production is a very cool label that have allowed us to throw some twisted little black metal-based curveballs at folks and Chicago’s Mortal Music have given us a diverse collection of bands to work with as well.” He adds, “We’ve got a very cool collection of independent bands that we work with as well in Abacinate, Shroud of Despondency, Ironwood, Apostate and trad-metal machine Johnny Lokke. That’s the beautiful thing about metal; it’s such an expansive genre. It’s impossible to get bored working with or even being a fan of this style of music.”
Day-To-Day Operations
From the way it sounds, there is no such thing as a typical day at Clawhammer headquarters. “Working with clients and contacts spread out across the globe means there is no such thing as business hours and one of us is almost always on the case in regards to email replies.” Ryan continues, “I typically spend a good portion of the first half of my day assembling and proofing press releases. Once those are approved, they’re sent out, which of course leads to more emails to sort through. There’s also lots of tweaking of images and artwork, converting music files, press reports, brainstorming, bio writing/tweaking and following up with contacts in regards to coverage.”
The Media’s Impact On The Success Of An Album
Though it might be obvious, we wanted to pick Ryan’s brain on how big of an impact the media plays when it comes to writing publications and pre-release streaming of tracks in order to have successful opening sales. “It [media] plays a huge part. Granted anyone can go online and listen to or download almost any release before it come out, especially now that streaming has become such a major promotional tool, and they can judge for themselves, but reviews are still vital. You want to know an album is even worth spending the time it takes to sit down with it.” He continues, “Pre-release coverage is huge for lesser-known and indie acts that might not have the funds to do a lot of advertising or that aren’t quite suited for radio either. Obviously, Metallica is going to sell regardless of how many (or few) reviews they get before their record drops, but a band like Gravehill benefits greatly from pre-release coverage. The more reviews they get increases the chance that someone new will read about them and get interested enough to check out the disc. We try to get a release out to the media at least 4 – 6 weeks prior to release. It doesn’t always work that way, but it is the best way to go. If you get people talking before the street date, it’s only fair to assume that you’ll see results right away.”
A New Strategy For Promoting
The traditional promotion model for pre-release music involves manufacturing discs and physically mailing them out to the media. When asked what he dislikes about this strategy, Ryan had this to say. “First and foremost, the cost of mailing CDs is a huge click on the ‘dislike’ button on the Facebook page of life (if Facebook were to ever incorporate a dislike button). Metal isn’t exactly a lucrative genre, so sending out 200 – 300 physical CDs and promo packs to writers who may or may not give the release the time of day could easily break the bank for a smaller label. From a writer’s perspective, two weeks worth of packages can create more clutter than I (or my wife) care to sort through. Sure, a fully-packaged retail copy of an album is a cool perk and we try to accommodate when a writer asks for one, or even just a simple slipcase promo, but we really try to push the digital. I guess that’s kind of hypocritical considering I prefer vinyl over anything else when it comes to my personal collection, but it just makes more sense for a band or label to focus its resources on things like advertising, a stronger online presence or even touring and/or merch than sending out a couple hundred discs that would serve them better in a distro than as a promo. That’s just one point of view though and we do recommend to our clients that they do some mailing, but most outlets are totally cool with getting digitals these days. I suppose I could get ‘green’ on everyone here too and gripe about how wasteful and harmful to our environment physical mailings are. All those precious tress…In all seriousness though, mailings are a necessary part of it; I would just rather throw my cash in other directions.”
Working With Digital Promos
As an alternative to mailing out physical promos, we were interested to hear how using a digital promo service changed the job of someone in the Public Relations business. “Before we got rolling with Haulix, we utilized sites like Sendspace or Yousendit, which were nice in that they were free, but that was really the only advantage,” Ryan explains. “The service makes things much more streamlined and easy to keep tabs on. I can log-in and look at a list of who has downloaded a certain promo and follow up with those people individually, rather than just sending out a blanket email to our entire database. That allows us to give things that personal touch, which I think our contacts really respond to. There’s a strong sense of community in the metal scene and, even though we’re spread out across the globe and most of our interaction comes via email/social networking, many of consider one another friends. Since Haulix allows us to keep track of things, I can reach out on a more personal level rather than, “Hey everyone, please let me know if you checked out the new Blut Aus Nord yet.” That can make a huge difference when pushing for coverage.”
Watermarking
We couldn’t talk about digital promos without diving into watermarking. Ryan has unique insight into this technology. “It’s becoming a very good deterrent. Most writers have just grown to expect that a digital promo is going to come watermarked and they have seen examples made of a few that have had leaked promos traced back to them. Nobody wants to carry the stigma of being “that guy.” It puts your journalistic integrity in question and the number of outlets that would want to work with you decreases significantly. We recently got an email from a client who had discovered two of his upcoming releases had been leaked onto the internet and were made available for download. Months of planning, preparation and hype all went right down the drain. Needless to say, he was pissed. I immediately went and snagged the offending files, sent them to Haulix to test for a watermark and none was found. Said client had a different PR company handling things on the European side who did not use a service like Haulix and was sending out non-watermarked physical promos (another downside to mailing CDs), so whoever leaked the album got away with it. Watermarking could have easily prevented this. An album is going to wind up on the internet within a few hours of release regardless of the measures taken, but it’s almost pointless to put the time and effort into pre-release hype and promotion if someone from the media is going to post it online for everyone and their brother a month before its release.”
The Future Of The Music Industry
On the subject of deterring leaking, we were curious to get a philosophical vision of the future of CD sales, digital sales and the overall future of the music industry. “That’s a really good question and one with limitless answers. I think illegal downloading, oversaturated music scenes and lack of originality and substance from artists is really hurting the industry as a whole. The huge drop in sales and concert attendance is the only proof of that you need. I almost feel like the days of the major label are coming to an end; at least in a conventional manner. You can see the shift when they’re trying to sell you a single on a video game, a cell phone, on reality TV, YouTube or anywhere else besides on an actual album. To me, that’s almost insulting. You’re robbing a generation of fans of the ‘album experience’ and instead just throwing some flavorless piece of bubblegum for them to chomp on until the next one comes along. It’s been like that since day one, but technology has pushed things over the top. Fans are finally getting tired of it and are speaking with their dollars. There will always be a huge majority of the population that will gladly graze on whatever pasture you put them in, but those fans that demand something with substance aren’t going to bat an eyelash when they see some clown from American Idol trying to sell a song his producer wrote for him. I think Orwell said it best when he wrote, “If there is hope, it lies in the proles.” By that I mean the indies and the smaller labels/companies are recognizing this discontent sentiment, have shared it themselves for a long time and are responding by seeking out artists that actually have something to offer. These are the guys that realize the bottom line has bottomed out and are more concerned with putting out quality music than anything else. That being said, integrity doesn’t pay the bills and these labels and bands have got to keep coming up with creative ideas to grab people’s attention. I see a lot of focus being put on artwork, concepts, bonus dvds and many other bells & whistles that all add to that album experience I mentioned earlier. There’s also a huge vinyl resurgence underway right now and the purists are loving it. I’m even seeing more and more bands offering cassettes again, which I think is great. There’s something about that analog hiss that warms my heart. It’s becoming cool again to have an actual collection. You can have friends over to your house and show off your stack of records or revel in the novelty of throwing a tape in the deck. That kind of brings back that old feeling of what made music special in the first place. Will these old-school mediums save the industry? No chance in hell. But they are comforting signs that tell me no matter how ridiculous things get, there’s always going to be a fraction of people out there keeping the true spirit of things alive. I’ll end my ramblings by saying the way we listen and the way the music is marketed might change with each new gadget, thereby keeping the industry in a constant state of flux, but the heart and soul of it all will always remain the same. It is a shame that so much talent goes unnoticed and has to struggle financially because they don’t fit the corporate mold, but a creative mind will always find a way to get the music to the ears of those who will appreciate it.”
With digital promotion strategies becoming more accepted in the industry, Ryan was asked what he would say to a label or firm who is considering going digital – to get them to take the leap. Ryan responded, “Everyone is a critic and thanks to the advent of the blog, everyone and anyone with an internet connection can make that statement come true. Print magazines are declining and the bigger websites are so overloaded with work, you have to start looking elsewhere for media coverage. Where ten years ago the list of folks who got advanced promos might have fit on a sheet of paper, that list can easily fill a massive database today. It’s counter-productive to spend the time and money getting all of these people your music when you can do it with a few mouse-clicks and at a fraction of the cost. You know exactly where your music is going, you know exactly when it gets there and you know it’s secure upon arrival. The bottom-line is that the industry has largely gone digital, so it’s a no-brainer that promotion should as well.”
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