Tag: music promotion

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Who cares if the GRAMMY AWARDS do not appreciate rock and metal?

Rock Is Dead (Not)

Honestly, does the opinion of GRAMMY voters and event producers really bother you?

The GRAMMY awards aired last Sunday, which means people everywhere have spent the week discussing and debating the night’s most significant moments. Did you see Tyler The Creator setting the stage on fire? Did you predict Billie Eilish would sweep the night’s biggest awards? Were you blown away by Tanya Tucker’s performance? All of these are great questions about must-see moments that music fans will celebrate for the foreseeable future.

As with every awards show for every area of entertainment, the GRAMMYS also created a lot of discussion for the corners of the industry that didn’t receive very much attention on music’s biggest night. Specifically, rock and metal fans were largely left feeling underserved. Though there were a handful of performances highlighting the most easily accessible rock talent, including Gary Clark Jr. and legendary rock band Aerosmith, the genre awards and their recipients were relegated to the pre-show stream.

Because of this, as well as the fact that rock and metal artists made up less than 10% of the night’s performances, people are once again claiming ‘rock is dead.’

Here’s a counter-point: No, it’s not.

Rock and metal have been declared dead more times in the last decade than anyone can count. I would go as far as to say critics have proclaimed the death of rock more times than any other genre, and every time they are proven wrong by a cavalcade of talented young artists. Rock is alive in virtually every city on the planet, and every night of the week, countless rock and metal artists are performing in bars, clubs, etc.

The GRAMMY awards cater to the largest audience possible using the biggest names in music to lure in viewers who otherwise could care less what some unseen panel of judges thinks of music. Except for a few performances, the vast majority of talent on the GRAMMY stage plays in regular rotation at every top 40 radio station. Rock and metal don’t live on those stations anymore, at least not in a significant way, so it makes sense that we don’t see the biggest bands in the genre performing on the awards show stage.

On the rare occasions when rock acts do play, the same people who claim rock is dead are the first to complain that those groups don’t correctly represent the genre. Unless Tool or Slipknot or Killswitch Engage takes the stage, the scene’s biggest critics (and self-proclaimed biggest fans) will be upset.

And let’s be even more honest: Not all rock and metal bands sound great when they do appear on television. For every show-stopping performance, there are big-name groups whose late-night and awards appearances don’t work due to mixing and production issues. Remember when The Blood Brothers were on TV? Slipknot managed to pull it off on Kimmel last year, but Cory’s vocals were largely lost in the mix.

Here’s the thing: You don’t really care about who does or does not appear at the GRAMMYs. That cannot possibly be true. You fell into rock and metal for all the reasons everyone else does, which includes the sense of rebellion that lives at its core. Rock and metal, especially current iterations of the genres, were never meant for mass consumption. These genres represent boundary-pushing artistic expression that doesn’t shy away from tough topics or tough emotions. It’s outlaw music made for people sick of the system and the oppression they feel while trying to live their lives. The bands rock and metal fans treat like Gods are the same groups who openly loathe corporate events like the GRAMMY awards, so again, why would anyone care that the GRAMMYs don’t recognize them?

Furthermore, if you want to point the finger at people hurting rock music, you need to look first and foremost at the gatekeepers responsible for new music discovery. Do you know why pop and hip-hop continue to thrive while rock music is written off as dated or dead? It’s because the radio stations and entertainment pillars promoting those areas of music follow the lead of their listeners, especially young music fans. When a song takes off online in the realm of hip-hop, radio programmers do everything in their power to get that artist into rotation at their local station. That does not happen for rock bands. Their best hope is Sirius Octane or a single night of play in some ‘new music contest’ hosted by a radio station seeking to fill time in between “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and “Enter Sandman.”

Rock is very much alive. There has probably never been more rock and metal artists actively recording and touring than there are right now. I receive at least five new rock records in my inbox every single day of the week, and it has been that way for years. There is no shortage of talent, and there is no shortage of fans eager to hear the next song or group that will change their life. Do mainstream audiences care as much as it once did? No, and it may take some time before it does again, but that doesn’t devalue the talent or fans that currently exist.

And if you want rock and metal to become a more important topic of conversation in pop culture, then the fans and aging institutions that support those genres need to evolve. We need to celebrate young artists and appreciate the legends who came before instead of doing the opposite. We need to separate classic rock from modern rock in a meaningful way so that newer artists have a better chance of achieving legendary status. We need to look inward and destroy our pre-conceived notions of what makes a rock or metal band great so that we might be open to the next genre-pushing talent that arises. We need to change, plain and simple, and we need to stop expecting the biggest names in entertainment to make those changes for us.

The GRAMMYs don’t matter. At least, not as much as consumer dollars. Vote with your wallet and support the talent that matters to you. Tell your friends about the artists you love, and invite them to go to concerts. Be the influencer you wish your local radio station or favorite blog would be for the talent you enjoy. Please do your part and do it to the best of your ability. If we all do that, then maybe — just maybe — we will see the focus of pop culture shift in rock’s favor. It also may not, but that’s okay because it doesn’t really matter in the first place.

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Two Big Mistakes Musicians Make When Contacting Tastemakers

Overcoming the biggest hurdle in DIY music promotion requires a little thing called human decency. 

Music tastemakers are some of the busiest people in the entertainment industry. Even the smallest publications receive dozens of requests per day for coverage. Bigger outlets, as well as widely-recognized writers, may receive more than one-thousand emails any given week. The majority of the time, outlets and writers are busy dealing with established talent and music that is quickly gaining momentum online. Those able and willing to cover lesser-known acts only have a finite amount of time for discovery, which is why making a positive and immediate impact on anyone you pitch is essential for your success.

We write a lot of blogs offering advice for reaching tastemakers. We have even gone so far as to create contact lists to help people reach playlist curators. However, no matter how much we write and discuss music promotion, industry influencers continue to complain about up and coming artists’ lack of preparation and respect. People at all level of the industry often contact us with concerns that people are nowhere near as passionate about professionalism as they are becoming successful, and that — for most — is a huge red flag. 

With that in mind, here are the two complaints we receive most often, as well as advice on how to avoid further frustrating music writers, podcasters, and YouTubers in the future.

Know your audience.

Very few tastemakers have influence over every area of music. There are exceptions, such as The Needle Drop, but most critics and influences earn their positions in the industry by specializing in certain areas of music. 

The same goes for publications. Pitchfork may cover more music than anyone has time to listen to, but there isn’t one person doing all the work behind the scenes. Pitchforks, as well as most music publications, rely on teams of people — each with their own specialties — to curate content people should experience. 

Few things will get your pitch for coverage denied or overlooked faster than failing to understand what the person you’re contacting covers. This is especially with playlists, which can be extremely specific in terms of the music they’re looking to features. When artists begin flooding tastemakers with material outside their coverage area it only serves to frustrate influencers and lower their interest in music discovery altogether. 

It’s hard enough for up and coming artists to get attention today without having to compete with people who spam critics because they were too lazy to research the people they were contacting. Don’t contribute to the problem of over-saturation. Research every person and publication before reaching out. Be sure your email is going to someone or someplace that values the type of music you create. Otherwise, you’re just wasting everyone’s time, including your own.

Make it personal.

There is no Mr. Pitchfork or Ms. Rolling Stone. However, without fail, artists constantly spam inboxes of publications and writers without addressing the people on the receiving end. 

Worse still is the large number of artists who write a single draft of a pitch letter that they then copy and paste to all press contacts with zero personalization. 

A good rule of thumb for promoting your music is to make every piece of outreach as personal as the music you’re trying to share. Your songs mean everything to you. They are a representation of who you are what you wish to share with the world. Your promotional materials are an extension of that representation. 

It’s perfectly acceptable to create a pitch template for promoting your music that shares the same basic information with everyone you contact. However, that template should be a starting point for messages and not the entire message. Your outreach should aspire to make everyone feel as if you want them to hear your music more than anyone else in the world. Let them know you admire their work and that you understand what they are passionate about in music. Talk to them as if you’re trying to make a new best friend. 

Nobody wants to feel like they’re being asked for a favor by a stranger who has no interest in who they are, how they’re feeling, or what they’re trying to do with their own career. Make people feel special. 

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How to Throw Multiple Listening Parties for $100 or Less [VIDEO]

Listening parties can engage fans, grow your community, and raise awareness about your next release like nothing else in music.

There is no promotional event as incredible as a listening party. For an hour or more, fans gather together to experience the latest release from their favorite artist. The energy and excitement in these gatherings are electric. Everyone there is present because the artist’s catalog does something for them that nothing else in music or beyond can duplicate. Listening parties are a celebration of music’s power to move people, and you deserve to have them for your next release.

But there is a problem. Historically speaking, listening parties are often considered an expensive affair. You have to rent a space, be it a bar or venue, promote the event, create and distribute marketing materials, and perhaps pay for refreshments. Fans have often had to pay for the experience as well, be it through tickets or drinks.

We have a solution. For less than $100, you can plan and execute numerous listening parties all over the world on the same night. We can walk you through everything you need, but it’s up to you to find an audience. The plan below will only work if you have devoted fans who want to see you succeed. If you have those, then follow these steps to create an event no one will forget:

First off, you need to communicate with your fans. Whether this is accomplished through a newsletter or private Facebook group for key followers doesn’t really matter. Tell your audience you are seeking devoted fans willing and able to host small get together for your upcoming release. The only requirements they need to meet are a location for the event, the ability to host the event when you plan for it to take place, a computer, and speakers capable of playing music loud enough for everyone to hear your music. Be selective with your choices. The fans you choose will be representing you and your music for the duration of the event.

Haulix is the platform you will use to share your music with party hosts.

Next, you need a Haulix account. Haulix is the industry standard for music promotion, and right now they are offering one month of service free to everyone who signs up. Visit the Haulix website, pick a plan that works for you (we recommend Beast Mode to begin), and complete your registration. Haulix is the platform you will use to discreetly share your new music with listening party hosts. The service also allows you to control the number of times the music can be played, when people have access to music, and more.

The Promos screen is where you upload your music.

Once your Haulix account is activated, you will need to add your music to the service. Log in to your account and click the Promos tab at the top of the screen. Create a new promo with the music you plan to share through your listening parties. Be sure to add artwork, release information, and any other details you feel fans should know.

After your music is uploaded, begin creating introduction clips for your listening parties. Audio or video introductions are acceptable, but video content adds a personal touch. You may even want to make different videos for each event. That allows you the opportunity to specifically address each crowd by mentioning their cities or states, which again, helps create a connection with those in attendance. You can add the videos to your Haulix promo or upload them to YouTube (leaving them unlisted).

Promo invitations grant party hosts access to your music.

With all your materials complete, deliver the videos and event details to each listening party host with personalized messaging that reinforces dates, times, and any other particulars. Then you need to use Haulix to invite your hosts to engage with the materials you uploaded. You can find a step-by-step guide for sharing music on Haulix using the company’s help site.

After the event, be sure to send thank you notes to the hosts and any attendees. Personalize the messages to ensure people know you appreciate the work and time they dedicated to promoting your work. You should also consider revoking access to the materials through Haulix to ensure the album or single does not leak in advance of its release.

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How To Reach Music Critics and Influencers [VIDEO]

Sharing music has never been easier, but reaching people in positions of influence is harder than ever before.

Despite reports that claim otherwise, music criticism is alive and well. There are more musicians than ever making and releasing more music than ever at a rate never anticipated, which is why people continue to turn to influencers and people they view as having authority for help with new music discovery. Most people do not have the time to constantly listen to artists they don’t know, but many are willing to listen to those that do. That is why influencers continue to matter, and it is why they will always have a role in music.

But there is a problem. The increased competition for attention has made reaching tastemakers in positions of influence difficult. For every new artist that receive a bit of recognition, there are dozens whose emails and DMs go unanswered. Having a great song doesn’t matter unless you can make people care about it, and sadly, most artists are incapable of accomplishing that task.

In the latest episode of Music Biz 101, our ongoing web series, host James Shotwell breaks down four tricks for engaging with tastemakers every artist needs to know. These tips are easy to follow, and they can be applied in every genre of music, but you will still need great music as well. Success in the music business today requires both business and creative skills. One without the other may get you far, but it won’t build a lasting career.

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How To Get A Record Deal in 2019 [VIDEO]

With the music industry changing faster than ever, record labels are being more particular about the artists they offer deals.

Last week, the Haulix team traveled to Los Angeles for a series of meetings with some of our favorite labels and industry professionals. We met with Hopeless Records, Pure Noise Records, Metal Blade Records, Prosthetic Records, and more. We covered a number of topics related to the music business, but there was one question we asked everyone:

What does it take to get a record deal in 2019?

We expected different answers from different labels, as they each have a specific niche of music they cater to, but the responses were mostly universal. Everyone agrees that you need talent above all else, but they believe talent alone is not enough. In the age of the internet, writing good songs and getting people to listen to them is the bare minimum an artist should be able to accomplish on their own. That kind of work ethic will start to create a conversation around your music, but again, that alone is not enough to get signed.

So, what does it take?

The music business is changing, and so is the type of artists who get signed. Labels are no longer able to take risks on everyone who creates a viral hit or knows how to write catchy songs. To stand out from the competition today, musicians need more than talent. Much more, in fact, and in this episode of Music Biz 101, host James Shotwell reveals what the biggest labels in music are looking for in the musicians they sign.


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The future of marketing: The Pixies are promoting their new record with a limited series podcast

With the launch of It’s A Pixies Podcast, a limited series program, the long-running indie rock group offers a glimpse at the future of music promotion.

‘Podcast‘ may be the most significant buzzword in music this year. Not only has the format been accused of encroaching on a form of entertainment previously reserved for music and audiobooks, but streaming services Spotify and Apple Music have been investing heavily in promoting notable shows, as well as creating exclusive podcast content.

According to MusicOOMPH, 71% of Americans are familiar with the term ‘podcast,’ and a little over half of the population has listened to a podcast. There are currently 700,000 active podcasts boasting a combined catalog of 29 million episodes, and that figure is going to grow substantially in the latter half of 2019.

The world of podcasting has already proven beneficial for many performers. Comedians in particular have found the freedom of expression podcasting allows as a way to engage their audience between specials and promote tour dates. Musicians can and should see view podcasts the same way. In a time when everyone wants more from everything they love all the time, podcasts present an opportunity to continually offer new content without rushing to release songs or records before they’re complete.

A press release this week announced that one group, iconic indie rock band The Pixies, is ready to embrace podcasts and the numerous possibilities it can offer. The band is promoting their upcoming record by sharing a limited, twelve episode series that documents the creation of the record and the conflicts that arise during production. The podcast is hosted and narrated by New York Times best-selling author Tony Fletcher who was with the band during throughout the creative process.

The full press release reads:

Good morning! “It’s A Pixies Podcast,” Pixies’ 12-episode series, makes its debut today and we hope you’ll check it out. It’s now live on all podcast platforms including Apple, Pandora, Acast, Stitcher, Google and more. The podcast is hosted and narrated by New York Times best-selling author Tony Fletcher who was embedded with the band and producer Tom Dalgety while the new album, Beneath The Eyrie, was recorded last December at Dreamland Studios near Woodstock, NY.  The podcast provides a real fly-on-the-wall perspective of not just the recording, but of the interaction between the band members and Dalgety, while tracking in the main room or making a cup of tea in the kitchen. Beneath The Eyrie will be released on September 13 (BMG).

You can stream It’s A Pixies Podcast wherever you enjoy podcasts. The band’s new album, Beneath The Eyrie, will hit stores in September.

Artists at any level can get into podcasting, and they should. You don’t have to talk about your music. You don’t even have to talk about music in a general sense. Find something you’re passionate about and share that interest with your fans. It can be daily, weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, or whatever works for you. As long as you’re having fun, your fans will enjoy the experience, and they will come away from each episode feeling more connected to you. That connection translates to more engagement, more purchases, and more support.

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Music PR 101: Everything a site needs to premiere your next song or video

Successfully pitching song premieres is only the beginning. If you want your next release to make an impact you need to follow these steps.

Song premieres are a dime a dozen in the world of music blogs. Even the most sought-after music publications share multiple premieres a week, and most, if not all, go mostly unnoticed by the world at large. That is most often due to a lack of originality on the part of the site, as well as a lack of support from the artist/team behind the track before the premiere. Far too many artists send a link and a thank you message without giving the site or its writer anything substantial to work with when creating the article that supports the premiere, but today we’re going to help you make a change.

To have a song or video premiere make an impact on oversaturated music fans with short attention spans you will need more than the media you’re planning to release. Great premieres require great articles, and you can achieve that by providing sites with everything they need to tell not only the story of the thing you’re premiering, but the story of your career as well.

Before your next premiere, make sure you have these materials ready to share:

  • Song or Video Embed (obviously)
  • Artist bio (and album bio, when available)
  • Multiple high-quality photos
  • A quote about the thing you’re premiering and what it means to you or the story behind its creation.
  • Production information about the thing you’re premiering. For songs, that means writing credits, studio information, producer credits, the release it hails from and its street date. For videos, the director and production company they hail from, as well as when and where it was filmed.
  • Information related to everything else you’re currently promoting. If the song or video is part of a bigger album push, offer information about that record. If you have a tour, share the tour dates.
  • Imagery to promote anything else you may be promoting (album, tour, etc.).
  • An interview opportunity. Even if it’s for five minutes, offering the site hosting your premiere the chance to discuss the release with you can lead to great information being shared that you wouldn’t otherwise think to include.
  • A list of relevant social links (Spotify, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram). Be sure to express your preferred social network, if one exists.

When it comes to premiere, you often get out of them something equal to the work put into their creation. If you do the bare minimum you cannot expect to reap huge returns. Music is your passion, and you want people to understand that as clearly and as quickly as possible. Most will only look at a headline for your premiere for a second or less. Make the most of that limited time by doing whatever you can to ensure the content around your premiere is as high-quality as the thing you’re releasing.

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VIDEO: How to promote your unreleased music

A smart marketing campaign may propel your next release into the spotlight, but you can’t get there without actionable data.

Music promotion is harder than it used to be, and it’s growing increasingly difficult with each passing day. The old method of compiling a list of contacts that artists then send a generic email to with a single link to Soundcloud or Dropbox page rarely produces results. Even worse, the results such efforts do produce are hard to quantify. Here’s an example:

Let’s say I have a new single to promote ahead of its official release. I upload the song to Soundcloud, set the stream to private, and then send the share link the service offers to 500 media contacts. After a few days, I check and discover the song has 250 plays. That information is good to know, but there are many questions Soundcloud cannot help me answer: Who listened to the song? How many times did they listen to the song? Did anyone start the track, but not finish it? And if so, who?

While the low cost of Soundcloud or Dropbox has long been attractive to artists on tight budgets, the use of such services requires talent to sacrifice the most valuable thing in promotion: Data. 

In this episode of Music Biz 101, host James Shotwell addresses the drawbacks to promoting music on Soundcloud and offers a low-cost alternative method of promotion that is used by everyone from Chance The Rapper to Metallica.

You can join Haulix today and receive your first month of service free. Cancel anytime during that trial period and your credit card will not be charged.

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You shouldn’t use Soundcloud to promote unreleased music. Here’s why:

Getting people to listen to your new music is important, but knowing who is listening and how much of it they consume matters more.

Your next release is the most important thing that has happened in your career. Whether it’s your debut single or your third studio album, everything that has happened in your life lead up to this moment. The record you’re preparing to share with the world is incredibly special, but to reach a wide audience you will need help from influencers and tastemakers all over the world. Successful music promotion will play a pivotal role in determining what happens next in your life, and it’s important that you do everything in your power to market your materials to the best of your abilities.

The problem is, every other artist with a potentially life-changing release is also seeking help from the influencers and tastemakers of the world. There are far more artists releasing music today than there are people in a position to help artists get ahead, and that has increased the already high difficulty of being noticed (let alone covered). 

For many artists, Soundcloud and Dropbox are go-to promotional platforms. Both services are free and easy to use, which makes them ideal for cash-strapped talent with limited time. However, the simplicity of both services comes with a drawback that is increasingly placing artists who rely on those platforms at a disadvantage.

Soundcloud and Dropbox, as well as the numerous sites like them, may make it simple for anyone to upload tracks and share them using a private URL, but that one URL is more of a hindrance than a gift.

Let’s say you send your new release to 500 media contacts. You watch the streams rise on Soundcloud, and after a few days, you’ve accrued dozens of plays for your new material. That’s a great start to any promotional campaign, as it means people are actively engaging with the material. That’s where the good news stops, however, because the services mentioned above cannot tell you the data that matters, including who listened to your music and what songs they streamed (or downloaded). It can’t even tell you who opened the email, which means you have to keep contacting the same 500 people with generic messaging in hopes someone replies to express their interest.

That approach to marketing is incredibly passive and impersonal. You’re engaging with an audience you cannot properly identify, and because of that, your ability to connect with those who care about your music is limited.

Active marketing requires data, which is why more and more artists are turning to services such as Haulix for their promotional needs. Haulix not only tracks email performance, but it offers in-depth analytics that tells artists who is listening to their music and how they’re engaging with the material (streams vs downloads) in real time. The platform empowers artists to create personalized follow-ups that only people who care about the material being promoted, which allows for better relationships to be cultivated throughout the music business.

The Haulix activity feed

Haulix also outshines Soundcloud and Dropbox when it comes to presentation. Every single private stream on either service looks exactly the same, offering little to no opportunities for branding or customization. Haulix, on the other hand, encourages artists to create beautiful album promos that showcase the art and aesthetic that accompanies your latest release.

You can try Haulix for free today by signing up on the platform’s official website.

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The fastest way to improve your music PR efforts

Email is the name of the game when it comes to music PR, and when everyone is doing the same thing, it’s the details that make all the difference.

Everyone working in music receives a lot of emails all the time for a wide variety of reasons. Writers and music critics, for example, receive press releases from anyone with an artist or release to promote who is smart enough to find their email address. They also have messages from editors, personal contacts, and – in the case of blog editors – aspiring professionals looking for an opportunity. It’s overwhelming, and it is becoming increasingly hard for any message to stand out.

Many marketing blogs will tell you that an eye-catching subject line is all you need to get someone to open your message. That may be true in certain circumstances, but an open only brings a reader to your message – it does not make them engage with it.

If people don’t like what they see at first glance, then your email is no more successful than the messages that get trashed without an open. Grammar and structure aside, there is one thing that can grab the attention of a writer (or anyone) at first glance:

Use their name.

First or last or both, it doesn’t matter. Just use it.

That seems surprisingly simple, and it is, but the vast majority of publicists, artists, and others vying for attention these days do not take the few seconds needed to address the recipient of their emails adequately.

Here is a sampling of the most common, least engaging greetings used today:

  • Dear Music Blogger
  • Hello, Music Friends!
  • Dear [Wrong Name]
  • Media Friends:
  • To whom it may concern
  • Sir or Madam
  • ATTN:
  • [Name] <– This happens when they leave what should be automated forms blank, and it happens a lot.

Technology may make connecting with others easier than ever before, but it still lacks the personal touch of a traditional conversation. Even letters written by hand required something more tactile than a digital message can allow. Using someone’s name tells them you view them as something more than a faceless body existing in the void of the internet that you seek to use as means to ascend through the ranks of the entertainment industry. Using someone’s name, treating them like a professional should, is so simple, yet it can mean so much. It tells someone you see them and their work, which often is the result of great sacrifice, and it subconsciously makes them care a bit more for what you have to share.

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