Hello, everyone. We are thrilled to have you join us this day, or whatever day you happen to come across this article. We typically fill our weeks with band advice and editorials on life in the industry, but today we are switching gears to offer some advice to our clients. Don’t worry, our regularly scheduled programming will resume tomorrow.
This blog exists to promote the future of the music industry, and to do that we need input from people like you and your music-loving friends. If you have any questions about the content in this article, or if you have an artist you would like to see featured on this blog, please contact james@haulix.com and share your thoughts. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.
One of the features available to clients that we receive the most feedback about is the ability to customize email invitations and promo pages. We have done everything in our power to make these pages completely customizable, but until today we never took the time to walk through each element of the design process. Let’s begin, shall we?
EMAIL INVITATIONS
Email invitations are the lifeblood of Haulix because they are what we and our clients depend on in order to bring journalists to our platform. Our development team has purposely designed a sleek base template to simplify the invitation creation process for those short on time, but with a little effort these same invites can be fully customized to fit your every need.
Tip #1 – Filter your contact list.
The latest feature to be unveiled by our development team enables clients to filter their contact lists in order to better understand who is engaging with their content. When creating a new promo, select one of the filter options at the top of the ‘select contacts’ contacts to see people who viewed your contacts in the past, as well as those who actually stream and/or downloaded your content. This should provide additional clarity as to what outlets cover your artists most often.
Tip #2 – Add a personal touch
After you’ve selected the contact(s) you wish to invite your new promo, click submit and you will find yourself on the ‘generate invitation’ page. This section of the design process deals with the message that will be included in the email body. The basic email customizations are in place (reply-to, subject, etc.), as well as a text box that offers clients an opportunity to personalize each invitation. Make each journalist feel welcome through use of this area, and take advantage of our placeholder hot keys ([=FirstName] [=PromoUrl]) to expedite the process. You can also select whether or not recipients are presented with a watermark disclaimer. We encourage clients to use this disclaimer, but it’s ultimately up to you.
Tip #3 – Use a little color
After your invitation has been generated it’s time to add a splash of your personal style and taste to the design. The final page of the email invitation creation process allows clients to customize the colors of their promo. I prefer black, red, and white, but the possibilities are pretty much endless. Here is an example:
Tip #4 – Add a header and background image
This is probably the most underutilized customization we offer, but the way it makes invitations pop is second to none. Header and background images turn every invite into a billboard for your latest release, and when mirrored on the actual promo page itself goes a long way towards making sure journalists remembers your latest/upcoming release. Here are guides for the image sizes required from both email invites and promo pages. The width limits are EXACT. We hope to add a bit more flexibility in the future, but for now we ask that everyone do their best to work within those limits.
EMAIL:
PROMO:
We cannot guarantee the use of these tips will translate to increased clicks on your invitations, but through the use of this guide you will position yourself – as well as your clients – for maximum engagement. If you need further guidance on setting up your invitations, please email james@haulix.com right away.
Hello, everyone! Welcome to the beginning of a new week here on the official blog of Haulix. We are thrilled to know you have chosen to spend a few minutes of your time with us. We have a lot of great, in-depth content planned for the week ahead. It may be a bit heavier than some of the topics discussed in recent weeks, but it will make a world of difference in your career if you follow the advice offered.
This blog exists to promote the future of the music industry, and to do that we need input from people like you and your music-loving friends. If you have any questions about the content in this article, or if you have an artist you would like to see featured on this blog, please contact james@haulix.com and share your thoughts. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.
When I first launched my PR agency, Muddy Paw PR, I knew I wanted to do things differently. Having founded music blog Infectious Magazine and spent the past five years running it, I had a pretty strong sense of what did and didn’t work when approaching bloggers. After all, I was (and still am) one myself. But as Muddy Paw has seen tremendous growth over the past year, I’ve become even more aware of how incredibly influential a good PR campaign can be for a band. And it’s become the most rewarding part of my job to hear a band say “thank you” and to see that excitement and passion shine through, as they start to see the features roll in. That passion is the entire reason I started Muddy Paw, and the reason that PR campaigns succeed. If you’re thinking of choosing a PR agency, then congratulations! That’s the first step in really taking your career to the next level. But with so many choices, where do you start? These 5 steps will help you get to know the PR agencies you’re considering.
Get To Know Your Publicist
One of the most important parts of getting to know a PR agency is to get to know the owners and publicists you’ll be working with. Currently, Muddy Paw is run by me, and me alone, and that gives me a direct connection to all our artists. I’m in communication with all of them, and the size of the company allows me to focus on everyone’s needs individually, without ever leaving anyone behind. For larger companies, getting to know your individual publicist before signing a contract is equally as important. You may love the owner of the company, but soon find that you and your designated publicist clash. That’s ok, some people don’t hit it off. But the time to find that out is not after you’ve signed.
Get To Know The Roster—and the Placements
One piece of advice I see doled out a lot, is to check out a company’s roster, and see if you recognize any of the names. While you should always check out the roster, I think it’s more important to check out a band’s sounds and placements, rather than focus on what name rings a bell. After all, with all the talented bands out there, can you really expect to know all of them? Take the time to listen to the sounds of current and alumni clients, and see the placements they’ve received. Is their sound similar to yours? Can you see yourself on those same sites?
What is your view of success?
This one is very important and often overlooked. When I first begin working with an artist, I send over a list of questions that helps me get to know them. One of the questions I always ask is, “what do you view as a successful campaign?” You’d be amazed at how often that answer differs. For some bands, it’s as simple as wanting to see results in the way of placements and premiers. For others, they’ll point to album sales and Facebook likes increasing. It’s important to understand that what you view as successful and what the company views as successful, so that you can make sure your visions align.
Be Realistic About Placements
No one knew who Foster the People were before they got picked up by an influential German blog and went viral. This wasn’t Pichfork, Rolling Stone, Stereogum, or Billboard. As someone coming from a blogging background, I truly believe bloggers are the backbone of the music industry. The amount of blood, sweat, and tears that bloggers pour into their reporting is astounding. On top of that, almost none of them are getting paid. Yet at the end of the day, what you have is a tribe of really passionate people. So, even though you may really, really want to be on Billboard (and may be one day) try not to turn your nose up at the little guys. As you grow, odds are that blog will too, and when they’re suddenly hitting hundreds of thousands or millions of unique visits per month, they’re going to remember who was there in the beginning. You’re never too good for any coverage.
Have fun! (No, really!)
Music is a business just like anything else, and it’s important to keep that in mind for things like booking, sales, and even PR. But it’s also something we’re all in because we can’t not be. Because we love what we’re doing, and we love the people we’re doing it with. So when you’re searching for a publicist to help take your career to the next level, remember to find someone that you jive well with. Someone who’s easy to talk to, but knows how to get the job done, honest, yet constructive, and hard-working, but still knows when to laugh. Finding an agency that you click with isn’t always easy, but believe me when I say, working with someone you get along with for the next 3 months (or more!) will make all the difference. So get out there, take hold of your career, and for goodness sake, have some fun!
Angela Mastrogiacomo is the owner of Muddy Paw Public Relations. Muddy Paw specializes in working with up and coming artists on personalized campaigns designed to bring their careers to the next level. To date, we’ve secured placements on sites such as AbsolutePunk, Property Of Zack, PureVolume, and many more. You can find us at www.MuddyPawPR.com
Hello, everyone! Welcome to the final Publicity Spotlight of the week. Today’s post is a big one, so you may want to bookmark this site in case you’re forced to take a break for whatever reason. If you have any questions regarding the content of this blog, or if you would like to learn more information about the services offered by Haulix, please email james@haulix.com and share your thoughts. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.
No matter what area of the industry we choose to cover in any given post, the main goal of this blog is to inform and inspire the next generation of music industry professionals. We feel the best way to learn about what it takes to make it in the music business is from those currently active in the industry, and no matter who you ask they will all tell you about the importance of networking and believing in yourself. Whether you want to tour the world or work in publicity, building a strong reputation within the industry is key to finding employment down the line. To do this you need to not only work well with others, but you also need to believe that you are capable of reaching your goals. If you do not believe in your ability to make it, how can you expect anyone else to?
There was a time in my life when I didn’t believe in myself. I had started a music review blog for the purpose of getting my name out while still in college, but at the time knew very little about marketing or whether anyone in the industry would ever take me seriously as a writer. When a chance to attend SXSW rolled around a year after launch, I cautiously jumped at the opportunity in hopes of figuring out if the industry would accept me, and just two days into my stay I encountered a woman who would change my life forever.
Standing at my fifth or sixth ‘party’ of the week, I was approached by Big Picture Media founder Dayna Ghiraldi-Travers. She told me she was excited to meet me and was glad I had decided to come to Texas. As the afternoon went on, she proceeded to introduce me to people, including a future coworker by the name of Josh Hammond, and made comments about how my writing had impressed her. I can’t remember how I felt in that moment exactly, but I know ever since that day I have felt like a part of the wild and widespread global community of music professionals. She accepted me and I, in turn, have done my best to do the same with each aspiring professional I have crossed paths with ever since.
When we initially decided to turn the focus of this blog towards professionals working in areas other than blogging, Dayna was at the top of my list. She’s not only one of the kindest individuals in music, but she’s also one of the hardest working people walking the planet. Her dedication to this business inspires me often, and after reading about her journey in entertainment I think she just might inspire you too.
You can learn about Dayna Ghiraldi-Travers and her efforts with Big Picture Media in the interview below. If you would like to learn more we highly recommend following BPM on Twitter. Additional questions and comments can be left at the end of this post.
(Left To Right: Becky Sahm, Dayna Ghiraldi, Rachel Miller, Erika Clark and Amber Crisci. )
H: For the record, please tell us your name, job title, and the company you run:
D: For the record, my name is Dayna Ghiraldi-Travers and I am the creator Big Picture Media! Woo!
H: Thank you for taking the time to speak with us. Before we dive into the now I would like to take a few minutes and look at your history with music. When you think of formative moments in your life with music/art, what comes to mind?
D: Great question. As far as I can think back, music is there. I have this great memory of being in my best friend Dawn’s basement at a party filled with probably 25 other 13 year olds harkening back to a year called 1993. I continuously would make the entire party stop to listen to this harmony on Green Day’s Kerplunk album during the song Christie Road. At the time, I thought it was normal to just do things like that and I didnt think anything of it, but really, that was me doing PR. I would make people listen to music I loved and would help them connect with it on any level. it was the greatest moment. It made me so happy to help people discover new music and have it mean something to them. I don’t even know back then if I knew what all the lyrics meant, but I know how it made me feel and it was physical. Music just has an effect on me that is tangible and I get addicted to it.
Art to me are the creations my brother makes with his paintbrush on canvas. I received zero of that talent and my stick figure drawings have really knobby knees. While talking about my brother, I can credit him for taking me to my first real concert. We saw Green Day at Nassau Coliseum when I was 14 when they were touring for Dookie. When the lights went out, I convinced him we should rush the pit from our seats and hop the hockey gate and get in. I did it without hesitation and cleared it. He got caught by guards and begged to follow me. They allowed him. Fast forward 30 minutes later and I am in front of the stage. I got kicked in the face from a crowd surfer and they broke my glasses. Then I got heatstroke and was lifted to the guards who took me aside. #BestNightEver.
I always attribute my original love for music to my parents. Music was always playing in our house. My Dad went to Woodstock and my Mom saw The Beatles at Shea Stadium. That is so super cool. My sister and I also have very similar taste in music so that has always been a very strong bond we share. Plus we love to dance to some of that Hip Hop!
Another super cool personal fact, I went on a date when I was 22 years old to see Thrice and The Used play on tour. That guy who took me on that date is now my husband and the General Manager of Big Picture Media 11 years later! The fact that I got to work with Thrice and get to work with The Used are two of the greatest moments in my career. Both bands love when we tell them that story!
H: Was music something that was always present in your life, or did you have to seek it out as you grew older?
D: I think my love for music changed as I got older. I remember seeing LIT at Irving Plaza with Good Charlotte when I was 15 and watching the older people walk fast back and forth. They would be backstage or up in VIP. I wondered to myself, how do they get these jobs!? What is this that they do? I knew I wasn’t a performer but was meant to help in some way and PR just came natural to me. I am social and really good at organizing and am a people pleaser! It’s the perfect fit!
H: What was the first album you purchased with your own money (and what format was it)?
D: I wanna say Green Day Kerplunk on CD!
H: Without thinking about it for more than a few seconds, what is your favorite album of all time (at the moment, at least)?
D: AHH! Um…This is the hardest question so far. Maybe The Used’s In Love and Death or Rise Against’s Siren Song of the Counter Culture. I hate this question James!
H: Okay, let’s talk life in the business. You attended college in Long Island. Did you study publicity in school?
D: Indeed I did! I went to CW Post on Long Island and got my Bachelor’s Degree in Public Relations!
H: Can you pinpoint any events or moments in life that guided you toward a career in PR? What initially sparked your interest?
D: Total honesty here…I was signed up to go to begin school for Marketing. The math curriculum was INTENSE. I hate math. Someone said, you should try PR, they don’t have any math classes and you would be great at it. And that is truthfully how I discovered PR.
H: What was your first gig in the entertainment industry (unpaid work counts), and how did you go about finding it?
D: My first quasi gig was interning in the College Program for Walt Disney World. I spent two summers in Orlando working for The Mouse and went to Disney University to take classes while I was there. I got my Mousters in Entertainment Management and my Ducktorate in Business Management. (This is a real thing).
From there, I interned at Island Records. I was a big fan of Thrice and they were on that label at the time so I got an internship in the A&R department. From there, I took an internship at Nettwerk Management and chose that company because Brand New and Sum 41 were on the roster. Fun fact: I once made Jessie Lacey’s birthday gift. I spent the entire day burning CD’s for him. Not sure what they ever did with them, but I thought that was so cool!
H: You were in college just as the social media boom was beginning to take effect. What can you tell us about your process for networking and/or ‘getting your name out there’ when you were first starting out in the industry?
D: I did all my networking in the beginning face to face. When I first moved to NYC after college, I was out every night. At shows, at events, shaking hands, making friends. I don’t really rely on social media for my personal life even today. For Big Picture Media it means everything, and all my efforts go into that.
H: You started Big Picture Media just two years after graduating from college. What lead you to step out on your own?
D: I think it was desire, courage and me wanting to have my own voice and share those qualities with a staff of my own. I also credit my Dad for giving me innate talent to succeed in owning a business the way he did and my husband for supporting my crazy wild ideas.
H: Who was the first client you had on the BPM roster, and where did you discover them?
D: I would have to go back through OLD laptops to find out the first first one, but it was either City and Colour, Thrice, Circa Survive, The Receiving End of Sirens or To Write Love on Her Arms, the non-profit organization! They discovered me!
H: The company’s name is quite fitting. Are there any stories behind the name?
D: I loved that the acronym was BPM, Beats Per Minute but ultimately I decided on Big Picture Media because I wanted something with a broad scope so we could branch out into film, fashion, philanthropy, events, literary and more!
H: BPM has grown quite a bit in recent years, even as competition in the publicity market has increased. To what do you attribute your continued success?
D: I think it is because I have zero ego. I am not out to impress anyone. I just want to work hard and do right by our clients and be respected for my work ethic. Hearing someone tell me they think I am a hard worker is the best compliment someone can give me. I also attribute it to my incredibly talented staff of publicists and marketing gurus, of which more than half of them started out as interns many many years ago. They have stuck with me through all the growth and they have all grown as well. Teaching them everything I know and watching them grow into their own PR geniuses has helped us expand our roster into genres of music and into companies I never dreamed we’d be working on. I love you Rachel, Amber, Becky, Erika, Lisa, Natalie, Stefanee and Shoshie!
I still think we are growing and learning everyday. Their is always a lesson to be learned and always a way to improve upon ourselves. We work as a team and no one ever feels as if they are alone. Someone at BPM is always there to lend a hand to each other. I do my best to keep the work environment light, upbeat and filled with smiles. But when it needs to, we get down to the nitty gritty and always pull through.
H: One of the many goals we have with this blog is to reach those who are currently considering a career in the music industry. What advice would you offer to the aspiring publicity professional?
D: Make sure PR is right for you and something you are truly passionate about because the hours are long and even after a 12 hour day at your desk, you are expected to go to a show and set up press, mingle with the band, management and other industry people. Be organized, polite and professional. I know it sounds cliche, but never mix business with pleasure. That is how your reputation will be damaged and it is all about gaining the respect of your peers. It is a small industry when you break it down and everyone knows everyone. If you want to be a voice for your favorite band and do that by growing with them step by step, then maybe PR is right for you! I do think it is a good idea to explore a variety of jobs in the field if you are unsure.
H: Speaking of future professional, there will no doubt be some who read this and take an interest in the efforts of BPM. Do you offer any internship opportunities? If so, how should people go about applying to join the team?
D: Yes! We LOVE our interns! We have interns in NYC, Philly and Beverly Hills and are always looking for talented college students to help us day to day with both our PR and Online Marketing divisions! They can email me at Dayna@BigPictureMediaOnline.com.
H: What are some of the biggest mistakes you see artists make when attempting to market themselves in today’s market? Can you offer any pointers to our DIY friends without giving away any BPM trade secrets?
D: Of course, and I would be more than happy to! Get a publicist! Just kidding… I am a big planner and that is something we see sometimes where bands email us and have NO plan. You need vision. You need a strategy and it needs to be concise and cohesive. Press photos should be in the similar style to the cover art which should compliment the website and your voice on social media and music videos. Don’t rush a release. Pick a date and work backwards. What do you need to accomplish to get what you want? Be ready to work. Nothing is going to fall in your lap and no one is going to discover you if you aren’t putting yourself out there. If you don’t have the funds to pay for a professional team, dedicate a full work week to doing online research and stay organized and try to find a dedicated fan or family member who you can delegate some work to. The band should always divide tasks so it is an even split. Be as authentic as you can. It is possible to work a full time job, be in a band and play shows. I did it, except mine was going to school full time, interning full time 2 hours away from where I lived, and working 30 hours a week. Life takes dedication and continue to find your daily inspiration!
H: Big Picture has used Haulix as promotional distribution platform for a number of releases in recent years. What do you like about the service?
D: Funny…I am using Haulix right now to listen to the new Taking Back Sunday record they are releasing in the next few months. Big Picture Media is working on it and let’s just take a moment to acknowledge how happy this makes me….OK!!! Man this album is good. Sorry to tease, but whoa. You know its good just by the overall tone of this interview.
I love Haulix and the ability to track who listened, what songs stood out to them and it is so user friendly!
H: If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?
D: I wish that their was more opportunity for those incredibly talented bands who are just on the break to get that mainstream success they deserve. The room at the top is crowded and small and sometimes I just wanna cram them in there. Some of them deserver it more than the others who are already taking up all that room!
H: You have come a long way from day one at BPM. What career goals do you have at this point in life, and how (if at all) have they changed from when you first started int he industry?
D: Thank you! Well, for starters I live in Los Angeles now. One of my first goals in life was to move to New York City to work as a professional and I did that, for 8 years. I never ever thought I was someone who could leave NYC and I also never thought we would have staff in three cities, two of which I am not in! That alone shows the growth in me professionally. When I started out, I did everything. I didnt know how to delegate and it was mostly because I didnt want to. Now with a staff behind me who have been with me for 4+ years, I trust them with my life and more so in 2013 than any other year.
I am excited in 2014 to watch how we continue to transform. We have a lot of truly incredible projects coming up like MP45 Records, Songboard, all the events for The Village Voice, SpecScout, Hopeless Records, To Write Love on Her Arms, the first feature film we produced called OLD 37 in post production and we just heard that 14 of our clients have all been accepted to officially play SXSW!
We are going on the 2nd year having the Online Marketing arm of the company and I am excited to expand that area of the company.
H: Okay, I think that covers just about everything. Before I let you go, would you care to share any final thoughts with our readers?
D: We did sure cover a lot! That was a great interview, thank you James! If anyone is curious how James and I know each other…he was one of those people who I met back in 2007 (is that correct James?) and saw an immense amount of talent in. He was just a kid and I think James could vouch for this, but I never treated him that way. I always knew the young ones would eventually grow up and rule the world. That is how we treat even the smallest tumblr request to the late night tv bookings. Everyone gets the same amount of attention and they always get a response from us.
Thanks so much for reading if you made it this far!
Hello again and welcome to a very special edition of our Haulix Spotlight series. Fridays are usually reserved for our ongoing advice column, but due to a wealth of timely content we want to roll out that feature is taking the week off. If you are serious need of an advice fix, we suggest going through our archives and seeing there is anything you have missed up to this point. We’ll return next week with one, maybe even two new advice articles. If you have any subjects you would like to see covered, please do not hesitate to email james@haulix,com and share your idea!
When we realized we were going to begin covering publicists in our spotlight series we knew a handful of individuals would come up who are viewed as notable personalities in both the world of PR and journalism. Many publicists cut their teeth on the journalism side of things, and likewise there are a number of journalists who discovered a passion for writing during their PR careers. To successfully transition between the two roles is no easy feat, and to maintain a good standing in both simultaneously is nearly impossible. There is a large amount of room for questionable behavior, such as reviewing releases from bands you also work with (or hope to one day work with), and many choose to avoid that hassle altogether by deciding to reside on one side of the press or the other . Still, some strive to have the best of both worlds, and today’s highlighted talent is one such soul.
Bryne Yancey has been writing, promoting, and otherwise living in the world of punk since the days of Geocities. His passion for music paired perfectly with his drive to succeed at a young age, and it did not take long for the industry to take notice of his efforts. Bryne eventually found himself at MySpace, then later took his writing talent to the front pages of more alternative sites, including Alternative Press and Punknews. In 2012 he started his own PR company, Ben Franklin’s Grave, and when we caught up with him last month he could not be happier with his two careers. You can learn about Bryne’s adventures through the music industry, as well as his advice for bands and others hoping to make it, below.
If you are at all interested in a career in alternative music journalism or promotion, you owe it to yourself to follow Bryne, as well as his family at Punknews, on Twitter. Comment below if you have any additional questions for Bryne and we will get them answered as soon as possible.
H: For those unaware, please state your name, the site you work for, and your role at said site:
BY: I’m Bryne Yancey, and I’m a contributing editor at Punknews.org. I’m currently in charge of the reviews portion of the site but I do a little bit of everything, including social media, podcasting and occasional news writing and copy editing when needed.
H: Let’s start before music became a business for you. Do you recall the first album you truly fell in love with?
BY: I’ll be 29 this year and like most punks my age, I initially discovered it through the radio with bands like the Offspring and Green Day. But the first punk record I bought on my own, previously unheard, was the Suicide Machines’ Battle Hymns. I remember getting my allowance that week, riding my Dyno BMX bike up to Spec’s Music (RIP) in the small Florida town where I grew up, and seeing it on sale there. I’d never heard the band before, but I thought the cover art was really cool and *looked* punk, and when I noticed there were 22 songs on it it seemed like a lot of bang for my buck at the time. I took it home, popped it in my boombox and was blown away by the band’s speed, energy and passion. I was hooked.
H: Having an interest in music is one thing, and deciding to attempt to turn that interest into a career is another ballgame altogether. When did you realize you were interested in pursuing this industry, and where did you find your first gig (unpaid work counts)?
BY: Not too long after I got into it, actually; I was a self-starter, though not a very talented one. I remember creating my own Geocities site (kids under 25, Google it) and reviewing records on it. After that, I started a real webzine called What We Hate that lasted a couple of years, overlapping briefly with my early days at Punknews. That was when I felt I had initially found my “voice” and thought I could maybe, eventually do this sort of thing seriously.
H: In the earlier days of social media, you spent some time working at one-time juggernaut Myspace Music. How did you come to work at the site, and how would compare the experience to working at publications and smaller websites?
BY: At the time, Myspace was in the midst of one of its many relaunches, and part of this particular relaunch was the creation of the Curators program—basically, they hired a bunch of writers/”internet personalities” to curate profiles based on specific interests, hoping it’d draw users back to their site. The person heading the program emailed me out of the blue one day asking if I’d be interested; at the time, I think I was freelancing for Alternative Press a little bit but it was almost certainly my work at Punknews.org that got me that gig. It ended up not working very well, mostly because of the reputation that precedes Myspace and the inability for them to shake it. It was different in the sense that I wasn’t writing or reporting very much as part of the gig; I’d find links to other content I thought was cool and share them with my audience, which in hindsight makes perfect sense in terms of how social media usually works. There just wasn’t enough time to build an organic audience there. But it was a lot of fun nonetheless, and everyone I worked with at Myspace was awesome and were both aware of the problems of the site, and were working hard to try to eradicate them. It paid surprisingly well for a freelance gig, too.
H: Having seen the first wave of social media fandom come and go, do you think the current reliance on Facebook and Twitter to do the majority of a band’s promotional efforts is a good thing?
BY: It’s important, but it’s not the whole story. The bottom line is bands still need their own websites independent of Facebook and twitter, even if it’s just a blog or something. Not everyone is glued to social media all the time, and Facebook *still* hasn’t figured out how to make their band pages that useful. For a while in the mid-2000s bands just had Myspace pages as their “official website” and look how that worked out. Learn from the past!
H: Currently, you’re a regular content contributor to the world of Punknews. What is it about the community at PN that attracted you to this team?
BY: More than anything else, Punknews.org has shaped me as a music fan and critic and that’s what made me want to be a part of it. The site hooked me on the fun and the thrill of discovery, and I’m still hooked on it.
I’d been a regular reader pretty much since the beginning in 1998 (!) and, I think in 2007 or so I started submitting reviews and weirdly, they were posting most of them. I began to gain confidence as a writer after that, and by the summer of 2008 I was a staff reviewer. Fast forward to May 2009, and I noticed that there’d been somewhat of a drop off in the frequency of news posts so I emailed Aubin Paul and Adam White to ask them if I could help out. They said yes. Let that be a lesson to all the kids out there: If you really want to do something, just ask. What’s the worst that could happen, they say no?
H: Punknews is one of the older alternative music portals online. What is it about your coverage that separates your efforts from those of your competition?
BY: We strive to give bands of all sizes equal footing in our newsfeed and in our reviews and try not to editorialize one way or the other, although in the last year or so we’ve taken a few light-hearted liberties in that regard. If I can speak for Aubin, I think the whole reason he initially built Punknews was that at the time, there just wasn’t a good site on the tubes that aided discovery of punk music and related genres, so we try to stick to that as much as possible. That covers both ends of the spectrum, too; we know a lot of our readers don’t like it when we cover major label bands, or dumb mallpunk stuff, but the fact of the matter is it brings younger readers to our site and potentially exposes them to other, much cooler aspects of punk subculture. Everyone has to start somewhere; no one was punk when they were born.
H: You launched your own PR company, Ben Franklin’s Grave, back in August 2012. Is PR something you have long been interested in?
BY: Honestly, other than a few fleeting thoughts here and there, not really. I love doing it now, though, but it was a completely happy accident in terms of how it started. My pals in the New Lows messaged me one day, asking for publicist recommendations and right then and there I told them, “Why don’t you just have me do it? I know the writers and have a rapport with them, and you guys *know* me, so why the Hell not?”
H: A pattern that has emerged over the course of our spotlight series is writers turning to PR work in hopes of more steady employment in the industry. Do you think this was a factor in your decision to explore this area?
BY: Oh, it *definitely* was. I was unemployed for a couple months last summer and at the time, thought I could make a few bucks doing press for bands and freelancing while I figured out my next real career move. It’s blossomed into this huge thing since then, in which I almost have too many clients to deal with, but it’s so much fun to work with smaller bands who have the songs and the talent, and just need a little extra push to get those songs out to the world. It’s definitely as gratifying as say, writing a big story for a website or a magazine, absolutely. Which I did not think would be the case when I started. The fact is, the industry has been shrinking and coagulating for a while now. Most print mags are either going digital-only or ceasing publication altogether, and the amount of money one can make being a music journalist is almost completely unsustainable. Not that being a journalist of any kind is all about the money, but you know, you gotta eat and live, man, and unless you’re a Dumpster-diving freegan, that requires coin. Which is why the vast majority of publicists have backgrounds in journalism.
H: Outside of BFG and Punknews, you also hold down a full time job at a media company. How do you make time to ensure all of your projects stay current and up to date?
BY: It’s a difficult balance, because I don’t consider myself a workaholic. I enjoy spending time with my friends and family, going out, sitting on my couch, watching TV, being lazy, all of that. I make sure to not let my work consume or define me, because I know from past experiences that no matter what you do or how hard you work, 1) there’s no guarantee it’ll translate to advancement, acclaim or even a steady job and 2) your friends and family will resent you if you choose work over them too many times, because when the work is gone — and in this industry, it will almost *always* be gone before you expect it to be gone — they’re still there. You gotta take care of them first, and make time for them.
It’s also important to be bored sometimes. Boredom stimulates thought.
H: Having worked in the industry for half a decade or more, do you ever see yourself in a position where you only have one job title?
BY: There will probably be a point in the next few years where I’m only doing PR and not really writing or reporting, save for an occasional blog or review here and there. I’m still having fun editing and writing for Punknews — I don’t do any sort of paid freelancing anymore — and when it stops being fun or I’m too old, I’ll quit. Right now I’m fortunate enough to have the time to do all of it, though.
H: When it comes to discovering new music, be it for writing or PR, what sources have you found to be the most reliable?
BY: No disrespect to any publications, including ones I write for, have written for or pitch to, but Bandcamp is the best for discovery. I spend almost every Saturday morning browsing Bandcamp for new releases (and buying a bunch), because it’s just so easy to discover new bands on it and their platform is straightforward: no ads, no bullshit. They’re only about the tunes. I wish every band and label had a Bandcamp page.
H: Let’s say the bands are coming to you. What advice do you have for those hoping to catch your attention to help them separate themselves from the countless bands looking for coverage?
BY: First of all, you need to write good songs. Good songs trump *everything*. If you’re not talented, well, it doesn’t mean you won’t eventually do something great but you have to be level-headed about it and know when you’re ready.
Second of all, have patience. Thanks to the internet there are now roughly a billion bands competing for a shrinking landscape, and success won’t happen overnight, if it even happens at all. Set smaller goals at first.
Third of all, if you’re offered coverage, take it no matter the size of the publication. I have bands come to me all the time who want to be featured on Pitchfork or SPIN like, immediately, and it’s cute but it just doesn’t work that way. No site is too small; take interviews with everyone when you’re starting out. It all helps. If you’re working hard enough, generally someone somewhere big will eventually notice you.
H: When it comes to receiving music for review and feature consideration, which services do you prefer and why?
BY: I have to say Haulix here, right? Juuuuuust kidding.
I really do prefer Haulix over other digital delivery services because of its ease of use. A lot of the other delivery services bog computers down with weird bugs, crash problems or hard-to-understand navigation. Oh, and if I have to download some weird client just to listen to your record I’m probably not going to do it, unless you’re Keith Morris or something. Haulix is simple. Haulix is consistent. Haulix is good.
H: If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?
BY: Fan entitlement sorely needs to be put in check. The tumblr generation of music “fans” who leak records, don’t go to shows and generally lack empathy for how hard it is to make a living from playing music because they still live at home and have never had to work for anything in their lives really, really sucks. Not every kid is like that, mind you, but it’s definitely a problem. You’re a human; have some empathy. Don’t be so goddamned self-absorbed all the time.
H: Before we let you go, can you tell us a bit about what you have planned in the months ahead?
BY: On the PR front, there are some records I’m working coming in the fall I’m really excited about: The new Direct Hit! record for Red Scare is honestly one of the best things I’ve ever heard; I’m also gonna be working with a Puerto Rican hardcore band called KDC that I think are really gonna turn some heads. Iron Pier is firing back up with a great full-length from Deep Pockets and an equally cool EP from Self Defense Family that everyone will be hearing from me about real soon.
As far as Punknews goes, I’m just gonna continue to try and make the reviews as useful as they can be. We recently switched to a new daily review format that seems to be resonating. Aubin is also *this* close to finishing the newest version of the site, which will also be the best version of Punknews ever based on everything I’ve seen. He’s still the smartest guy I’ve ever met or worked with.
Other than that, I’m just gonna keep on working and living, man. I live in Philadelphia now, which I happen to think is the best city for punk rock in the world. Life is good.
