Background information on publicists in the music industry

      With a change in media, the music industry is experiencing a major transformation. Everything is digital, and the majority of music being sold is through music downloads as opposed to CDs. This change in the industry demands that the artist is knowledgeable of the media, and how to utilize it. Here is where the publicist comes in. As the public relations expert, they are expected to teach their artist on how to work with the media.

       Not only is a publicist in the music industry expected to uphold their client’s image, but they are also expected to act as the point of contact between the artist and journalists. The artist has a love/hate relationship with journalists, and the journalists have a love/hate relationship with the publicist. A good publicist is said to be well networked, a good communicator, and knows how to create a pitch that is relevant to the audience.

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        Social networks have made a publicist’s job much more difficult. With such an open means of communication, tweeters review things such as albums online for the world to see. This could cause the circulations of music to fall, and as reviewers tend to hone their reviews to how the public is going to feel about the music, the publicist is forced to somehow control the chaos. According to GQ magazine, the author Ellie Foreman-Peck of an article entitled “Don’t believe the hype,” stated that she received emails from a publicist dumbing down the hype on one of their client’s albums.  The publicist stated that the artist caught the flu throughout their recording sessions, and basically wanted to warn the fans not to get their hopes up.

Questions:

• How do you embrace the change that has come with social media, and incorporate it within your job?

• Vice magazine recently interviewed two PR experts who claimed that there is a love/hate relationship between journalists and publicists. What has your experience been with journalists, and what tips would give in order for someone to professionally interact with a journalist?