On Writing Awesome Press Releases for the Music Industry

Over the last several months, Lauren and I, as new public relation practitioners, have been offering our readers tips on social media outlets that work best for promoting bands and musical groups. In this final post, we want to review just how you write a great press (or news) release for this industry. The press release is the “gold standard” in PR writing. It’s the best and most often used tool for getting a message out there.

            So how do you start a release for a band? First, you MUST follow the same formatting as for any standard press release. The rules for writing for public relations promise that if the format is not followed, the story is sure to go right into the trash before it can be read. Second, make sure that whatever "angle" you’re going for is newsworthy and can catch the attention of the media gatekeeper - and readers. No one will read past the lead if it does not garner attention.

           If this sounds familiar, you're correct in assuming that these tips work for any release regardless of industry or topic. What's so different? You must interview the band or artist and get all of the information you can gather from them. You want to know most importantly the name of the band, the names of the members, what kind of music do they play and the date and time of their next show. You want to make sure you double or even triple check this information and the spelling of the names. Yourself as a writer and the publication that runs your story will lose credit faster than you can blink if there are misspellings or incorrect information in your press release.

            It’s really not that hard to write a press release concerning a band, you just have to find the right angle you want to incorporate into your story. You also want to make sure that the angle is something that readers want to know about, something compelling, interesting and will grab the reader’s attention. With press releases for bands you can also be slightly more laid back in what you write about because the music industry is more laid back than say if you’re writing a press release about St. Jude’s Children Research Hospital. The information in those press releases are extremely serious and not to be taken lightly in any way shape or form. With music it’s about having fun, things are not as stuffy and 100% by the book. Just keep in mind these few tips for writing the press release for a band or artist and you will do just fine.

              If you still have questions about writing a press release for a band or artist check out this great article at eHow.

              Keep on Rockin',             Lauren and Brittany