artist promo ideas / stream of conciousness

getting articles / promo written

- hopefully useful for music / arts artists
- not in any order; just a list of things to think about / try perhaps

- list of facts that would make interesting articles
- list of quotes from artists on different topics so their names are mentioned more often
- street press / website / publication editors are busy people. they'll either reprint your promo info, do an interview or article on something based on promo / fact sheet (depending on the size of the media - assuming media for niche topics)
- others will write academic papers / articles with more research involved
- thoughts about Australian identity
- 'Australian (underground?) sound' ; is there one? what does it sound like; what does it represent / mean; does the collective / artist identify with this?
- ask yourself, why should someone write about my band / music / artwork / whatever - what is the interesting point they would want to share with readers / viewers / listeners
- put yourself in the position of the writer; think about the time constraints and amount of info they receive; if you were writing the article, what info would you need/like
- start with small items which can be mentioned in news sections - when you're in the news often, you'll be sought after for longer articles / promo
- create the 'buzz' about you
- get others talking about you - word of mouth is very effective in niche areas
- what makes you different to the other artists / bios / demos / labels / collectives out there
eg person x doesn't do interviews
x did this controversial thing
x has the largest 4x4 beat collection
x's favourite quote is ...
x writes music for academics yet is popular with rave parties
... whatever...

- the writers will want to label / categorise you and the genre; or they'll make up a new one to describe you; they'll put you into a genre whether you like it or not, so probably best to have one in mind yourself
- what is something unique about you which others will find interesting
- what niche do you fit into
- you can target other markets eg collector magazines - an article about the obsessive past time of collecting vinyl / books / dvds etc. ie most music artists collect music / sounds of some sort - either found or created ones. get this published in a collectors magazine to broaden the audience; all collectors have a similar passion / obsession for collecting and some might share your passion and relate and want to find out more / check out your music / art. some people like to read what other people collect
- think of what type of publications you'd like to be features in / on
- think of what publications you like to read yourself; would these be something which you could be featured in
- make a personal link with others in your community; whether virtual or in person
- personalise the info - this gives the reader / listener something to relate to eg, gardeners magazine, artist x makes music which plants like / is great to garden to / whatever..
- broaden your audience by being mentioned in articles about topics other than what you're specialised in; you could be mentioned as an expert or celebrity type mention
- of course, don't make it too cheesy! or trivial!
- think of what interests your audience; outside of music; where else would they be looking for info; are there opportunites for being featured there.. eg skate mag, surf website...
- how many times have you read and article and related to the person being mentioned and went to find out more about them or something they recommended or mentioned; think of how this can be done for your works
- make it a learning experience for the reader; give them something new to explore
eg these days most of the music /books I buy are from recommendations after reading an article about something unrelated, not from reading a review; eg someone knows a lot about a topic I'm interested in and mentions something else, which I will then go and search and usually buy
- other people like reading reviews so make sure there is one available in case someone searches for it; use quotes / grabs / links to the reviews
- mention others and have them mention you; like a network; give props where due
- cross promotion - when one person in the collective gets interviewed, mention someone else and vice versa
- give reasons why you think their music / art is good, or worth checking out
- similar to doing remixes of each others work; this is a good idea also!
- do a 'did you know' segment on the web and give short, concise facts / quotes from each of the collective members; eg did you know artist x has been to japan 10 times and that's where they thought of the idea for track y; did you know artist x likes dogs so much they put one on every cover of music they've released.. etc

- these snippets are good grabs / fillers for media to use and gives you an extra mention
- have photos or images you find inspiring as a visual link to the audience
- create / trigger some memories for the audience to relate to
- you probably have some common memories with the audience if you are into the same things; eg watching the sun rise after a night out - what track was playing? ; your first memorable track / movie / book / whatever
- are you after a particular audience or publication eg academic, street press, IT/programmers, anyone, general public
- did you use special processes / equipment/ software to create the sounds / art - would people also into these things be interested in hearing your method / story; eg if you used max/msp, do an article on max/msp and get mentioned
- did you get inspiration from current events, watching the world go by, watching grass grow.. whatever
- is there a meaning or idea you wanted to get across to the audience or would you prefer them to think of their own meaning
- does the packaging / art work have special meaning or relate to the works
- would design mags be interested - album covers article
- student publications; they are always after contributions - eg do an article of all red covered albums, or all electronic artists writing political / activist songs in the decade
- compare to 60s and 70s movements
- social issues eg hip hop tracks often talk about topics; refer to songs / artists in articles
- academic critique of the work or genre with examples mentioned
- take up new technologies eg podcast, videoblogging, wireless distributed networks, mobile phone mp3s etc; be one of the first off the mark using the emerging technologies / broadcast medium - this might be of interest to computer mags or computer music mags..
- work out what sort of media you're happy being published in and let out information about this, eg academic journals, art / digital art / netart projects and mail lists
- popular media makes people sound interesting and can make them more popular by having their name mentioned continuously
- creating the hype
- decide what you are after and how much time / effort you want to / can put into it; no use saying artist x is available for interviews if they cannot make it
- can you give a few moments each week to provide a quote or let people know what your current project is
- can anyone write articles; write about yourself; many websites are after submissions eg youth sites, music sites, niche topic sites
- you could write an article and mention another artist; don't make the promo sound too intrusive; rather like you're sharing recommendations with a friend; nothing too overt!
- you just need to get people talking about you
- you could even provoke some controversy (as to what leve /degree, this is up to you); there's always going to be people on both sides and if they feel as passionate as you they'll relate more and possibly check out your work; keep it real though!
- think of what inspires you; space, travel, driving in the country; art there others with similar interests who might appreciate the same music
- at a performance, always have a leaflet / flyer with your contacts so people can find out more about you after the gig; best located near the door or on their ticket
- can your ticket be part of an ephemeral collection
- for overseas articles, think what would make them want to hear australian music
- what is it that makes your sound / australian sound different to their local sounds eg early volition had the ausralian dance sound in early 90s
- what can you share with the audience / teach them
- highlight any particular sounds or memories or inspirations
- everyone wants to visit australia; conjure up some images of what it is like for them; familar to them or completely different but something they might want to find out more about
- perhaps being australian is not an issue, but usually an overseas publication will preface your mention with 'australian artist..'
- sounds played at an opera house performance, eating fish & chips at watsons bay or bondi, at an outdoor bush festival, at a sydney pub gig
- overseas people may not know the exact place you're talking about but they'll probably have an idea of the icons which people relate australia to
- let people know about your influences / inspirations of projects; some artists prefer for audiences to work it out themselves, whilst others like to share their thoughts with the audience; best to give them the option
- fashion? hair / clothes / hobbies
- gossip pages?
- are you trendsetting anything? either with or without realising it; would people want to know about this or be part of this trend?
- are you leading in any particular style
- what makes the collective hold together and keep working; articles on collectives
- what's your story?
- what are you trying to say with your creative expression?