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How To Make Music Bloggers and Web Site Owners Ignore You...

Musician Press Release Blues


You probably know by now that Music Bloggers play an important role in music promotion on the web. One influential Blogger can get the word out to thousands of potential fans with the click of a button.

I find that as a site owner who researches and writes about DIY music promotion I often see the mistakes musicians make when contacting Bloggers.


For example...

I received this message to my RenegadeProducer.com contact form yesterday...


"First Name: John
E-mail: john@outmodedmusic.com
Your comment or query...:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Underrated Music Artists Get Word-of-Mouth Spotlight As Recommendation Website OutModedMusic.com Celebrates First Anniversary [Link Removed]."

(I altered the info to not embarrass this person.)

My first impulse was to delete the message as I do with messages of this type which I receive at RenegadeProducer.com.

Then I thought I may as well make use of this one to show you how NOT to contact web site owners or Bloggers.

Now, this is obviously a pretty decent traditional press release. So, what's wrong with it? Why do I delete it?

Well, here are my reasons...

  • The message is boring, it doesn't pique my interest. It's blatant self-promotion. Get in the line buddy!

  • The message is formatted like a press release and I'm not a journalist in the 1990's.

  • This person or company has no relationship with me so I have no interest in doing them favors.

So, how should you go about this business of contacting music Bloggers in the age of the Web?

Reaching out online is about building relationships, not blasting your message to as many sites as you can. That technique may work with the traditional press. It will however be ignored by most Bloggers.

Remember, Bloggers receive many messages such as the one above.

You know by now that there are countless musicians trying to get attention. Music and information isn't scarce, attention is.

So, always keep in mind that Bloggers aren't journalists and usually won't respond to the standard press release format.

Make contact in a sincere and personal way and you will have a much better chance of getting the exposure you need.

Here are my top tips for reaching out to music Bloggers and web site owners...

  • Research - Make sure the Blogger writes about music similar to yours or topics which relate to your genre. Use Technorati.com to find the top Bloggers who write about music in your genre.

  • Be real - Concentrate on building authentic relationships with the Bloggers you approach. Use the Blogger or Site Owners name when you approach.

  • Be nice - Compliment their work, flattery gets you everywhere. This doesn't mean you need to make things up. Find something you really like about their web site and simply let them know.

  • Have a story - Create your story or the story of the album before you contact Bloggers. Make the story interesting, something they would deem worthy enough to publish. It has to be more than just the fact that you are releasing an album.

  • Be easy - The less work the Blogger has to do the bigger your chances of being published. Prepare text they can publish and offer to provide any further information they need.

    A great e-book you must read which covers web music publicity for musicians is "Music Success In Nine Weeks" by Ariel Hyatt. (Disclosure: Yes, that's my affiliate link.)

    In the e-book Ariel draws from her over 13 years experience in music PR to give you the lowdown on both offline and online music PR. I suggest you get a copy and read it before you start your own PR campaigns.

    The e-book costs only $34.99 which is a tiny investment which will save you much more money, time and energy in the long run as you'll know what works and what doesn't before you start.

    Click here to read my review of the above e-book before you buy your copy.

    Good luck with the Music Bloggers! ;-)

    All the best,
    Marius van Dyk


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