How to write a good press release for your band

HEDGES headline gig at 42nd Street
Photo by Callum Casey

This 'how to' will help you write a better, more engaging press release for your band.

As someone that has blogged on and off for the best part of a decade, written for several music magazines and websites, did a placement at a music PR company, works as a reporter for a local newspaper and freelanced for the BBC, I've seen my fair share of press releases.

Most of the time you can tell how good a press release is just by eyeballing it. Someone should be able to write a decent article just from reading your press release. It's good journalistic practice for a reporter to get in touch to ask you a couple more questions, but if someone is in a hurry they might just go off what you've given them.

What should it contain?

Here's a very basic outline of what you should include in your press release:

• A strong headline and opening line that sums up the press release. The classic bit of advice for this is 'imagine you're telling your mate at the pub'. For example: Gateshead indie band Yellow Dreams, release new single 'I just wanna dance'. Keep it short and sweet.
• A personalised cover letter/email that shows you've taken the time to get in touch with this specific organisation.
• Key info  such as dates, a link to the new release or gig tickets & a short background on the band.
• The band members names, the instruments they play and where they are from.
• Have you had any positive reviews or radio plays? If so quote them (pop a link to prove if you can).
• Links to your social media and where your music can be streamed.
• Quotes - two or three quotes that are relevant to the story you want published.
• A list of upcoming gigs and festival appearances.
• A phone number and email address the writer can use to ask any follow up questions (if they do this then you have a more direct contact for the future, rather than just the generic inbox or phone number).
• A 2-4 jpeg pictures attached as separate files. Try to include a portrait and a landscape one so that you're catering to print and online.

Think about who you are writing to and what the story is

If you're wanting to promote a single, album or gig, pick who you write to wisely. BBC Introducing is a 1000x more likely to plug your song than BBC Breakfast, and a small free music magazine is even more likely to give you a shout out.

Doing a press campaign is time consuming, so don't waste your time writing to hundreds of people. Look who is covering bands similar to your own and write to them.

Local arts and culture magazines/websites are pretty safe bets for getting a plug for an upcoming single or gig - quite a lot almost exclusively feature them.

I've written for a few that refuse to publish negative or indifferent articles. As a band you should definitely use this to your advantage. Get friendly with these types of outlets, because it'll give you a catalogue of good media coverage and some exposure.

A newspaper or the 10 o'clock news, is less likely to do a 'Band releases single' article and some will stay away from reviews.

However a story about a band raising money for a local charity or doing something impressive (i.e. 'band from tiny village prepare for a US tour' or 'local indie band raises £3,000 for charity) is more likely to get picked up, because it's news worthy.

Tranqua Lite page lead in Yorkshire Evening Post

Make it easy for the journalist

Journalists are busy people and a newsroom can be a stressful place. If your press release is an easy read and contains all the information they need to write an article, it's far more likely to get picked up.

Write in clear, succinct sentences that are easy to read.  Use shorter paragraphs, as they make the information easier to digest.

Don't use overly flowery language that bigs you up too much. Sell yourself, but be honest.

If you exaggerate too much, it will always backfire, and the writer will need to spend a lot of time rewriting things.


Adapt your press release

Don't send the exact same press release and cover letter to everyone - it doesn't look good.

Send a separate email to each outlet, don't just send the one email with 30 recipients.

Find out the name of the blogger or the editor - it takes less than a minute and shows that you've put a bit of effort in.

If you've never written to the outlet before, mention something that shows you've actually read/listened/watched some of their work.  E.G.: "Your feature on female sound technicians was a really interesting read."

If the writer has written a positive article on you before, mention it. A simple 'we're really grateful for the coverage you gave us last month, and were wondering if you'd be interested in this' goes a long way.

A lot of content writers are unpaid and are doing it in their spare time. They don't owe you anything and are ultimately doing you a favour, so be humble and polite. 

Photos

Attach photos as separate jpeg files and try to include a portrait and a landscape one. Make sure to mention who took the photos and check they're OK with you sending them out as your press release - nobody wants to deal with a breach of copyright.

If you're writing to a website, then it's super important that you have a decent landscape photo, as they look better on a screen and some content management systems will crop portrait pictures awkwardly.

A lot of traffic for websites come from social media. You want your pictures to be eye-catching, so  when readers (or potential new fans) are scrolling through social media, they want click on the story and listen to your track or buy a gig ticket.

If you're asking a newspaper or magazine to feature your band, give them a landscape and a portrait picture. If you have a square one include that as well.

This will give the writer a lot more flexibility with choosing page templates.  This could be the difference between them featuring your story or not. Magazines and newspapers need to look good and decent pictures and story shapes play a big part in how a page looks.

Size does matter

A good press release is like a CV, not too short, not too long and tells you what you need to know.

Don't waffle on for ages and drown important information, but make sure it's got enough detail for the writer to understand the story. You're more likely to get a longer article if there's enough information for them to go off.

Like a CV, I'd stick to one to two A4 pages and make sure the key information is at the top of the press release.

Local angle

A lot of outlets have patches - which means they only cover certain areas. For example, I work for the Halifax Courier, which only reports Calderdale related news.

If someone wrote to the Courier and opened the press release with 'Bradford band set to play Glastonbury' it wouldn't get picked up, because even though Bradford is a stone's throw away, it's not our patch.

However a smaller story from a band from a band from a small village in Calderdale probably will get picked up because there's a solid local link.

Tweak your press releases so you can write to more outlets - whether different band mates have different hometowns, which universities you went to, whatever the press release needs in order to give it a clear local angle.

Videos 

Video content does well. online so give the writer the option of including a video. Whether it's a music video, some decent quality gig footage or a little vlog - some sites are pretty lenient on what they'll use and it can help boost your video's views.

Hopefully these tips and tricks will help some folks out when they're staring at a blank screen.

If anyone wants to feature on SOAE, you can get in touch by emailing salwilcoxjournalist@gmail.com.

If you're feeling particularly generous, you can like the blog's Facebook page 'Sal Wilcox - Sounds of an Eccentric', or follow me on Twitter @SalReporter.

T.T.F.N.