Music Business and Management
Course 4: Record Labels Publicity

There used to be a saying (and several alternatives) that held true when it came to marketing: “There’s no such thing as bad publicity.” In today’s world, potential customers are much savvier about being sold to. In course 4, you’ll learn how to get the word out about your artist the right way.

The Publicity Department’s primary focus is to get the word out about both new and established artists on the record label. This is done in various ways with many different media outlets. Typically, the record label’s Publicity Department will coordinate with the artist’s own publicist.

Publicists wear many hats, including the development of a press kit, establishing and maintaining good relationships with media contacts, scheduling times to make the artist available, and training the artist to be “media friendly.” And, when they aren’t media friendly, understanding how to do damage control. Publicity by itself can certainly be a full-time job, especially with multiple clients.

Your assignment for course 4, along with the blog entry, section review, and quiz, is to develop a PR plan for a story assigned by your mentor. This is a chance to develop the story, create a timeline, determine which media outlets to approach, and other aspects of a good PR pitch.