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SMART
RAPPERS
GETPAID!The Common Sense Guide to
Creating, Marketing & Selling
Your Music
Miles J. Hughes
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MediaThe media consists of outlets for the screen, print
and radio. Within each are several sub-genres (e.g. web
series, blogs and podcasts) that are both represented by and
compete with the majors. Starting out, your best bet is to
build relationships with the smaller organizations before
attempting to get in with the big guys; remember that you
dont have a budget big enough to run the same race as a
Universal Music Group and if you play your cards right
you can look at that as an advantage. It will take time to get
established but if you follow my advice youll be better for
the process.
How do you build with someone in the media
organically? For starters theyre very peculiar (I know from
experiencing both sides of that argument) and can come
across as apathetic to your cause. It isnt necessarily
because they think your music is trash; theyve just grown
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be still doing to this day in the form of payola to
newspapermen, bloggers and DJs. *cough*
Since not only is payola illegal (and too costly for
young independents like yourself even if it wasnt), playing
to a writers interest in other ways will definitely get you
farther than not. Here is where a sense of creativity comes
into play and it shows that you are vested in your career. Is
your new EP called Atmosphere? Why not query a
blogger about setting up a contest where the winner gets a
free pair of Space Jam Jordans. You might be out of a
couple hundred dollars but you killed two birds with one
stone by building a relationship with that blogger and
getting precious eyes on your product that could wind up
more tickets or albums sold. It is important to recognize
that you will sometimes come out of pocket to advance
yourself; the goal is to learn when it is in your best favor to
do so.
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The second best way to gain traction with the media
is by happenstance. Now, a music writer accidentally
stumbling upon you and your music isnt quite the dice roll
it sounds like; most music critics attend a decent number of
shows per year, either for big, established artists on tour,
hip hop festivals or indie showcases, and this is a great way
to start laying the groundwork for a relationship. In other
words you need to be where they are. With the blog
explosion there are more opportunities for this than ever
before. Many times outlets will send interns or the new
guys out; even if it is not Elliot Wilson or Jon Caramanica
in the front row, treat them with the utmost respect because
you never know what that small time writer or outlet today
could turn into tomorrow. Even if they dont become
notable figures in the world of hip hop journalism, a
particularly good write up could pique the interest of their
copyeditor who in turn might pull you in for a profile piece.
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That highlights the last way a journalist is going to
care about you and what youre doing--by getting a
recommendation from someone else whose music taste
they trust. This could be anyone from the same media
outlet or another one, a random fans Facebook comment or
an in-the-know-but-below-the-radar blog they keep in the
stash to peel content from. Wherever the tip originates, it is
profoundly more effective than the mishandled tactics that
so many misinformed rappers try to use.
What it all boils down to is you dont seek the
media, the media seeks you. Your job is to make music that
attracts the fans and the fans will attract the press. When
the press is attracted, your job then becomes encouraging
relationships with them. That means you need to be
approachable. Im certain youve heard of rappers saying
that they dont do interviews or have dealings with the
press; dont be one of them because doing that is
counterproductive to getting the word out. In fact, you
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should be doing just the opposite and making yourself so
readily available that you are on the verge of saturating
every form of media out there (notice I said verge). The
game is hard, harder even than it has ever been and you are
competing for a very limited amount of attention; do not
waste a potential come up for the sake of being bourgeois.
Online- To summarize what I just said in the paragraphs
above, you should be buildingrelationships with the media
in as much a personable manner as possible. By default this
means that you should avoid the Im going to .mp3 bomb
every music contact I can get my mouse on mentality as
much as possible. Sometimes that just isnt possible. In the
beginning of your career you more than likely arent going
to be able to open up for a Wiz Khalifa and have a gang of
journalists accidentally coming across your music. Then
again, there may be media outlets that openly ask for indie
talent to submit music. Either way, you need to rise above
the others who forward tracks and pardon me if I bust your
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bubble but heres the truth in black and white: it doesnt
matter if your music is good or not; poor etiquette will
negate all that.
Reading RainbowThe biggest gripe (by far) Ive heard
from music journalists and bloggers are that too many
rappers dont follow submission guidelines well enough or
at all. By not doing this youre setting yourself up for
failure from the go because the penalty can range from your
content going up more slowly than those who followed the
rules to your music being outright trashed. In general, I
would say that you should take time researching a site well
in advance of you sending them music and before sending
anything see if you can create dialogue with the blogger.
This will put you miles ahead of most submissions because
you are proving that you arent putting your career on
autopilot and you care enough to show your personality to
the person on the other end of the exchange.
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Due Diligence- First, check for the journalist/bloggers
branded social media profile. Theres a whole host of
information you can gleam about them from doing this
such as how often they post updates and whether or not
they interact with listeners and other artists or simply use
the social profile as a means of broadcasting their message.
If the outlet is large enough theres bound to be an official
handle and often in the description of it an e-mail address
or URL directing you to the submission page of their site. If
the outlet is smaller or the person uses the profile
informally and theres no contact information listed, scan
their feed to see if theyve communicated with other artists
looking to send them anything. If still nothing, politely (and
that means NO CAPS) message them inquiring how to get
your song their way. Remember that youre dealing with a
real live someone who may be dealing with a hundred
thousand other requests and/or real life things and he or she
might not get back to you in as timely a fashion as you
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might like. This does not mean you need to badmouth him
or hit them all kinds of day and night, not even to ask when
youre going to be added to the rotation.
If you cannot find contact information on your own
visit their publications website. Music writers for
magazines and newspapers often have a blurb about them
at the bottom of their articles that give a quick snapshot
biography and it usually either has their social media
handle or an e-mail address. When sending
correspondence to their e-mail address you have to
remember that sending them anything unannounced is very
similar to running up on someones doorstep: they dont
know you or your intentions so they will be wary. Keep the
body of the email short and concisedont tell them your
life story. Give a quick look at who you are, where youre
from and why they should care about your music, no more
than 3-5 paragraphs long and preferably shorter. Also,
dont attach .mp3s to the email (as most offices have
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policies in place to prevent viruses) unless implicitly
requested; instead upload the song or mixtape to a file
sharing host like Sendspace or Mediafire. Finally, include
links back to your personal website and/or social network
profile.
The waiting game- Once youve made initial contact, wait
2-3 weeks before sending a follow-up email if you havent
seen or heard anything. In that email, briefly touch upon
why youre contacting the writer and invite him to share his
thoughts and criticisms on your music. This is so
conversation can develop and you stick out a little better
from the pack. There is a real chance that you may never
hear back from the person and never see your music go live
on their site. This is the reality of the game and one you
shouldnt be discouraged about. Move on to the next and
maybe one day soon theyll come around.
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Press kit A press kit is a collection of items meant to
showcase who you are to the fans, media and venues and
make it easier for them to decide to buy, talk about or bring
you in to play your music live. Basically it gives an
entryway to who you are and what you intend to do with
your music. Each piece of the press kit is useful for a
specific audience and the key to building a successful one
is to cater each piece to its respective audience. Whether
online or offline the purpose is the same and even with
social media taking a strong foothold in how artists interact
with their fans, the need for a good press kit will never go
away.
Press kit no-nos In my experience Ive seen several
mistakes made by artists creating their own press kits. The
first problem is that they dont know the proper format.
They might be on a Nas level with pen and pad in the
studio but this is a completely different arena and writing
your press kit like you do your tweets is a recipe for
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disaster because no one will take you seriously. Grammar is
important. Flow too. Your press kit needs to read well, not
necessarily like a novel, but it needs to make the person
reading it feel connected to you and what youre doing.
They need to give a damn about you out of the possible
stack of press kits they have in front of them. The music
could be the best theyve ever heard but poor press
materials is the mark of an amateur through and through.
The second biggest faux pas I see artists making
with their press kits is that they write in first person. This
isnt a diary entry; it is the spoken word about you and your
music that gets read oftentimes before your music gets
heard. The proper way to structure your press kit is through
a third person tone and if you want include blurbs about
yourself that coincides with what is being said.
The last epic fail I see in rappers press kits is the
formatting. Theres no hard and fast rule when it comes to
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bios or one sheets but when it comes to press releases there
is a definite way to do them for results. Ill touch on each
separately.
Bio The bio (short for biography) is usually the first thing
people see about you. There are different styles to writing it
(prose, factual, event-based, etc.) and they can range from a
couple hundred to a few thousand words. Prose is both the
easiest to write and the easiest to read because most people
are already familiar with reading stories and if you did
fairly well in your middle school literature class you should
have no trouble constructing one. I would suggest you aim
for 350-500 words in length. That will allow you to fully
detail everything about you and your music journey without
boring the reader to death. Think of it like a written mini-
documentary: how does it begin? What happens in the
middle? Where does it end? That sort of thing.
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The first paragraph should start with an eye-
catching sentence. You dont need to brag or boast, just be
original enough to capture attention past the first sentence
is enough. Then, talk about the different aspects of your
upbringing. Were you raised in a dilapidated slum or did
you fall in love in hip hop on the day of your Bar mitzvah?
Again, the object here isnt to make yourself larger-than-
life; your presence in the music and on stage is for that.
Connect with the reader and help get themselves out of the
way of wanting to book you, listen to you or go to your live
show.
Once youve crafted your bio, there are a couple
different ways you can spin it. You can add the full thing
anywhere you deem fit but you can also take from it for
your social networks like Twitter. They dont allow enough
characters for you to put the entire 500 word biography
theretrim it down to the best part and throw it up. Think
of it as Christmas lights on your house; dress it up and
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more people will want to stop by to take a look. I suggest
you write this first as it will help guide you along the rest.
Press release Press releases tend to be more formal and
structured than bios, mainly because of how they are
formatted. Whereas you could say anything you wanted to,
however you wanted to with a biography, not following
industry standardized protocol with press releases means
that it will get passed over. The word count of a press
release can exceed the limits of a bio but I wouldnt
recommend it be by much. 750 words is more than enough
space to do what you need to do.
Another way the press release differs from the
biography and one sheet is purpose. The only time you use
a press release is when you are announcing a major event
that you want the media to take notice of and possibly
broadcast for you. Instead of appearing on your website
(although you can put them there for archiving) or social
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network, these would be sent to where the press is: online
press release aggregators, news feed directories and even
individual publications that you have a relationship with.
Now that you know what one is, here is how you put one
together:
Release timing Commonly referred to as the embargo
date or hold request date. This is when you want your
information disseminated or articles based on your
information given to the public. Use IMMEDIATE
RELEASE if you want it to go live as soon as possible or
HOLD FOR RELEASE UNTIL (date) if you want a
specific date before it goes live. Dont be mad if it doesnt
get honored, though.
Target This is the journalist, editor or department you
want to have your information. When sending to a news
outlet your press release can be bounced around a while
before reaching the intended partythis will speed up that
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process. Use ATTENTION before MUSIC EDITOR or
URBAN LIFESTYLE DEPT.
Headline/Title This is a place you should spend a little
time to make sure your title pops and grabs attention. Keep
the title short and catchy with the reader in mind: they go
through a lot of these in a short amount of time and
anything you can do to stay fresh on their minds is a good
thing. Use all CAPS here too.
Sub-headline You dont absolutely need to do this part but
I like to take every opportunity I have to pull the journalist
in a little farther. Expand on the title and give a quick
overview of what the press release is going to talk about.
No caps necessary here.
Location Where the event is taking place. This is good for
those who just want to eyeball the important details before
deciding whether or not it is relevant to their publication.
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Introductory paragraph This is where you start getting to
the meat of the press release and just like the title and in
your bio, come with both guns out. Usually I reword the
bios introduction a bit and put it in here, fattening it up
where need be. It doesnt have to be a long paragraph, just
a good one that by the end of it will give the reader enough
information to make an informed decision on you and your
news.
Secondary paragraph This is the meat of the press release
and here is where you go into detail about what the whole
thing is about. Whether its an announcement of your new
project being completed or a show youre performing, give
as much detail as you can about the announcement and be
sure to include release dates, event hours or special
instructions needed. Still try to be as tight as possible when
writing this section; minor details can be given in the
paragraphs after this one.
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Subsequent paragraphs - This is where the minor details
and supporting information goes. Feel free to include
quotes from other notable people about you or your music
and any other information that would be good to know
about your goings on here.
For Further Information Close it all out here with the
name, telephone number and e-mail address of your
manager, booking agent or yourself so that if the media
wants to contact you, they can.
One sheet A one sheet is a mixture of a bio and a press
release. They tend to be less story-like compared to
traditional biographies yet more casual than standard press
releases. Creating a good one sheet means that you will
keep the message short and sweet. The word count for
these rarely go further than 500 words and at least one
picture is usually involved.
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You can write brand new copy for your one sheet
but in all honesty you dont have to. Review your bio and
snatch particularly good bits from it. The only rule here is
that it reads well and it doesnt take up more than 250
words so you will have room for what you take from the
press release.
When I write one, the top third of the page is
usually where I put what Ive pulled from the bio. The
middle section is where I put what Ive pulled from the
press release. The bottoms where I put up links to current
music videos or music download links. The footer (the very
bottom most of the one sheet) is for the official website or
social media links and publicist/management contact
information. I know its obvious but I feel it still needs to
be said: a one sheet needs to be able to fit on ONE SHEET.
If you have to, make the font smaller (10-12px) or change
the font entirely (Times New Roman or Courier works
best) but keep everything on the same page.
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The next level Most of what used to be real paper and
ink can be done on the web by the way of an electronic
press kit (EPK). There are a couple different ideas of what
an EPK is that range from a video montage to everything I
outlined above only in digital format and downloadable via
a Word or Adobe Acrobat readable document. I would
suggest that you have the best of all three worlds; have the
tangible version for the old school heads who need to touch
paper, the digital version distributable via a handy
hyperlink and a visual presentation for those not interested
in reading anything.
Additional stuff Unless a journalist specifically asks you
(or there is a general blanket go-ahead stated somewhere)
to send them a physical copy of your CD, posters or other
merchandise, dont do it. He will either toss it in the trash
or give it away on his site but more than likely it will end
up being wasted money for you.
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Started from the bottom Incorporating everything listed
above into an action plan is how you would begin building
media awareness. The action plan should start small and
expand outward until youve covered the entire world. This
will take a good amount of time to do and I wouldnt
expect you to be able to do this in the life cycle of a single
project starting out so tuck this in your back pocket for
later. Remember that this is a lifestyle and it takes
commitment.
Start small by taking over your town. Whether large
or small, most towns have some form of local press and
you should either pick up a copy of the newspaper or
browse their website. The goal is to find the music review
section and whoever pens the album and live show reviews.
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