Heather McDonald
You know how important a press release is to get the word out about whatever your band or label has going on, be it a new album, a tour, or some other piece of news. But sending that press release a the right time is another key piece of the puzzle to getting media coverage. How do you get the timing right?
As you might imagine, the answer to this question depends very much on the media you are contacting. Radio has a different lead time than a national print magazine which has different timing requirements from a website, and so on and so forth. There are ways you can take some of the guess work out of the equation, however. Do a little research and create a database:
- Contact all of the music media outlets to which you hope to promote your music, and ask them about their deadlines. Start a database on your computer tracking this information, so you always have it on hand. You should do this far enough in advance that you haven't missed deadlines by the time you get around to making your calls. For instance, if you know that you will be releasing an album in 6 months, make those calls now.
