About Flagpole. (Athens, Ga.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 10, 2011)
How to Get Your Band in Flagpole AMICl] Tips for Beginners Italian C a Friday LIVE MUSIC with CHROMAZONE E© COVER! $2 Wells • $2 Drafts • $3.50 Bombs Saturday; Aug. 13 LIVE MUSIC with SLICE PIE (an all-star jam session with members of STOKESWOOD, ELASTIC SKYLINE, and FLAMINGO ROYALE) GE><332030 $2 Wells • $2 Drafts • $3.50 Bombs PIZZA & BEER SPECIALS $10 Large One Topping Pizzas $6 Pitchers ALL DAY of Bud, Bud Light, Yuengling & Miller Lite Tuesday, Aug. 16 BACK TO SCHOOL JAM with NEW SNEAKERS NO COVER! Music starts at 11pm HAPPY HOUR 3-7pm $3 Wells • $3 Craft Beer Pints $2 Select Domestic Bottles 233 E. CLAYTON ST. X 706.353.0000 AMICI.CAFE.COM WH- r .com 4t enafiigans ^ Ion 706-548-1115 1037 Baxter Street, Suite A ^ Open Monday through Saturday "W* the spirit of our "Back to School" issue, this article is geared towards incoming freshmen and XXI Athens' future musicians, but I think even some more established artists might benefit from a quick refresher in PR 101. I get asked about this kind of stuff all the time: "How do I get my band in Flagpole? Why did you write about this band but not that band?" Well, there's no magical password or sure-fire way to get a feature, but here are a few tips on increasing your chances, plus a little insight on what I look for in a potential story. 1. The Basic Press Kit Alright, so you've got a band together and you feel like you're ready for some media attention. At the very minimum, you should have these items available: a bio, a demo and a high-resolution photograph. How you present this informa tion is up to you, but I personally prefer a solid, easy to find Facebook page or Bandcamp profile rather than a clunky folder full of card stock you pieced together at Kinko's. Streamline your presentation and make sure to include contact informa tion, so that if we want to talk to you, we can. The bio should at least include the full names of all bandmembers and the instruments they play, plus a point of reference as to what genre of music you're working in. The demo can be a YouTube clip of a live show, streaming audio or a professionally pro duced CD, but we've got to be able to hear the music. If you don't have some sort of audio sample available, most likely you're not ready for expo sure, anyway. And, finally, we never run a story without a photograph, and sometimes a photograph is all we have room to run. If we have time, Flagpole can certainly assign a photographer to get a photo of your band, but in a crunch, it's immensely helpful to have an image on file that's ready to go. 2. Be Proactive! Your Band Here I know, sometimes self promotion feels dirty, and lots of artists absolutely hate it, but if you want exposure and you don't have a publicist working for you, you have to take the initiative and put yourself out there. In a small town like Athens, it really doesn't take much to get some attention from the local weekly (Hi!). Once you've got your press kit and web presence established, drop us a line and let us know it's there. We really want to hear from you! News items and updates can be sent directly to Gordon Lamb at threatsandpromises@flagpole.com, show listings should be sent to calendar@flagpole.com and all other inquiries about all things music can be sent to me at music@flagpole.com. Never assume that a venue, promoter or another band on a show bill will do the work for you! This is particularly true for Calendar listings. Sometimes all a venue will provide us is a name, and we have to rely on the whims of Google to track you down, so if you have a show coming up, take a second to get in touch. It'll make things easier for everyone. 3. Respect the Deadline Perhaps even more important than getting in touch is when you get in touch. Even the most innovative, charismatic, exciting band will get a pass if we get the info past deadline. Generally, the music section operates on a three-week lead time for features and a two-week lead time for news items. With the exception of holidays. Calendar listings must be in by 5 p.m. on Friday the week prior to publication. Basically, the earlier you get in touch, the more likely you'll be considered for in-depth coverage. Also, keep our production schedules in mind. If you call on Monday when we're trying to wrap up an issue, you won't be able to get an editor on the phone. 4. Persistence Pays Off There is a fine line between pestering and persistence, but as someone who worked as a publicist before coming to Flagpole, I know that it's a line you have to learn to walk. As music editor, I get an average of about 200 emails a day— many are mass emails from national publicists that end up in the trash folder unopened, but unfortunately for you, dear local artist, that means a lot of clutter and competition. So, follow up and keeping following up until you get a response. Don't be afraid to pick up the phone and call or make an appointment for a visit. (That just goes for Flagpole, of course... many edi tors don't take calls at all or only at certain times.) 5. The Art of the Pitch So, you've got your press kit and you've got my attention, now what are you going to say to get a story? Well, first things first: the music speaks the loudest. The bottom line is always going to be the tunes. Of course, what an editor thinks is good or interesting is always going to be subjective, but I try to keep in mind the interests of our readers more than my own personal taste. When I hear a new band, I think: Is there an audience for this music in Athens? Is this something our readers will want to learn more about? Also keep in mind that on any given week, there are upwards of 100 other bands playing in town, and Flagpole only has room to highlight a handful. So, even among the most exciting acts coming to town, it's competitive. We have to be selective. Priority is given to artists who are doing something newsworthy—for example: releasing an album, going on tour, changing up their lineup, putting on a par ticularly unique performance, etc. It is not effective to send an email that just says: "We would like you to write about us/ review our CD because we are playing a show." Guess what, those other 100 bands are all playing shows, too, and they would also benefit from coverage. The thing a lot of young artists don't understand about news media is that we are not your publicist. We cover shows; we don't promote them. We write for our readers, not to further your agenda. So, if you send us a CD to review, we will be writing about it critically—it won't necessarily be all positive, and, in fact, if it's not up to snuff, we might very well pass on coverage all together. That should cover the basics, but do know there will always be exceptions. There will be plenty of bands that won't fol low any of these guidelines and they'll still get coverage just because a writer or myself stumbled across their music and was excited by what we heard. There will also be bands that follow these suggestions by the letter and they still won't get a fea ture because either the tunes just aren't strong enough to war rant coverage or it was a busy week and other acts happened to take priority. Shoot for coverage but never expect it; a false sense of entitlement isn't a good look on anybody. But if you want something—go after it. We want to hear from you! Michelle Gilzenrat music@flagpole.com 16 FLAGPOLE.COM-AUGUST 10, 2011
