Music Publicity: Independent Public Relations in the Digital Age

The music industry has undoubtedly seen accelerated change over the past
decade. Standard practices in the industry have been turned upside down, leaving record
label executives, managers, and other personnel behind the scenes working to develop
new and innovative ways to cope with this change. Music publicists are not immune to
these changes and have seen a tremendous shift in their roles and responsibilities. With
the advent of the digital age, the role of music publicity is getting stronger and is
arguably one of the most vital components of a successful music career. The demand and
necessity for a well-executed music publicity campaign is growing as modern technology
reduces the need for a record deal. However, external forces resulting from technological
changes are making the job of a music publicist difficult.
Despite its importance, little has been said about the field of music publicity in
scholastic literature, and the few in-depth texts and articles on the subject are grossly
outdated rendering them irrelevant. The majority of recent comment on music publicists and their duties have come from journalists and music publicists themselves. Further, the
average person knows little about the practice of music publicity and what a publicist
does. Independent publicists are often highly criticized and looked down upon merely
because artists, managers, media personnel, and even record labels may not fully grasp
what a publicist does. This poses a slew of issues, including the publicist not feeling
completely part of the artist’s team, despite being one of the most essential components
of the artist’s successful career.
The author of this thesis is an independent senior publicity manager for a boutique
music publicity firm. The purpose of this thesis is to define music publicity, bring to light
essential issues in music publicity, and provide a thorough understanding of the role and
responsibilities of a music publicist. Through analysis of the available literature and
qualitative interviews with industry professionals, this paper will address what music
publicity is, how the digital age has changed music publicity, and finally will provide
suggestions for best-practices when working with indie artists and mid-level campaigns.