After decades working in corporate radio, print and digital media, and PR, I’ve developed a few tips for independent musicians to increase the likelihood of gaining media coverage.

At the AmericanaFest 2017 conference, I mentored several songwriters in quick ten-minute sessions. Everyone should have access to the #PRoTip nuggets of wisdom, so spread the word!

Target audience: DIY musicians w/out teams, cold-pitching national digital music outlets. #PRPitch #PR #AmericanaFest
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— CountryFriedROCK.org (@CountryFriedROK) September 18, 2017

#2 Pitch a human.
Do your hw on the outlet’s site and find out which writer, BY NAME, covers similar music to yours.
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— CountryFriedROCK.org (@CountryFriedROK) September 18, 2017

#3 Make it easy for the writer.
Have everything ready to go *before* pitching:
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— CountryFriedROCK.org (@CountryFriedROK) September 18, 2017

#3b *link to directly STREAM your *finished* music
NOBODY is going to dl to listen
NOBODY cares about your demos
3 clicks is 2 too many /8

— CountryFriedROCK.org (@CountryFriedROK) September 18, 2017

#4 Make it easy for them.
What’s your story? Why are ppl going to read about an unknown band.
Under 100K followers? You are “unknown.” /10

— CountryFriedROCK.org (@CountryFriedROK) September 18, 2017

#6 Get to the point.
1 sent greeting, ideally connecting u to writer. Ex: Loved your ABC piece. We enjoyed working w/ the same producer. /12

— CountryFriedROCK.org (@CountryFriedROK) September 18, 2017

There’s more, but this is the “I have 10 minutes to give you advice, better start writing this down now” spiel.
/end thread#thread

— CountryFriedROCK.org (@CountryFriedROK) September 18, 2017