With competition fiercer than ever, you need to be sure your next premiere has a meaningful impact.
How did you discover the last band that changed your life? Did a friend or family member introduce you? Did you catch them at a gig? Did an algorithm determine the artist or group was something you might like based on its knowledge of the last thousand songs you’ve played?The music industry has changed. Consumers no longer rely solely on genre gatekeepers to determine the next big thing in music. Robots can do more to predict someone’s next favorite artist than even the most talented writer, and those machines are growing smarter with each passing day.The days of blogs regurgitating press releases with copy and paste tactics to garner massive followings based on a falsely earned association with speed or authority are history. Today’s music fan learns about their favorite artist’s latest happenings from the artist’s official channel on any one of the numerous popular social media platforms. If not there, they can get the same news regarding tours or videos or studio time or really anything from the band members’ accounts or their label’s accounts or their publicist’s accounts or the venues where they’re playing or…you get the idea.The days of blog exclusives are also mostly extinct. There are still countless blogs running so-called exclusives from the myriad of bands from all corners of the Earth every day of the week, but anything of value is almost instantly reblogged by everyone else, often without crediting the source. That change has lead many to accept far more pitches for premieres than in years prior. Sites that used to be highly selective are now forced to take on more premieres in order to reach the same traffic goals.The only content that matters anymore is original content. In the case of premieres, that responsibility extends to both the artist and the author. The greatest song ever written can vanish into the depths of the Soundcloud and Bandcamp abyss if it debuts on a site that doesn’t care about the material. The artist’s fans will still care, of course, but they were going to care anyway. The fans are visiting for the song, and they will never visit again unless the site has something to offer beyond the material.Unknown artists have an even greater need for talented writers. Exclusive content premiered through the right site can go a long way toward helping local acts gain national or even international attention. Excellent writing can make people click content they otherwise would scroll past, and it can get readers thinking about the music presented in a way they might not have previously considered.James Rhodes of FiXT shared the following thoughts on premieres for this article.“I think the premiere culture is a 2-way street. Both parties (artists/labels on one side, press outlet on the other) are looking for a value exchange. The artist/label wants some amount of exposure to a new audience along with receiving the credibility/recognition for being covered by the press outlet. The press outlet wants to cover content that will bring them engagement from current followers/readers as well as a new audience from the artist/label they are covering. But merely posting a song as a premiere doesn’t really move the needle anymore, at least for most young or developing artists (heck, even some established artists). Sometimes a press outlet doesn’t add any opinion to the piece, they just copy/paste what is given to them. As a label, I want the press outlet to provide some credibility and acknowledgment to the artist/music by having something positive to say about it, that would excite their readers to care about the content.- Sharing new updates with your mailing list.
- Teasing new content with audio or video clips shared on social media.
- Paid promotion on social platforms.
