Monthly Archives: February 2015

  • Permalink Gallery

    12 PR Tips for Musicians, Music Companies, and Just About Anyone!

12 PR Tips for Musicians, Music Companies, and Just About Anyone!

Public Relations, better known as PR. That holy grail of message distribution.

I once had someone tell me, “I don’t believe in PR.” My reply was, “What do you mean, like it’s the tooth fairy?”

Well-done PR can get you massive amounts of interest, YouTube views, interviews, and so much more. Of course, all with the hope of your efforts leading to sales.

Poorly done PR is just frustrating for everyone involved.

As an editor I get loads of news releases and pitches every day in my inbox. Your goal should be to interest me, provide me with well-written information in a format that I can use with almost no editing, and all the assets I need to get your news out there quickly.

If you’re a musician or fledgling publicist that wants to spread the word about your projects, here are some tips for making the most out of your efforts.

1. Make sure your news release is factual…and actually news
News releases are generally written in the third person, so avoid the use of “I” and “we.” They give a run down of the who, what, when, where, why, how and then elaborate in each paragraph, scrolling out a logical progression of facts. Typically editors don’t want to see words like “the best,” “amazing,” “fabulous,” and the like. Leave it to editors to aggrandize about you. You should be factual and fairly humble.

2. Keep it short
If you have so much to say that your release is longer than a page or a page and a half, you are probably going to confuse me. Edit, edit, edit. Make sure you are concise and to the point. Have someone else read your release to confirm that it is easy to understand.

3. […]

  • Permalink Gallery

    Students, Musicians and Filmmakers Unite for the Take Me To The River Education Initiative Launch at the World Famous Apollo Theater

Students, Musicians and Filmmakers Unite for the Take Me To The River Education Initiative Launch at the World Famous Apollo Theater

Pro musicians, students, teachers and fans came together at the World Famous Apollo Theater on Thursday night, February 12, to celebrate a new education initiative based on the award-winning documentary feature film, Take Me To The River.

The brainchild of Director/Producer Martin Shore, the film chronicles a project that spans generations, races and genders to create a new music collaboration centered around the Memphis music scene. And the event Thursday night did the same.

Emceed by Director/Producer Martin Shore, and producer and musician Lawrence “Boo” Mitchell, the evening brought its cross-generational theme to life with a fresh spin on timeless songs performed by classic Memphis artists like William Bell; Bobby Rush; Otis Clay; and Stephanie Bolton paired with young hip-hop and rap artists including Frayser Boy, Al Kapone, Tori WhoDat; and more.

The evening began with remarks from Berklee College of Music President, Roger H. Brown. Berklee City Music has partnered with the film to bring educational materials based on the film.

“Our collaboration with Take Me To The River and these legendary musicians has enabled us to bring history to life for our Berklee City Music students in terms that they not only understand but celebrate. We are excited about this partnership and the opportunities it will continue to bring to students across the nation through our PULSE® program and our friends from Take Me To The River,” Brown shared.

Highlights of the event include the opening act Music With A Message, a student band from Berklee City Music Network (BCMN) partner Renaissance Youth Center, who got the evening off to a rocking start with fresh instrumentals and vocals. They were followed by alumni band from BCMN partner STAX Music Academy, the Bromfield Trio, made up of a […]

  • Permalink Gallery

    Take Me To The River Education Initiative Launched with Berklee City Music

Take Me To The River Education Initiative Launched with Berklee City Music

Lifelong musician and Grammy-nominated Director/Producer Martin Shore announces a historic partnership with non-profit organization Berklee City Music®. The two have developed a music education initiative based on Shore’s film Take Me To The River, which explores the inter-racial musical influence of Memphis in the face of pervasive discrimination and segregation during the Civil Rights Movement, and the cross-generational and cross-gender collaboration exhibited in a new music project documented in the film.

Released in February in celebration of Black History Month and beyond, the Initiative brings standards-based instruction materials centered around the film and its music to educations nationwide free of charge.

“We are thrilled that Berklee City Music is a part of this amazing initiative. Take Me to the River brings to life, through music and film, an important chapter in the history of American popular music. Through Berklee’s PULSE® music method and the film’s reach into schools, we’re able to educate a new generation of young people about the musicians and social context surrounding the music of the Mississippi Delta,” said Lee Whitmore, EdD, vice president for education outreach and social entrepreneurship at Berklee College of Music.

Take Me To The River brings multiple generations of award-winning Memphis and Mississippi Delta musicians together, following them through the creative process of recording a historic new album to re-imagine the utopia of racial, gender and generational collaboration of Memphis in its heyday.

The education initiative, which will initially be piloted in New York City public schools, was prepared with the assistance of the Berklee City Music program, a nonprofit education program directed by Berklee College of Music that enables youth from underserved communities to develop musically, academically, socially and emotionally, primarily through the study of contemporary music.

The initiative helps students:

Make cross-curricular connections […]