Writers get hundreds of emails a week. The ones they answer have a story, reach the right person, and arrive on time. All three are in your control.
Have a story, not just a song. Send it to writers who already cover music like yours. Send it six to eight weeks before release, follow up once, and make it easy to say yes with a clean press kit and a private stream.
Then use the first piece of coverage to earn the second. Press builds on itself. The tenth email is easier than the first because you can link the first nine.
A new single is not news on its own. Thousands come out every day. What a writer needs is a reason this release matters this week.
Good reasons are concrete. A debut album after five years of singles. A collaborator people know. A tour or a festival slot. A local scene that has not been covered. A number that grew fast and can be checked. A song with a true story behind it that you are willing to tell.
Write that reason in one sentence. If you cannot, the pitch is not ready, and no publicist can fix that for you.
Most pitches fail because they reach the wrong person. A metal blog does not want your R&B single, and a national news desk does not review debut EPs.
Start small and specific. Find ten to thirty writers who covered an artist at your level in your genre in the last six months. Read what they wrote. Note their name, outlet and the piece. That is your list.
Then sort it by tier. Local press and college radio sites. Genre blogs and newsletters. Regional and national music outlets. Most independent campaigns land in the first two tiers, and that coverage is what gets the attention of the third.
Writers plan ahead. Loop.fans' guide to music PR recommends starting press outreach six to eight weeks before a release date and avoiding holiday periods. Premieres need the most lead time, because an outlet wants the song before anyone else hears it.
A rough calendar we use:
The full sequence for a release, including Spotify's deadline, is in our release timeline for independent artists.
Use their name. Put the story in the subject line. Keep the email to five or six sentences: who you are, the one-sentence story, the release date, what you are offering (premiere, review copy, interview), and the private link.
Leave out the long bio, the list of every playlist you have been on, and attachments. Link to an electronic press kit instead. Big files clog inboxes and many get filtered.
Then follow up once, about a week later, in the same thread. Add something new if you can. Two unanswered emails is a no for this release, and that is fine. The same writer may say yes next time.
When a writer answers, speed matters. Send what they ask for the same day. Have high-resolution photos in landscape and portrait, a short and a long bio, the credits, and the lyrics ready in one folder.
If they want an interview, be flexible on time and prepared on content. Know the two or three things you want to say about the record and say them plainly.
After the piece runs, share it, thank the writer, and do not ask for more coverage right away.
Coverage compounds. Put every piece in your press kit with the outlet name and link. Quote one strong line in your next pitch. A writer at a larger outlet reads a smaller outlet's review as proof that someone else already checked.
This is also the point where press stops working alone. Articles do the most when they land in the same weeks as a playlist add, a radio campaign, a TV spot or a tour date, so each one points to the others.
Do it yourself for the first releases. You will learn who answers and why. Hire a publicist when you have a story bigger than one single and a budget for at least two or three months, and vet them with the questions in how to choose a music PR firm. Our guide to how much music PR costs has the typical market ranges.
When the numbers are already moving and the goal is the American mainstream, press has to run with radio, television and playlisting as one plan. That is the work LUSIVEX does. The same team ran the U.S. television debut of BTS at the 2017 American Music Awards and Monsta X's runs on Good Morning America, TODAY and The Kelly Clarkson Show. See the Marketing & PR service.
They find a concrete story, build a short list of writers who already cover their genre and level, pitch six to eight weeks before release, follow up once, and send a clean press kit with a private stream. Small outlets first, then use that coverage to reach larger ones.
Not for the article itself. Paying a publicist for their time and relationships is normal. Paying an outlet for a feature that reads like editorial is advertising, and good writers and readers can tell. If a post is paid, it should be labeled.
Six to eight weeks for features and premieres, about four weeks for reviews, and release week for a short reminder with the live link.
Representing an artist from outside the U.S.? Start on the U.S. launch page.