Defining a Publicist

From Tunecore.com

Publicists are experts you hire to promote your band and music to media and press outlets. It's their job to get writers and editors to listen to your music, learn who and what you are and (hopefully) have them write about you. Remember, a publicist can not guarantee reviews or coverage. The best you should expect is that they can get a writer or editor to learn about you, listen to your music and provide them reasons as to why they won't write about it.

Publicist will send you reports. Depending on the publicist, these reports will be provided to you each week, every two weeks or every month and will list all the activity, comments and results regarding your project in the press world. As things get updated, the report should reflect any additions or changes. If you are paying for the clipping service (a third-party service that scours all print publications for mention of your band), the publicist should also provide you copies of any all press.

A publicist will usually charge you a monthly fee and request a minimum number of months to work on your "project." Fees can range widely but tend to fall between $750 and $5,000 a month. Most publicists require a minimum commitment of three months, as they need time to properly set up and promote your album. Some publicists might be willing to charge you a flat one time fee, called "Life Of Project," rather than a monthly fee. Life Of Project fees can also range widely but tend to fall between $1,000 and $4,000.

In addition to these fees, most publicists also charge you expenses, which can vary a bit from publicist to publicist but tend to include:

• Cost of their local phone charges
• Cost of their long distance charges
• Internet connection fees
• Photocopying
• Mailings and postage
• Travel
• Third-party services that scour all print publications for mention of your band (called "clipping services")
• Messenger charges
• ...and more

Expenses can run anywhere from $150 to $1,000 a month, depending on the level of activity.

TIP: Most of the time, a publicist will be working on more than one artist or project. Be prepared to "work" your publicist to get them to "work" others.