We’re Rachel Hurley and Frank Keith IV, co-owners of the music publicity firm Sweetheart PR. Once a week, we’ll publish a new edition of My Manager, where we’ll share actionable advice on all facets of the music industry. The paid version of the newsletter is $5/month, but we’ll send out a monthly “Free Friday” roundup with limited access.
We have reached the end of our free version of the newsletter. So far, we have interviewed a music supervisor about sync licensing, a radio promoter about radio campaigns and their hidden benefits, a musician that created a side hustle teaching music lessons, and this week we spoke to an editor at a major press outlet and detail how to pitch your music without a music publicist.
In the next few weeks, we’ll also have an interview with Trae Vedder from Sixthman about their destination music events and cruises, Dan Koplowitz from Friendly Fire Licensing who will walk us through the pitching side of sync licensing, Annie Black (Social Media Manager for Consequence of Sound), Joelle Rosen (a photographer specializing in taking promo photos of musicians), and many more - we’re just getting started! We hope you will stick with us as we examine every part of the music industry and help demystify the whole thing.
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INTERVIEW // ANGELA ZIMMER // EDITOR-IN CHIEF // THE BOOT
This week on the My Manager Podcast is a conversation with Angela Zimmer, the Editor-in-Chief (EIC) of The Boot, a highly-trafficked music outlet that covers mostly country & Americana musicians but also has a great track record of breaking new artists. We know many musicians can’t afford to hire publicists, so we chat with Angela about what she looks for when opting to cover an artist, the best way to pitch her and her biggest pet peeve when musicians are trying to get her attention.
When reaching out to an editor for coverage, what should you NOT do? (2-minute video)
My Manager Interview With Angela Zimmer (17-minute audio interview)
How to pitch your music without a publicist (7-minute read)
Don’t have time to read all the trade news? Here are some weekly highlights:
Behind the Playlists: Your Questions Answered by Our Playlist Editors
Music Rights Awareness Foundation and WIPO Join Forces to Raise Awareness of IP Rights For Creators
Snapchat to take on TikTok with a new music-powered feature rolling out this fall
Facebook Is Set to Finally Get the Rights to Show Music Videos
Podcasts Worth Your Time
The Influencer Podcast #002: Jennifer Puno takes a deep dive on Instagram growth strategies (not limited to influencers!) and breaks down how she went from zero to 80K followers in one year.
Your DIY Toolkit (we’ll give you one tool a week to focus on)
So you want to pitch yourself to media outlets? Great! Best practices are to send a pitch 3 to 4 weeks before the corresponding date of what you want coverage for. Here’s a pitch template you can use:
Hi [EDITOR NAME],
My name is [YOUR NAME]. I’m a musician based in {CITY} and I wanted to pitch you for coverage in [PUBLICATION] about my show / album / single being released on {DATE}.
{Insert short bio, highlights, previous coverage, etc}
INSERT A DESCRIPTION OF WHAT YOU ARE PROMOTING, WHY THEY SHOULD CARE, AND ANY ANGLE THAT THEY SHOULD CONSIDER. TELL THEM WHAT KIND OF COVERAGE YOU ARE LOOKING FOR (PREMIERE, FEATURE, INTERVIEW, REVIEW, ETC) AND WHY YOU THINK THE OUTLET IS A GOOD FIT.
I appreciate your time and consideration and look forward to hearing from you.
Thank you,
[NAME]
ADD A PHOTO
ADD SOME PULL QUOTES
END WITH YOUR FULL BIO
***Since we’re talking about pitching as effectively and efficiently as possible in this week’s blog post, check yourself before you wreck yourself with the Hemingway App -- an easy-to-use editing tool that highlights what you’re doing well in your writing, and what you could be doing better.
Social Media
SMART Goal Setting (Very general, but easily applied to your social goals)
Are You Doing Everything You Can To Get The Most Instagram Followers?
TikTok of the Week
Where to register your music to get all of the money you are owed
Just for Fun
FIRST TIME HEARING Dolly Parton - “Jolene” REACTION
Have a question or a tip? Let us know and if we use it we’ll give you credit and link your socials!
If you dig what we are doing, here are some easy ways to support us:
Forward this to a musician
Subscribe to the $5 / month paid version
Coming next week (we promise, Frank will do an interview soon):
Trae Vedder // Talent Buyer // Sixthman Destination Festivals
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