"What's good Arie, I'm an up-and-coming MC who really wants to gain as much exposure as possible however, I don't have a budget to hire professional PR/Marketing help yet. What do you suggest?" - Sed

 

The reality is, a lot of independent artists can't afford to hire the professional help needed to gain the additional exposure they desire. But, don't fret cause this answer is short and sweet!

 

Don't worry about trying to hire a publicist/marketing rep until you reach the level of people outside of your immediate fan-base i.e. [street, neighborhood, church, family... You see where I'm going with this?] who actually care about what you have going on. Don't take it personal, but the reality is, publication editors and radio program directors won't care to cover you if there isn't a solid fan base that will check out their media on you. It's all about the numbers.

 

Serious! Even those artists and bands featured in "Indie Spotlights" that seem like they fell out the sky, have a solid fan base in the double digit thousands.

 

So, until you know you're at this level- save your money, doe, and pesos and put in some elbow work. You are your best representation, role up your sleeves and network, network, network. It's not a science, and you can accomplish a lot on your own.

 

 

Based on your personal needs, wants and goals create a PR check list and work your way down it weekly; contacting various outlets that fit your genre of music in hope of gaining interviews, reviews, etcetera. You will save tons of money that you could spend on studio time, printing/duplicates, some marketing and gas for your car to get to worthwhile gigs, that may help gain additional coverage.

 

Just remember what I always say- Keep your pitches short, direct and to the point. You have a 15 second window to introduce, display and prove that you and your projects are worth the coverage. Don't waste time with a million pointless links, pics and wordiness. Save that for when you make it and people actually care about those additional details. And most important stay professional, no spam and "Check my new shit" in the subject. Even the smallest "hole-in-the-wall" blogs expect professionalism.

 

If you create a schedule and stick to your weekly check list you should see results. Good luck!

 

 

"Yo Arie, I've been pushing my music to local DJs in my city. It's been somewhat helpful but now I feel like I'm beginning to spin my wheels. Would you suggest I start contacting DJs nationally?" - Mike

 

Ummm yeah Mike you think?! [giggles] As an indie artist you NEVER miss an opportunity to network with people as influential as DJs, NO MATTER where they are. You should've been Z-sharing, send spacing (or what ever those file sharing services are called) distant DJs from day one. It never hurts searching for new outlets while building your local fan base and network.

 

Just remember it's very important to avoid spamming; especially if you're fortunate to link with DJs that actually have the clout to help introduce you to the masses via their mix-tapes, blogs, radio mixes and so on.

 

So get networking, start compiling a detailed list of DJs [I recommend excel or other spreadsheet format for easy organization] and it's important to make sure the DJs you're contacting are spinning, scratching and Serato-ing, in whatever genre of music you spit, rap, sing or mine. It would be totally pointless to submit a hip hop track to a rock DJ that specializes in techno… [laughing] Yeah, doing that would make just as much sense as that last sentence. - Best of luck!