Press Releases – One of the most important tools in an artists career is the press release. I’ve literally read thousands of press releases over the years while working on the blog and I’ll be honest, not many really grabbed my attention, and even fewer did the artist justice. I love to read ‘news’. And especially news on an artist. Nothing in my mind is irrelevant when it comes to something that artist is doing, or participating in. It’s all important. So why is this news so often presented as ‘blah, blah…blah, blah, blah, blah… blah, blah, blah, blah, blah’? Nashville Hype! says “no!” to those boring press releases. If it’s not exciting to us, how can we ever expect it to be exciting to someone else? I never wrote about an artist – ever – based on a boring press release. And I’m not alone! So here’s what Nashville Hype! will do:
We will talk with you about your ‘news’ (and believe me, you have news!), and we’ll find the right angle, the right tone, the right excitement, the right words, and the right partner for release – and we’ll deliver a press release that matters. We’ll talk with content partners and see if they are interested in your news before we blast it out into the ether of a thousand of places. After all, one great placement is better than 10 ‘so-so’ placements, and certainly better than 4,000 non-placements. We’ll make your news interesting, exciting, and worthy of mention. You don’t waste your time, and we don’t either.
Biographies - “I started singing in the womb”… how many times do we have to read that? And who cares when you started singing anyway? What matters is, “are you any good”? Just like press releases, I’ve read thousands of bios, and once again I’ll be honest – most stink. They’re unprofessional. They say to much (the kitchen sink problem). They say too little. They get too personal. They aren’t personal enough. They ramble with no point. Biographies have an audience, just like your music. You’re not writing to let others know about you – you’re writing to let someone specific know about you – your ‘biography target market’ (yes, I probably just made that up). Every artist has a biography target market. Someone they are trying to reach with their life story. But it has to be done in a way that everyone believes you’re writing it to them. Press is for your ‘kitchen sink’, your official biography isn’t. Your biography is your philosophy. Your work ethic. Your personality. Your sales pitch. Nashville Hype! will work with you to create a biography that works (that speaks to your biography target market).
Media Training - Do you really know how to handle yourself on the radio? Would you ‘freeze’ up if you knew you were going to be on TV? Do you freak out thinking about walking the red carpet? You’re not alone. You might be great on stage in front of thousands of people, but lack the skills you need when a single radio microphone is suddenly trust in your direction, or a TV camera crew is around. Before you walk on stage in front of millions to accept your Grammy, maybe you should think about how to accept a question from a reporter – without the ‘hems and haws, stutters and hick-ups’. Media training is essential to a overall balanced career, and many artist can’t do it on their own. Nashville Hype! can teach you how to act, how to speak, how to respond and what you need to know to handle situations like this. We’ll teach you to handle the media with ease and confidence.
Publicity – It means a lot of things to a lot of people. To us it means ‘being seen and getting heard’. It means creating opportunities for you to be seen and heard. Press releases come before and after an event. Publicity is the event. We want to place you in the event and make sure others know you’re at the event. Publicity is creating news. The ‘right place at the right time’ is a great saying, but it’s only a saying. Someone has to make sure you’re at the right place at the right time – otherwise fade to obscurity. We don’t want that. You don’t want that. Nashville Hype! can get you the publicity you need right where you are!
Song Choice – A bad song can kill a career. Especially when the song is a single and all the promotion is going towards it. And yet, there are artists out there who think every song they sing, and every song they write, is a bona-fied hit the world will love. Well look, it takes upwards of a year for most Nashville artist to find the right 12 songs to place on their cd. Artist, their producers, their managers, and their label will literally listen to hundreds of songs before picking the ones they will record. I’ll never understand why in the world artists, who sometimes carefully look after every aspect of their career, will “fall in love” with a song immediately and want to cut it. Don’t let that be you. You need the right songs. You need the songs that tie into everything you’re trying to accomplish and convey. Nashville Hype! knows songs. We know songwriting. We know when we hear a hit, and when we hear a miss. This can be learned, but we ‘got it honest’. We have what used to be known in the industry as ‘ears’ – and ears make all the difference. Nashville Hype! can help you select the songs that will truly make a difference in your career. We’re not your Aunt Judy — the only skin we have in the game is making sure you get the best. We can find it for you, and get it to you.
Video – Video is so important in today’s inter-connected world, where the number of TV outlets is shrinking, but the number of online vendors is exploding. It just so happens that one our very best friends in the music industry is a top notch video director who’s worked with everyone from Reba to Justin Timberlake to Lady Antebellum and Rascal Flatts – and not only, he loves working with indie artist and doesn’t charge an arm and a leg. Before you ever shoot a video, you’ve got to know with 100% accuracy what you want to get out of it. You’ve got to know your story line. You’ve got to know your co-stars. You’ve got to know your locations. You’ve got to know your wardrobe. You’ve got to know the look on your face while the film is rolling! And you’ve got to know that more than just yourself and your grandma is going to see it. You’ve got to know your cost of customer acquisition, what outlets you’re going to target, and the price you’re going to sell the DVD for at your live show. Nashville Hype! is your partner and we can help you through the entire video process.
Media Kits – Complete consultation on media kits (EPK). Image and presentation. Image and presentation. It’s never too soon to define who you are – and you’d better do it before someone else defines who they think you are. Because believe me, if you’re not defining yourself, someone is certainly defining you. Image and presentation.
Photography – Seriously, are you aware how important a photo is? Your music needs to be great, but image is everything. And image doesn’t just happen. Photos are part of your overall appeal. Your desired brand. Your music has a ‘voice’ and so should your photography. We know what works. We know what doesn’t work. We’re dead set against bad photography. Nashville Hype! will consult with you to choose the right photos and the right image.
**SPECIAL** Social Media Monitoring – This is especially important for you busy parents who simply don’t have the time to always be working on the Social Networks (MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, Digital Rodeo), but know how important they can be to your young artists career. In addition to complete consultation on every aspect of your child’s page (branding, songs, pictures, bio, videos, etc), NashvilleHype! can do all the monitoring of these sites for you — and help keep your child safe from online predators and music charlatans offering their wares. We know that kids can receive messages from wacko grown-ups who have no business writing some of the things they do – we’ve been there and we won’t tolerate it. We’ve also been around long enough to know many trusted music professionals who aren’t out there looking to rip off un-suspecting parents and break the hearts of dreamers. We have a stellar reputation and have been a trusted partner that parents can rely on to watch out for these type people. If you have any questions or would like to talk to any of the parents we’ve dealt with over the years, we can say with certainty that not one will offer a bad word and all will be willing to speak with you about the work we do.
Social Media Set-Up – All this online stuff a little overwhelming? Don’t know a Tweet from a Post? A friend from a follower? Nashville Hype! has you covered. We will work with you to get you the online presence you need – on the sites you need to be on. We can also teach you how to use it if necessary. Domain names, DNS, servers, email, and on and on – there’s a lot to learn and a lot to know. Nashville Hype! can walk you though all of it.
Business Consulting – Ahh, don’t you hate it… if only music didn’t end in business. But it does. We can guide you through all aspects of your career, answer any question you may have, and make sure you get the best. From business licensing to logo branding and trademarking, we can help you with all aspects of the business – for your own good. 90% of this industry is business. Nashville Hype! will help you avoid the pitfalls and make smart decisions concerning your career.
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