Elbows Music Blog Community

i want to thumb wrestle adam

I really do seek out bands on my own and troll MySpace because no one sends me promo e-mail.

Posted by: elizabethI really do live a wonderous existence, free from pain and worry, because no one has ever tried to hit me with a bus.

Posted by: wendy williamsVrooom!

 

I use both promo e-mails and MySpace, but I probably get more I like from MySpace.  I don't have to go looking for them that much--they find me.  I have over 300 MySpace friends.  A few are actual real-life people, but most are bands whose music attracts me in some way.  Figure in a low estimate that half of those are unknown, unsigned, and unpublished.  That gives me 150 bands right now to write about whenever I want to.



Also--and this is scary--I'm like Matt_Skatterbrain in that huge popularity and lots of hype are a turn-off.  I LIKE finding bands that nobody else knows.  It's kind of perverse that when they are popular I don't like them as well.  It has worked against me.



Take this recent post as an example of my blog as a whole:    speedofdark-web.blogspot.com/2007/07/updated-disco-and-more.html



It features Calvin Harris, whose CD I received as a promo.  But I also wrote about Massdriver and Hyphin, two unsigned bands from MySpace whose music that I personally prefer, which makes it one-third from promo source and two-thirds from MySpace or other source.

i'm still waiting for promo emails from Wendy :(

Posted by: speedofdark_LindaIAlso--and this is scary--I'm like Matt_Skatterbrain in that huge popularity and lots of hype are a turn-off.  I LIKE finding bands that nobody else knows.  It's kind of perverse that when they are popular I don't like them as well.  It has worked against me.

 i think a lot of bloggers feel that way--well, a certain segment of them, anyway. i tend toward that myself, although occasionally i will jump on a bandwagon. i'm sure it means something about our personality types or something!

I don't troll MySpace, and I don't really read PR e-mails. Anything I write about is usually word of mouth from friends, music critics, concerts, maybe other blogs. If I'm bored, in a patient mood, a band is touring with another artist I like or something else about the band/artist stands out, then I'll read the PR e-mail and listen to the mp3s. The only artist I've found through a PR company this year that I genuinely like is St. Vincent, and I only saw her because she was touring with John Vanderslice.  I'm fickle, I'll admit it.  Whether or not I read something can depend on anything from the mood I'm in to an interesting band photo or band name.  One surefire way to get me not to read something, though, is to call me Mr. There's a picture of me on the "about" page -- the page with my e-mail address -- that clearly shows that I am not a mister.  I know a thing or two about internet PR, and the least you can do is take the time to find out something like that.  Or just not use words like miss or mr so you don't look like an asshole.



I think one's attitude towards PR e-mails is going to be slightly dependent on the intent of one's blog. If the intent of your blog is to find the "next big thing" or to be the best source for news, or to have half a million updates each day, then PR e-mails are going to be a lot more helpful. I started my blog with a smaller mindset, a more organic intent. I don't care about how many readers I get, I don't care about being the best source for news or the next big thing, so PR e-mails are less interesting and useful to me.

Thankfully I haven't gotten bombarded with lots of promo stuff. In saying that, based on all the good things being said here, I just emailed Wendy Wiliams and asked to be added to her list to see what she's got. Lucas-would also like to be added to your list too. Will email you also.

In general I get emails from artists directly and like SongsByToad I get touched by that.

Unfortunately I just wish that the majority of the would at least look at my category cloud on the home page as see "electronic" as the biggest cloud. That shoud be a hint that I'm not a big fan of monster guitar solos and if you have one it sure better be special!

That said-when I get these emails I will listen to them, try and respond as best I can and in some cases recommend other blogs that might be more up their alley.

Cheers

————— Forwarded message —————
Date: Thu, Feb 12, 2009 at 1:56 PM
Subject: With the news of Chris Brown, are independent artists more serious about their work?

Hi [—-] - When the news that Chris Brown had been arrested for alleged assault, I couldn’t help but think that independent music artists are the way of the future. An independent artist has a lot more at risk and (I believe) appreciates their fame a lot more than someone signed by a music production company. Could that be the problem with today’s artists who make stupid mistakes to mess up their career?

Brad Turk, CEO of MyMusicSite.com, a site dedicated exclusively to independent artists, can speak to how today’s music model just doesn’t work and how independent artists will lead the pack to make music profitable again.

Please let me know if you would like to speak to Brad on the trend of independent music talent (he has artists who can also speak to how they are promoting themselves), or would like to see a copy of our press release that explains how the company works.

Best, S——

safe.

Anyone who sends me new John Vanderslice news is automatically put at the top of my list.

You rock DEAD OCEANS!

(wendy stabs pencils into her eyes repeatedly)

The guys from Scruffy Bird and RadarMaker are all good.

I'm very happy with Sneak Attack, Myles Grosovsky(main), Jessi Hector, and Marni Wadner



represents: Marissa Nadler | Mötley Crüe | O’Death | Annuals | The Decemberists

An Horse | Mexican Summer | Matisyahu | Indieroad.net | Dan Auerbach

The Hours | The Sword | School of Seven Bells | Audrye Sessions | Dungen

East Hundred | Heartless Bastards | Varsity Fanclub | Dar Williams

Gigotron.com | Beast | Amadou & Mariam | Lydia | Paper Route



They respond quickly, and they're just about the only PR folks who email me :) oh and no spam ever.



Tart

I quite enjoyed getting this one today:

"Hi again, just trying to get your attention, and throw our song at you guys, If you no likey, I fully entitle you to punch me in the face. With your bad hand of course...."

Hey everybody, this problem with promo spam has really been a concern of mine for a long time (I get it too), so we're trying something new. I think, for the most part, we have always kept the eNews to one per release, and we will continue to send those. However, for other bits of info you may or may not want to keep track of, we are using a Tumblr feed which you can add to your RSS reader.

This way, we won't have to send out the volumes of information to your inbox (which our clients are always pushing us to do). Hopefully, this will keep them happy as well as leave you to take or leave what you find interesting. Short, sweet and to the point.

Subscribe here: http://theshed.tumblr.com/

Also, if you have any comments or suggestions, please feel free to send me a note at wendy(at)toolshed(dot)biz

Hey,

I know I"m new around here, but I've been on the forum for at least a while checking things out. I'm a PR person and I've always found this thread especially useful. Yesterday, I posted something on our company blog about how PR people can really be annoying at times when trying to communicate with bloggers. I've been in touch with some of the folks that I've been working with to get their opinions and I figured this thread would be a great place for getting even more feedback. Past all the brilliant comments that already live in this thread, I was just wondering if anyone has any other specific tidbits they want to share with me. We're going to be taking the best of the best and compile it into something useful for us and anyone else to reference.

xx
Zoe

Here's the link:
http://www.bigmethod.com/blog/missing-the-mark-how-can-we-be-doing-pr-better/

oh hey this thread

"let's rate people who give us free stuff on their stuff-giving abilities"

I'm a fan of anybody who sends me good music

If anyone wants to send me nice promo emails they can! ;)

thefouroh5@gmail.com
www.thefourohfive.com

Allo -

Just wrote a follow up post about sending quality PR notes to bloggers.

Here's the link: http://www.bigmethod.com/blog/the-golden-rules-of-blog-pr-12-music-bloggers-set-it-straight/

Thx to all who offered feedback

xx

Personally, I find I get goodness from a select few big labels (Vanguard/Sugar Hill, esp.), and an occasional shout from smaller ones. But man, folk cover blogging is a small niche; I get very little love -- a surprise, really, since most artists include ONE in an average album, and I'm always happy to post a live cover and then promote the album alongside.

Guess it's still more work to get to me with something I can use. That, and to be honest, I think many of my readers are older and old school, given my type of music -- as am I, to be fair. I still prefer CDs, for example, though I'm happy to work with either. And I've found myself actually explaining to a few older artists who live in, like, houseboats without internet access what I mean when I ask "is it ok to post one of your songs?" That's led to some great conversations, let me tell you.

That said: Craig, I envy your connections.

Labels, artists -- I may be a niche, I may not attend SXSW, and I may only get a couple thou readers per day, but assuming you check first to make sure I'm not a blogger interested in your newest crunk punk techno remix original (ugh), I await yer reply. ;-)

I usually like the emails I get from Force Field, if only for the fact that I like the majority of what they're promoting. It's Alive has always been very receptive about my requests for my artist interviews and I generally like what they send me. The majority of what I write about is not from press releases, as I do spend quite a bit of time (probably the majority of my time) on MySpace and other blogs seeking out bands. Press releases should have an MP3 link because I don't really like writing about someone and not posting an MP3.

I only hope I can see them live one day. They never come to the States!

I delete each and every one of them sight unseen.