Album publicity for artists operating within exploratory music of various kinds is our specialty at Riparian Media. Since 2018, we’ve provided support for over 70 commercial releases, many of which are from return clients.
The average time-span for an album campaign lasts approximately four months and typically begins three months prior to the album’s release date. That being said, given the volume of requests for publicity, it’s advisable to contact us at least 6 months prior to your projected release date as the schedule fills up quickly.
Below is a list of what we’ll need to get started on an album campaign. It’s far easier to get this all of this at once in one single GoogleDrive or Dropbox folder.
– The mastered audio for the album in a 44.1kHz/ 16-bit (or higher) uncompressed format (either AIFF or WAV)
– The album’s front cover as a high-res SQUARE JPEG.
– The album’s full artwork in PDF format—one page per panel of the artwork
– High resolution press photo(s) for the group or primary artist(s) with photographer credit
– The group/ primary artists’ up-to-date long-form bio and full CV.
– Any key information about the material featured on the recording (artistic process, inspiration etc.). Program notes for contemporary compositions are appreciated for context as well.
– If applicable, a list of all funding bodies that supported the recording (and links to logos if they’re outside of the usual Canadian municipal, provincial and national organizations such as FACTOR, Canada Council, Arts Nova Scotia, Toronto Arts Council)
– If applicable, we also need to coordinate with your label in terms of formulating a promotional strategy.
The work we do encompasses the following:
1. Writing the press release—formulating/ strategizing the narrative for the release, gathering salient biographical bits to include on the artist’s behalf (from their bio, CV, and online coverage) as well as finding suitable press quotes pertaining to the artist’s previous output.
2. Making / hosting a digital promo package. This includes embedding the necessary metadata into the album audio (and converting it as necessary), sourcing/ converting photographs and album artwork, and crafting a concise paragraph derived from the press release to accompany it.
3. Compiling a list of suitable outlets and individuals to send it to from my existing contact database (which includes over 5000 addresses—a number that is growing daily) while also researching new contacts to send it to. This latter element is based on various factors: the artist’s coverage history, media outlets that are local/regional to the artist (or their original hometown), thematic features of the recording, instrumentation, other relevant features — artistic, identity-related, otherwise.
4. Pitching the digital package to the list above, while also providing physical copies (typically around 50) of the album (and press release) to select contacts, as needed.
5. Following up with the various media contacts, orchestrating freelancer-outlet collaborations and relaying specific coverage angles to writers and outlets.
6. Maintaining a running list of the coverage that’s been achieved through contact with outlets/ writers and routine searches on Google, Bing, Duckduckgo, Startpage, Spinitron (which compiles radio play) and various websites of individual outlets.
7. If requested, advising clients regarding interview techniques, release date/ format, social media posts, and ad purchases. Providing letters of support for funding applications. Extracting press quotes on the artists’ behalf. We can also provide resources on how to pitch to Spotify’s playlists.
8. Re-writing artists bios, applying for awards, providing visual assets for social media, securing digital distribution via LANDR and additional physical distribution through quidco. Additional fees for these services apply (and, if applicable, we require you to reimburse any costs).
9. Depending on the nature of the music we are promoting, clients may also elect to have us engage additional promotional services such as SubmitHub and EarShot Distro. While we do not charge additional service fees for these options, clients are required to reimburse us for the costs associated with them.
10. If clients are releasing a physical format that’s not on CD, we can assist with the process of having a batch of promo CD’s manufactured. We recommend this as many reviewers prefer a physical disc. Additional charges will apply for making the .DDP file ($50). You will also be responsible for the cost of manufacturing.
Some helpful things to know in advance:
1. An album’s official release date has more to do with the process of acquiring visibility for the album than anything else. Album release dates are always on Fridays. Yes, it is a weird convention but there’s a lot of media coverage that revolves around this model of new stuff coming out on Fridays, so it’s better to work within those constraints. As such, the date of your release concert and the official release date do not need to coincide. It’s good to have them close to one another but especially after the emergence of COVID, and the crisis around turnaround times for new vinyl release, this timing tends to be flexible.
2. It’s best to avoid releasing your music between American Thanksgiving and the end of January. During that time, journalists tend to be preoccupied with year-end coverage and then they’re taking holiday time. The fall, February and March are far better times to put work out.
3. Having some sort of physical promotional product is recommended especially for contemporary music and jazz-adjacent artists. Many reviewers in those fields still require they be sent CDs.
Please contact us for further information, samples, and to request pricing. Please also feel free to browse our gallery of supported albums (click on the covers for information and coverage lists).
Riparian Media 