Press coverage through music media is an integral part of a solid music promotion strategy. Any exposure you get through media outlets allows you to, for example:

• promote a video clip,
• feed your press kit,
• reach a new niche of people who might particularly like your music,
• gain credibility with music industry professionals but also with the public,
• communicate on social media and show that your music is talked about,
• increase the referencing of your musical project on Google.

But how to get media shares? That’s what this article is about, because Groover allows artists to get in touch directly with the music media that might like their music.

1. Wait a minute, what is Groover?

Groover is a platform which connects emerging artists to music curators and industry professionals: record labels, journalists, media outlets… Groover has more than 2,000 active music curators active on the platform, including Birp.fm, Dummy Magazine, Kitsuné, Cracki Records, Rolling Stone, Putumayo, Roche Musique, The AU Review, Breaking Sound… The goal is to help new talents get access to more people, advice and coverage so they can make their project evolve. For that, as an artist you need to have a project to present – songs and more if you like such as videos, pictures – and send it to professionals who your proposal might seduce. They committed to giving you feedback, and maybe more if they have a crush on your music. For example, you may get media coverage or reviews if you are targeting journalists and blogs.

2. How important is media and press coverage?

By media and press coverage, we are talking about what the media outlets, blogs, magazines, journalists can do for you: articles, reviews, interviews, videos… In short, everything that could develop your notoriety and makes you gain visibility, audience, and opportunities towards a new audience.

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3. Are the press and the media still relevant for discovering new talents?

No secret here, the power of the press and the media outlets is diminishing in favor of new channels of influence. However:

• Getting press support is sometimes also guaranteed to have your song included in a super influential playlist. For instance, this NPR playlist helped Pastel Coast’s Sunset grow organically on Spotify and reach over +80,000 streams.
• There is a big difference between discovering and consuming. Music consumption does indeed happen a lot on streaming platforms. But even if you end up listening to a song repeatedly on Spotify, you may have first discovered it while shopping (thanks Shazam), watching a movie, listening to the radio in your car – and these are just a few examples. Blog posts and radio shows always have an engaged audience that can spread the word and create that snowball effect that pushes artists into the spotlight, even if it’s a niche.
• Blog posts and radio shows also give you legitimacy as an artist. Other people outside of your family and friends like your music and share their opinions, which is amazing. More importantly, these people listen to music all day and have fallen in love with your music. You can communicate about these press releases in your electronic press kit (or EPK), on your social networks, which will show the quality of your music and will naturally lead more and more people to be interested in your music. Getting more exposure for your music is like a snowball: everything you get adds up and helps make your music project an even bigger, rolling, impossible-to-miss snowball.

4. How to contact the media outlets via Groover?

It’s very easy! First, you need to indicate what your targets are and add a listening link to your music. Then, you need to identify the media outlets and music pros who might like your music. Logically, if you make rap music, the chances of Dummy Magazine – a reference for hip hop – liking your track are higher than, say… Rolling Stone’s journalists. To make your curators and pros selection consistent, put yourself in the shoes of a journalist. You can also use various filters to help you navigate the list of curators available. You can read this article for all the technical details about how Groover works. Yes, we thought about everything! 

5. Is Groover more helpful to young independent artists than the traditional way of hiring a press agent?

First of all, using Groover and hiring a press agent are not contradictory. Using both is simply multiplying your chances of getting press coverage.The core is more about budget and timing.

The value of Groover lies in multiple factors that are cumulative:

• Groover helps you connect with music curators and professionals worldwide – with solid communities in France, Italy, UK, Europe, Brazil, USA, Canada, Latin America, etc. A significant portion of them are Spotify playlist curators, and you can launch campaigns to promote your music at any time, even 6 months after your release. Traditional press relations missions are usually very limited in time and PR agents ask for a minimum number of months before release to get ready
• The guarantee that your music will be listened to and that you will receive feedback – something that press agents don’t always have time to do.
• The consequence is the possibility of getting a lot  of responses and therefore many sharing opportunities – the average sharing rate on Groover is 20%. Of course, it varies a lot depending on the targeting made and the quality of the project. More than 1,600 music curators and professionals are currently active on Groover, and you can choose the ones you want to connect with according to your music genre, your country, etc. Since Groover was founded, more than 1.2 million pieces of feedback have been given to artists.
• Groover is an excellent tool to promote the release of a single when you don’t have a big budget but still want to give it a nice boost because you care about your release.

• Groover can also help you get in touch with labels, publishers, managers, and sound engineers. It is not limited to the promotion of your release.

• The difference is also in the price and budget, of course. We often recommend contacting at least 50 curators to get good results – an investment of about €90-100, but you can start with as little as €10 – more information here. Hiring a press officer rarely costs less than €1,000 and can be 10 times that amount. Of course, the service provided is not the same and the impact depends on your music and the type of curators and pros you are targeting.

6 – What’s the best way to pitch music to journalists and media outlets?

The next obvious step is to pitch your music to journalists, which can be done with 3 main principles: stay simple, precise, and direct. 

Let’s imagine you’ve identified the journalist/media outlet who seems to be in the best position to appreciate your music and you want to send them your new song. Start by introducing yourself and your project in a few words/sentences and skillfully mentioning the people you work with, like your record label or your manager for instance. You can also tell more about your influences. No need to mention that the brief saxophone sound we hear at 2 minutes and 17 seconds was done by X or Y. Focus on what’s important. Next, write a catchy and short text in which you make your listener want to listen to your track – but don’t overdo it. Finally, end your message with an opening that could redirect journalists to the rest of your work – another song, your Instagram page if you post excerpts… And don’t forget to include clickable links so that journalists can learn more about you, your project and your music.

If the subject of your release is about one of your songs, opt for a brief presentation – which can also be in the form of a short explanation – while taking care to mention the people you worked with: label (if you have one), musicians, beatmakers etc. If the music you’re submitting is extracted from a longer project (EP, LP, mixtape…), don’t forget to add a listening link to the full project if it is available. If not, be sure to indicate its release date. Also, introduce your next deadlines at the end of the text, such as upcoming concerts or another single to come.

7. Preparation: your press kit/press release and your press pics should be ready in advance

You know who to address, you also know how to pitch your music… but it’s not over. One more step to making your strategy a success: the very well-known press kit. The press kit is a seduction tool. Let’s summarize by simply saying that the idea of a press kit is to be noticed, to make the reader want to see you and to make your artistic touch stand out. Don’t forget, sobriety is the mother of safety in a press kit.

8. Support your music with a video to stand out and show your universe

We haven’t covered one more detail, and nowadays, it has become a must-have: accompany your music with a video if you can. It isn’t easy to give you precise advice. It is your sensibility and your creativity that will be tested. Let your imagination run wild. And if it doesn’t come straight away, you can have a look at these tips for small budgets.

9. Leverage your media coverage to promote your music even more

By following these tips to promote your music, journalists and media outlets should respond to you, positively or negatively. All the more if you use Groover to get in touch with them.

If you’ve managed to get articles about your latest album, video or song, don’t let those great words about you die online. Collect them and use them to finalize your communication strategy. Feel free to include them in your press kit by including one or two sentences, the ones you think will make people want to hear your music the most. Don’t forget to mention the magazine or blog on which these articles are hosted, they will appreciate it for sure. The more you are noticed, the more you will be seen! 

We hope you’ve found this guide helpful, and we’re looking forward to welcoming you on Groover to put those ideas into practice.

Contact the best media and music professionals now via Groover ⬇️