Smart Rappers Get Paid! - Excerpt

8/12/2019 Smart Rappers Get Paid! - Excerpt

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Excerpt from Smart Rappers Get Paid!

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SMART

RAPPERS

GETPAID!The Common Sense Guide to

Creating, Marketing & Selling

Your Music

Miles J. Hughes


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MediaThe media consists of outlets for the screen, print

and radio. Within each are several sub-genres (e.g. web

series, blogs and podcasts) that are both represented by and

compete with the majors. Starting out, your best bet is to

build relationships with the smaller organizations before

attempting to get in with the big guys; remember that you

dont have a budget big enough to run the same race as a

Universal Music Group and if you play your cards right

you can look at that as an advantage. It will take time to get

established but if you follow my advice youll be better for

the process.

How do you build with someone in the media

organically? For starters theyre very peculiar (I know from

experiencing both sides of that argument) and can come

across as apathetic to your cause. It isnt necessarily

because they think your music is trash; theyve just grown


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be still doing to this day in the form of payola to

newspapermen, bloggers and DJs. *cough*

Since not only is payola illegal (and too costly for

young independents like yourself even if it wasnt), playing

to a writers interest in other ways will definitely get you

farther than not. Here is where a sense of creativity comes

into play and it shows that you are vested in your career. Is

your new EP called Atmosphere? Why not query a

blogger about setting up a contest where the winner gets a

free pair of Space Jam Jordans. You might be out of a

couple hundred dollars but you killed two birds with one

stone by building a relationship with that blogger and

getting precious eyes on your product that could wind up

more tickets or albums sold. It is important to recognize

that you will sometimes come out of pocket to advance

yourself; the goal is to learn when it is in your best favor to

do so.


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The second best way to gain traction with the media

is by happenstance. Now, a music writer accidentally

stumbling upon you and your music isnt quite the dice roll

it sounds like; most music critics attend a decent number of

shows per year, either for big, established artists on tour,

hip hop festivals or indie showcases, and this is a great way

to start laying the groundwork for a relationship. In other

words you need to be where they are. With the blog

explosion there are more opportunities for this than ever

before. Many times outlets will send interns or the new

guys out; even if it is not Elliot Wilson or Jon Caramanica

in the front row, treat them with the utmost respect because

you never know what that small time writer or outlet today

could turn into tomorrow. Even if they dont become

notable figures in the world of hip hop journalism, a

particularly good write up could pique the interest of their

copyeditor who in turn might pull you in for a profile piece.


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That highlights the last way a journalist is going to

care about you and what youre doing--by getting a

recommendation from someone else whose music taste

they trust. This could be anyone from the same media

outlet or another one, a random fans Facebook comment or

an in-the-know-but-below-the-radar blog they keep in the

stash to peel content from. Wherever the tip originates, it is

profoundly more effective than the mishandled tactics that

so many misinformed rappers try to use.

What it all boils down to is you dont seek the

media, the media seeks you. Your job is to make music that

attracts the fans and the fans will attract the press. When

the press is attracted, your job then becomes encouraging

relationships with them. That means you need to be

approachable. Im certain youve heard of rappers saying

that they dont do interviews or have dealings with the

press; dont be one of them because doing that is

counterproductive to getting the word out. In fact, you


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should be doing just the opposite and making yourself so

readily available that you are on the verge of saturating

every form of media out there (notice I said verge). The

game is hard, harder even than it has ever been and you are

competing for a very limited amount of attention; do not

waste a potential come up for the sake of being bourgeois.

Online- To summarize what I just said in the paragraphs

above, you should be buildingrelationships with the media

in as much a personable manner as possible. By default this

means that you should avoid the Im going to .mp3 bomb

every music contact I can get my mouse on mentality as

much as possible. Sometimes that just isnt possible. In the

beginning of your career you more than likely arent going

to be able to open up for a Wiz Khalifa and have a gang of

journalists accidentally coming across your music. Then

again, there may be media outlets that openly ask for indie

talent to submit music. Either way, you need to rise above

the others who forward tracks and pardon me if I bust your


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bubble but heres the truth in black and white: it doesnt

matter if your music is good or not; poor etiquette will

negate all that.

Reading RainbowThe biggest gripe (by far) Ive heard

from music journalists and bloggers are that too many

rappers dont follow submission guidelines well enough or

at all. By not doing this youre setting yourself up for

failure from the go because the penalty can range from your

content going up more slowly than those who followed the

rules to your music being outright trashed. In general, I

would say that you should take time researching a site well

in advance of you sending them music and before sending

anything see if you can create dialogue with the blogger.

This will put you miles ahead of most submissions because

you are proving that you arent putting your career on

autopilot and you care enough to show your personality to

the person on the other end of the exchange.


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Due Diligence- First, check for the journalist/bloggers

branded social media profile. Theres a whole host of

information you can gleam about them from doing this

such as how often they post updates and whether or not

they interact with listeners and other artists or simply use

the social profile as a means of broadcasting their message.

If the outlet is large enough theres bound to be an official

handle and often in the description of it an e-mail address

or URL directing you to the submission page of their site. If

the outlet is smaller or the person uses the profile

informally and theres no contact information listed, scan

their feed to see if theyve communicated with other artists

looking to send them anything. If still nothing, politely (and

that means NO CAPS) message them inquiring how to get

your song their way. Remember that youre dealing with a

real live someone who may be dealing with a hundred

thousand other requests and/or real life things and he or she

might not get back to you in as timely a fashion as you


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might like. This does not mean you need to badmouth him

or hit them all kinds of day and night, not even to ask when

youre going to be added to the rotation.

If you cannot find contact information on your own

visit their publications website. Music writers for

magazines and newspapers often have a blurb about them

at the bottom of their articles that give a quick snapshot

biography and it usually either has their social media

handle or an e-mail address. When sending

correspondence to their e-mail address you have to

remember that sending them anything unannounced is very

similar to running up on someones doorstep: they dont

know you or your intentions so they will be wary. Keep the

body of the email short and concisedont tell them your

life story. Give a quick look at who you are, where youre

from and why they should care about your music, no more

than 3-5 paragraphs long and preferably shorter. Also,

dont attach .mp3s to the email (as most offices have


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policies in place to prevent viruses) unless implicitly

requested; instead upload the song or mixtape to a file

sharing host like Sendspace or Mediafire. Finally, include

links back to your personal website and/or social network

profile.

The waiting game- Once youve made initial contact, wait

2-3 weeks before sending a follow-up email if you havent

seen or heard anything. In that email, briefly touch upon

why youre contacting the writer and invite him to share his

thoughts and criticisms on your music. This is so

conversation can develop and you stick out a little better

from the pack. There is a real chance that you may never

hear back from the person and never see your music go live

on their site. This is the reality of the game and one you

shouldnt be discouraged about. Move on to the next and

maybe one day soon theyll come around.


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Press kit A press kit is a collection of items meant to

showcase who you are to the fans, media and venues and

make it easier for them to decide to buy, talk about or bring

you in to play your music live. Basically it gives an

entryway to who you are and what you intend to do with

your music. Each piece of the press kit is useful for a

specific audience and the key to building a successful one

is to cater each piece to its respective audience. Whether

online or offline the purpose is the same and even with

social media taking a strong foothold in how artists interact

with their fans, the need for a good press kit will never go

away.

Press kit no-nos In my experience Ive seen several

mistakes made by artists creating their own press kits. The

first problem is that they dont know the proper format.

They might be on a Nas level with pen and pad in the

studio but this is a completely different arena and writing

your press kit like you do your tweets is a recipe for


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disaster because no one will take you seriously. Grammar is

important. Flow too. Your press kit needs to read well, not

necessarily like a novel, but it needs to make the person

reading it feel connected to you and what youre doing.

They need to give a damn about you out of the possible

stack of press kits they have in front of them. The music

could be the best theyve ever heard but poor press

materials is the mark of an amateur through and through.

The second biggest faux pas I see artists making

with their press kits is that they write in first person. This

isnt a diary entry; it is the spoken word about you and your

music that gets read oftentimes before your music gets

heard. The proper way to structure your press kit is through

a third person tone and if you want include blurbs about

yourself that coincides with what is being said.

The last epic fail I see in rappers press kits is the

formatting. Theres no hard and fast rule when it comes to


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bios or one sheets but when it comes to press releases there

is a definite way to do them for results. Ill touch on each

separately.

Bio The bio (short for biography) is usually the first thing

people see about you. There are different styles to writing it

(prose, factual, event-based, etc.) and they can range from a

couple hundred to a few thousand words. Prose is both the

easiest to write and the easiest to read because most people

are already familiar with reading stories and if you did

fairly well in your middle school literature class you should

have no trouble constructing one. I would suggest you aim

for 350-500 words in length. That will allow you to fully

detail everything about you and your music journey without

boring the reader to death. Think of it like a written mini-

documentary: how does it begin? What happens in the

middle? Where does it end? That sort of thing.


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The first paragraph should start with an eye-

catching sentence. You dont need to brag or boast, just be

original enough to capture attention past the first sentence

is enough. Then, talk about the different aspects of your

upbringing. Were you raised in a dilapidated slum or did

you fall in love in hip hop on the day of your Bar mitzvah?

Again, the object here isnt to make yourself larger-than-

life; your presence in the music and on stage is for that.

Connect with the reader and help get themselves out of the

way of wanting to book you, listen to you or go to your live

show.

Once youve crafted your bio, there are a couple

different ways you can spin it. You can add the full thing

anywhere you deem fit but you can also take from it for

your social networks like Twitter. They dont allow enough

characters for you to put the entire 500 word biography

theretrim it down to the best part and throw it up. Think

of it as Christmas lights on your house; dress it up and


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more people will want to stop by to take a look. I suggest

you write this first as it will help guide you along the rest.

Press release Press releases tend to be more formal and

structured than bios, mainly because of how they are

formatted. Whereas you could say anything you wanted to,

however you wanted to with a biography, not following

industry standardized protocol with press releases means

that it will get passed over. The word count of a press

release can exceed the limits of a bio but I wouldnt

recommend it be by much. 750 words is more than enough

space to do what you need to do.

Another way the press release differs from the

biography and one sheet is purpose. The only time you use

a press release is when you are announcing a major event

that you want the media to take notice of and possibly

broadcast for you. Instead of appearing on your website

(although you can put them there for archiving) or social


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network, these would be sent to where the press is: online

press release aggregators, news feed directories and even

individual publications that you have a relationship with.

Now that you know what one is, here is how you put one

together:

Release timing Commonly referred to as the embargo

date or hold request date. This is when you want your

information disseminated or articles based on your

information given to the public. Use IMMEDIATE

RELEASE if you want it to go live as soon as possible or

HOLD FOR RELEASE UNTIL (date) if you want a

specific date before it goes live. Dont be mad if it doesnt

get honored, though.

Target This is the journalist, editor or department you

want to have your information. When sending to a news

outlet your press release can be bounced around a while

before reaching the intended partythis will speed up that


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process. Use ATTENTION before MUSIC EDITOR or

URBAN LIFESTYLE DEPT.

Headline/Title This is a place you should spend a little

time to make sure your title pops and grabs attention. Keep

the title short and catchy with the reader in mind: they go

through a lot of these in a short amount of time and

anything you can do to stay fresh on their minds is a good

thing. Use all CAPS here too.

Sub-headline You dont absolutely need to do this part but

I like to take every opportunity I have to pull the journalist

in a little farther. Expand on the title and give a quick

overview of what the press release is going to talk about.

No caps necessary here.

Location Where the event is taking place. This is good for

those who just want to eyeball the important details before

deciding whether or not it is relevant to their publication.


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Introductory paragraph This is where you start getting to

the meat of the press release and just like the title and in

your bio, come with both guns out. Usually I reword the

bios introduction a bit and put it in here, fattening it up

where need be. It doesnt have to be a long paragraph, just

a good one that by the end of it will give the reader enough

information to make an informed decision on you and your

news.

Secondary paragraph This is the meat of the press release

and here is where you go into detail about what the whole

thing is about. Whether its an announcement of your new

project being completed or a show youre performing, give

as much detail as you can about the announcement and be

sure to include release dates, event hours or special

instructions needed. Still try to be as tight as possible when

writing this section; minor details can be given in the

paragraphs after this one.


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Subsequent paragraphs - This is where the minor details

and supporting information goes. Feel free to include

quotes from other notable people about you or your music

and any other information that would be good to know

about your goings on here.

For Further Information Close it all out here with the

name, telephone number and e-mail address of your

manager, booking agent or yourself so that if the media

wants to contact you, they can.

One sheet A one sheet is a mixture of a bio and a press

release. They tend to be less story-like compared to

traditional biographies yet more casual than standard press

releases. Creating a good one sheet means that you will

keep the message short and sweet. The word count for

these rarely go further than 500 words and at least one

picture is usually involved.


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You can write brand new copy for your one sheet

but in all honesty you dont have to. Review your bio and

snatch particularly good bits from it. The only rule here is

that it reads well and it doesnt take up more than 250

words so you will have room for what you take from the

press release.

When I write one, the top third of the page is

usually where I put what Ive pulled from the bio. The

middle section is where I put what Ive pulled from the

press release. The bottoms where I put up links to current

music videos or music download links. The footer (the very

bottom most of the one sheet) is for the official website or

social media links and publicist/management contact

information. I know its obvious but I feel it still needs to

be said: a one sheet needs to be able to fit on ONE SHEET.

If you have to, make the font smaller (10-12px) or change

the font entirely (Times New Roman or Courier works

best) but keep everything on the same page.


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The next level Most of what used to be real paper and

ink can be done on the web by the way of an electronic

press kit (EPK). There are a couple different ideas of what

an EPK is that range from a video montage to everything I

outlined above only in digital format and downloadable via

a Word or Adobe Acrobat readable document. I would

suggest that you have the best of all three worlds; have the

tangible version for the old school heads who need to touch

paper, the digital version distributable via a handy

hyperlink and a visual presentation for those not interested

in reading anything.

Additional stuff Unless a journalist specifically asks you

(or there is a general blanket go-ahead stated somewhere)

to send them a physical copy of your CD, posters or other

merchandise, dont do it. He will either toss it in the trash

or give it away on his site but more than likely it will end

up being wasted money for you.


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Started from the bottom Incorporating everything listed

above into an action plan is how you would begin building

media awareness. The action plan should start small and

expand outward until youve covered the entire world. This

will take a good amount of time to do and I wouldnt

expect you to be able to do this in the life cycle of a single

project starting out so tuck this in your back pocket for

later. Remember that this is a lifestyle and it takes

commitment.

Start small by taking over your town. Whether large

or small, most towns have some form of local press and

you should either pick up a copy of the newspaper or

browse their website. The goal is to find the music review

section and whoever pens the album and live show reviews.


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Smart Rappers Get Paid! - Excerpt

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