When Music Industry Publicity Goes Wrong

Where there is fame, fortune and publicity, there will also be ample rumor and controversy. Clive Davis and Kelly Clarkson are no exception to this rule. One would assume that an artist's recording label would be among the people who are most invested in bettering their client's career and public reputation. However, that was clearly not the case in the situation of Clarkson and her long-time record producer, Clive Davis. Considerable controversy has swirled around the release of the American Idol alum's third album "My December," which was allegedly the culmination of Davis and Clarkson's creative differences. 

In Davis' recently released memoir "The Soundtrack of My Life," he publicly ousted Clarkson's songwriting abilities and overall mental stability. Regardless of whether or not the aforementioned accusations were even accurate, the sheer fact that an accomplished, well-respected music industry executive would be willing to publicly defame one of his very own clients is utterly appalling to me. I am not going to delve any deeper into this Davis/Clarkson debacle because I am not in a position to say whose accusations were, in fact, truthful. 

This post was not meant to perpetuate rumors surrounding Davis and Clarkson's creative parting, it is, however, meant to suggest an alternative producer-client relationship that the recording industry should pattern their publicity efforts after. It would not be fitting of me to have a blog dedicated to recording industry promotion and publicity techniques if I did not address the issues of crisis communication and reputation management within the music industry. As I mentioned before, it would be very difficult to manage the careers of famous singers and musicians, who are constantly subjected to public scrutiny, without incurring any minimal reputational damages along the way. 

Armed with this knowledge, music industry professionals should prepare themselves for negative publicity surrounding their clients, all the while hoping for consistently positive publicity. Music publicists do not, however, have to fall victim to these "publicity stunts." Addressing the issues of crisis communication and reputation management is, in fact, one of the many pivotal moments where public relations is absolutely essential to the success of the music and recording industry. 

In order to avoid incurring any unnecessary reputational damages in the case of their clients, music industry public relations professionals should, first and foremost, keep a watchful eye on social media platforms and industry-related Internet publications. With all of its benefits and opportunities, the Internet can also be one of the most negative and quickly spreading rumor generators within the mass media sphere. However, if public relations practitioners are consistently monitoring client media mentions, they can respond quickly and quell any defamatory rumors before they begin. 

In the event that controversies do in fact take wings, there are steps to be taken to minimize exposure and diminish reputational damage. The key to addressing client misrepresentations and untruths is to address them head on, and with complete honesty. Public relations professionals should never "spin" or misrepresent the truth, even if it is in the best interests of their clients. Many times, the only "leg" that a public relations practitioner has to stand on, in the event of a crisis, is his or her professional reputation and, as a result, there is no client or crisis that is worth compromising such a valuable professional reputation. 

Country Goes Social: Featuring Jason Aldean and Carrie Underwood

As I explained in my previous post, public relations and grass-roots media efforts are one of the quickest ways to garner attention and generate buzz within the music industry. Well it seems that two country artists and one awards show have taken that very same advice by increasing their social media engagement with their fans this month. Jason Aldean, Carrie Underwood and the ACM Awards show have recently delved just a little bit deeper into the vast world of social media. 

Only 4 days ago on February 19th, Jason Aldean tweeted a picture that would ultimately change the music industry's entire approach to social media. In honor of the weekly Twitter trend #ThrowbackThursday (even though the tweet was sent on Tuesday) and his newest single "1994," Aldean posted a photo (shown below) of himself dating back to his early years in 1994. Along with the candid shot, Aldean included the caption, "OK, guys: THIS is what I looked like in #1994. REAL cool, huh?" Aldean's highly anticipated song "1994" is a tribute to many popular artists and smash hits from the 90s country era. 

What Aldean did not expect, was for his one, photo-embedded tweet to trigger a viral "Twitter epidemic" of fellow country artists and fans tweeting their favorite 90s pose to his Twitter page. Country artists such as Luke Bryan, Keith Urban, Dierks Bentley, Kix Brooks, Tim McGraw and Lady Antebellum's Hillary Scott all joined in on Aldean's "Throwback" fun. Today, nearly 4 days later, Aldean is still receiving tweets and 90s poses by the droves. 

This example alone demonstrates the significant impact that strategic social media efforts can have upon fan loyalty, as well as record and concert sales. Now, thanks to one, single tweet that took only minutes to compose, millions of people all across the nation will be scrambling to get their hands, or keyboards, on a copy of Aldean's latest album, "Night Train." Hats off to Aldean and his genius PR team for this brilliant example of social media promotion!

Similar to Aldean, Carrie Underwood has also taken it upon herself to start a "social media revolution" with mere photos as well. Instead of using the popular Twitter platform, Mrs. Underwood has decided to be a "game changer" within the music industry and begin using the hot, new photo editing and publishing app, Instagram. Since joining on February 14th, Underwood has already racked up more than 52,000 followers on the photo sharing platform. 

While Underwood has only committed to following a mere six people herself, including Oprah and Lady Antebellum's Hillary Scott, she has, however, fully committed to regularly uploading pictures and, as a result, giving the public a "little glimpse" into her personal life. Underwood has already photo documented her lunch (a veggie burger, of course), her dog and a highly popular picture of her backstage, wearing an oxygen mask (apparently necessary in the case of high altitudes). Sheesh, talk about getting personal! Apparently Underwood's fans are also oxygen mask fans, because that picture alone garnered more than 10,000 likes within the span of one day. I might even sport an oxygen mask if I thought I would get that much attention! Way to be social, Carrie!

The Academy of Country Music (ACM Awards) has also recently joined the social media revolution that is spreading like wildfire within the music and recording industry. In a news release earlier this month, the ACM's announced that they would be introducing a new type of award presenter this year called the "fannouncer." The "fannouncer" (coined by a CMT writer) is selected from among self-submitted videos of fans announcing their picks for this year's "Entertainer of the Year" award. 

If you happen to choose the correct winner of the 2013 "Entertainer of the Year" award (which is based on fan votes), you and your video could have a chance to be featured live on the 48th Annual Academy of Country Music awards! For more information regarding the contest and video submissions, please visit CMT's website.

Thanks for tuning in to this edition of "Country Goes Social!" Leave me a comment and let me know if you have any other excellent examples that you would like to see featured within the next edition of "Country Goes Social."

Generating Buzz: Music Industry Promotion and Publicity

As a mainstream public relations practitioner and communicator, I receive quite a few inquisitive looks, misinterpretations and negative comments when I begin discussing the topic of public relations within the music industry. Most people who are uninvolved with the inner workings of the recording industry are completely unaware of how records and concert tickets are sold and promoted, much less how artists and recording labels actually generate their revenue. The general public is often guilty of assuming that music naturally sells itself and positive artist publicity simply "falls from the sky." Entertainment industry public relations practitioners and recording industry professionals, however, know that the previous assumption could be nothing further from the truth. 

In the past, the recording industry did rely heavily upon sheer album sales and marketing-based promotion to support their growing revenue streams. This, of course, was long before the highly competitive, digital music market had emerged, and music was still solely distributed by local, homegrown record stores and corporate retailers. In today's overpopulated, every-man-for-himself music market, basic marketing and advertising methods will simply not generate enough album and tour sales to support the recording industry's shrinking digital profit margin. 

The truth be told, talent simply isn't the measure of success anymore. With all of the opportunities for exposure and publicity that digital distribution and the Internet has afforded the music industry, it has also become somewhat of a double-edged sword, rendering a very limited music market overrun with innumerable, self-made hopefuls garnering for the same portion of the market as the legendary music icons. In most cases, the only way to "stand out of the crowd" is to generate enough "buzz" surrounding the artist and their music through innovative public relations methods and grass-roots efforts. 

Through the use of the Internet and social media, public relations practitioners and publicists have more weapons in their "exposure arsenals" than ever before. Although many artists have successfully handled their own public relations and marketing efforts, most large-market recording labels have learned to rely on the power of exposure and third-party endorsements garnered by experienced, entertainment industry public relations firms. With the evident decrease in album sales, recording labels have no choice but to turn to the avenues of media relations and social media marketing. 

However, not all media relations and public relations efforts are created equal. The key concepts that lead to success within music industry public relations, for example, are quite different when compared to techniques used within mainstream public relations work. Effective media relations within the music industry are dependent upon a keen knowledge of the inner-workings of music industry publications and news outlets. Public relations practitioners must be familiar with journalists covering music industry beats to determine whether or not their particular client or story is suited for that respective journalists' news assignment and expertise.

The real secret to generating music industry buzz is learning to harness the influence of social media by engaging influential bloggers and fans. By reaching out to professional music industry bloggers, freelance bloggers and fan sites, public relations professionals can garner coveted third-party endorsements through album and concert reviews, as well as engage loyal fans that will generate album buzz through word-of-mouth marketing. With an engaged fan base and loyal social media following, music industry buzz can be generated surrounding a new album release within a matter of mere days.   

With the right buzz, recording labels can quickly build a loyal fan base, generate positive publicity surrounding an artist or album release and, last but not least, increase record, concert and merchandise sales significantly. As a result, it seems clear to me that public relations-rooted promotion is the obvious choice for a struggling music and recording industry. The recording industry should harness the power of both traditional and new media to their benefit, not their eventual deficit. It is for these reasons that I strongly advocate an industry-wide shift from marketing-based promotional and publicity methods to promotional techniques that are strongly rooted within the public relations discipline. 

Best of the 2013 Grammy Awards

Considering the subject matter of this blog (music industry public relations), I thought it would be appropriate to include a post featuring the top performances from this year's 55th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. According to Nielson data, audiences greater than 28 million people were attentively watching yesterday's Grammy Awards, making it the award show's second-largest audience since 1993. Although there were many stunning performances throughout the star-studded evening, these particular performances stood-out-of-the-crowd for me. 

1. Carrie Underwood, "Blown Away" and "Two Black Cadillacs"

Please excuse the poor video quality; surprisingly, YouTube's morning-after video coverage of the Grammys was quite limited. This video actually begins with a Grammy performance from country artist, Hunter Hayes. Rest assured though, Underwood's stunning performance begins exactly one minute and 10 seconds into the video. 

Despite Underwood's rather distracting psychedelic ball-gown, her precise vocals on this compilation performance of her two top ten hits, "Blown Away" and "Two Black Cadillacs," make this Grammy performance absolutely stunning nonetheless. Underwood's vulnerable, stripped-down delivery of "Blown Away" is a true accolade to her unlimited vocal capacity, even amid intimidating performance atmospheres such as the Grammys. A true testament to her vocal ability and success as an artist, Underwood racked up two separate Grammy awards at this year's Grammys alone. Based on her success with the single "Blown Away," Underwood received awards for "Best Country Song" and "Best Country Solo Performance." 

2.  Kelly Clarkson, "Tennessee Waltz" and "Natural Woman"

As a tribute to the two "Lifetime Achievement Award" honorees, Patti Page and Carole King, Clarkson performed their most popular songs, "Tennessee Waltz" and "Natural Woman" respectively. With an impeccable vocal and evident sense of security with the musical era, Clarkson delivered a memorable performance that even Carole King and the late Patti Page would appreciate. 

3. Kelly Clarkson, "Catch My Breath"

Clarkson's performance of her top 20 hit, "Catch My Breath," demonstrates her versatility as an artist, transitioning from a previous inspiring delivery of "The Tennessee Waltz" to the infectious, pop-quality dance anthem that is featured within this video clip. Clarkson has demonstrated through her diverse musical accomplishments that she is not just a "pop" or "country" artist; she is a highly successful crossover artist or, better yet, a musical chameleon. During the Grammy Awards last night, Clarkson also received an award for "Best Pop Vocal Album" based on the success of her fifth studio album, "Stronger."

4. Miranda Lambert, "Over You"

Lambert's tender delivery of her hit, "Over You," garnered her much attention during last night's 55th Annual Grammy Awards. Co-written by Lambert and her equally famous, country-singer husband, Blake Shelton, "Over You" was written as a memorial to Shelton's older brother, who was killed in a car accident when Shelton was just a teenager. Concerned about his deep emotional connection to the song, Shelton felt that the song would be better suited for his talented wife, Miranda. 

Lambert and Shelton have already picked up a previous award for "Song of the Year" during last year's CMA Awards. "Over You" has also enjoyed considerable success under the direction of Shelton's vocal protégé, Cassidy Pope. Pope was the 2012 winner of NBC's hit talent competition, "The Voice," where Shelton is also a returning celebrity coach. 

Other noteworthy awards went out to Little Big Town for "Best Country Duo/Group Performance" on their number-one hit, "Pontoon." The Zac Brown Band also took home a Grammy for "Best Country Album," based on the success of their third major-label studio album, "Uncaged." 

I believe that about wraps up my review of the 55th Annual Grammy Awards; look for future award reviews in the months to come, as we count down to the ACM Awards in April. Random humor of the night: It wasn't until I was composing the final paragraph of this post that I realized that all of the featured performers were female. I must be more biased than I previously gave myself credit for. I hope you enjoyed this debut edition of an award show reflection and review. Leave me a comment with your favorite performances of the night!

Record Revelation: Hattiesburg, MS Tornado

As you may have noticed, I have been trying out a few new things on the blog this week. I am always open for suggestions, so be sure to leave a comment and let me know what you think about the new additions! Today, I would like to introduce a new blog segment entitled "Record Revelation." 

"Record Revelation" will be a weekly, or whenever inspiration strikes, blog segment featuring inspirational and career-focused quotes that are targeted towards either the music industry or the public relations/communication discipline. This weekly segment provides professionals with a short, uplifting anecdote that includes useful industry-related information and tips, without forcing readers to dredge through 1,000 plus words. 

Today's debut edition of "Record Revelation," however, will cover a slightly different subject matter than the future editions of this segment will cover. In light of the damaging effects of yesterday's tornado in Hattiesburg, MS, I thought it would only be fitting to devote this entire segment to the tornado damage and recovery efforts currently transpiring within the city. This destructive, nearly mile-wide tornado reeked havoc on at least 100 buildings and residences, including a substantial portion of the University of Southern Mississippi's campus. 

While this issue is near and dear to my heart, considering it came dangerously close to my home and devastated parts of my school's campus, the storm still affected dozens of other innocent Hattiesburg residents. While the rain still continues to pelt the debris-littered ground, students and residents desperately try to piece together the pieces of what once was. The rain is forecasted to fall without hope of sunshine for the next couple of days, making it difficult for recovery crews to assess and clear the damage. Residents and officials from all over the state, however, have willingly poured out their time and resources to aid in recovery efforts. We truly live in a great state, a state that really cares. 

As I was gathering material to compose this post, I came across this anonymous quote on Pinterest that I thought was particularly relevant to this post. 

Just as this quote illustrates, the current damaging effects that the city of Hattiesburg and the University of Southern Mississippi are enduring is not their destination or future, but merely their current path. We will rebuild, restore and recover as one city, united under a devotion to each other and our beloved eagles. 

Here are a few images of the storm damage to USM's campus and many surrounding residences and businesses. The following images were derived from Facebook; all rights belong to Matt Bush. 

As you go about your everyday activities today, please remember to pray for the less-fortunate who were affected by the deadly aftermath of yesterday's tornado in Hattiesburg. 

The Public Relations Approach to Music Promotion

From the outside looking in, it may appear that the music and recording industry functions like a well-oiled machine, a machine that, in theory, runs free from any significant administrative and creative strategical input. In reality, however, the recording industry requires significant contributions from experts within various different facets of the music promotion process. After all, platinum selling records are not mass-produced on some sort of "musical conveyor belt," programmed with one-size-fits-all promotional tactics that are guaranteed to catapult the record, and the artist themselves, into industrial stardom.

Countless talented artists, songwriters and musicians have gone unnoticed by the public with no immediate hope of ever breaking into the mainstream music scene. Success and notoriety are not guaranteed and, unfortunately, talent is not always a consistent measure of record sales. If talent is not an accurate predictor of record sales then what is? The answer is simple, advertising and promotion.

Similar to any other industry, the recording industry requires a little help from its friends in advertising and public relations in order to function effectively and achieve their primary target objective: to sell millions of records. The concept of "good music" selling itself is an ideal concept, but, unfortunately, it is not quite feasible within today's overpopulated music market. Artists have to "stand out of the crowd" in order to get noticed and attain merely a fraction of their musical genre's market.

The trick to succeeding within this cutthroat music industry is, as you may have guessed, traditional public relations methods guised as music promotion and artist publicity measures. In the past, the music industry has relied heavily upon antiquated marketing and advertising measures that may have been effective 15 years ago, but they have long since outgrown their prime. The modern-day version of recording industry music promotion and artist publicity is, fairly simply, collaborated public relations and marketing efforts, with an emphasis on public relations within the recording label decision-making hierarchy.

Public relations based music promotion and artist publicity tactics will, in my opinion, help the music industry to harness and employ the alterations occurring as a result of the industry's transition to digital distribution and promotion. Consumer engagement havens such as blogs, Facebook, Twitter and iTunes are simply too successful and frequently used to ignore. Public relations-rooted promotion is, indeed, capable of handling and optimizing social media and music sharing platforms that will eventually prove to be instrumental to the music industry's digital success.

In the future, I hope to see a significant paradigm shift or transition within the recording industry's preferred methods of music promotion and artist publicity. I expect to see an increase in promotional tactics that are rooted within the public relations discipline and, as a result, a decrease in alternative promotional methods such as marketing and advertising. Considering the industry's current restrictive financial situation, the comparison of earned media (public relations) as opposed to paid media (marketing) is a real "no brainer."

A Promotional Tug-of-War: PR vs. Marketing

Since we have addressed the annual advertising phenomenon known as the Super Bowl, we can now move on to the "good stuff," music industry public relations of course. What else could it be? Ever since the rise of PR's popularity and increased usage, there has been an air of tension brewing amongst the public relations and marketing/advertising disciplines. Although some seasoned professionals from both arenas have looked past the petty competitiveness and recognized the potential for collaboration, the two professions remain generally at-large with one another, and most still perpetuate a subtle distaste for each other.

Is this deep-seated disfavor rooted in a fear of professional legitimacy? Possibly. Do some professionals think that the success of one discipline will eventually equate the demise of the other? Most Likely. Do some professionals from each arena believe that their profession is superior to the competition? Definitely.

Before you jump on the criticism bandwagon, this post is not intended to determine which professional discipline- marketing or public relations- is superior or more effective than the other. It is, however, meant to determine, or merely suggest, which promotional discipline is most adept at addressing the current state of the music and recording industry. I am, as you know, of a public relations educational background, therefore I am slightly partial to the public relations discipline, however, I am fully aware and respective of the many positive aspects that the marketing profession contributes to the public relations disciplines' many deficiencies, and vice versa. No profession is perfectly self-sufficient. We thrive through collaboration with other neighboring and complimentary professional disciplines. For example, where would the music video production business be without the original musical contribution of recording artists, engineers and producers? Nowhere, that's where. Continuing on...

Although the two promotional professions are very similar in purpose, they are, in fact, quite different in approach. The marketing and advertising profession, for example, is largely devoted to acquiring effective "paid-media" opportunities such as Internet, television, radio and print advertisements that promote a specific business or organization, as well as any associated products and services. This type of promotional approach has proven to be effective for various types of businesses and organizations, although it is extremely costly and, often times, difficult for many small businesses to afford.

In contrast, the public relations profession is primarily dedicated to garnering "earned-media" mentions such as newspaper articles, press releases, press conferences, trade magazine articles, interviews, industry-related publicity, public service announcements, word-of-mouth advertising and charity affiliations. This is not meant to insinuate that the public relations profession does not dabble in "paid-media" opportunities, however, it is based- in theory- on the utilization of "earned-media" promotional and publicity tactics. Now, you might be beginning to understand the ensuing competition and dissension between the two disciplines. After all, they are, indeed, both dedicated to the same purpose: promotion.

When two competing professional disciplines scramble after the same profit margin, desired commodity and end result, the potential for opposition is unavoidable. Think about it. They both want the same thing; all promotional efforts from both disciplines boil down to one, single commodity, audience and consumer approval. There is, however, one fundamental difference in the way these two disciplines measure their definition of success.

Traditionally, the marketing discipline has been primarily dominated by sales and figures. As a marketing professional, if you don't meet your sales quota for the month, you are, as they say in the business world, "history." Public relations, on the other hand, is largely dedicated to building and maintaining strategic relationships so that organizations, as a result, are able to either progress or preserve their positive reputation, as well as garner coveted third-party endorsements. Word-of-mouth advertising, often embodied in the form of third-party endorsements, can be witnessed within any issue of a local newspaper, Internet blog, social media platform, trade-appropriate magazine or consumer review. 

Complimentary mentions and business plugs composed by unbiased, non-affiliated third party personas are, without a doubt, publicly perceived as more credible than self-promoted advertisements. Ponder this for a minute. Would you believe something, for example, that the brand Taylor Guitars says about their own products or would you, instead, believe something that a credible, seasoned studio guitarist said about the guitar itself? I thought so... we'll go with the unbiased third-party endorser. Similar to the previous example, these so-called "third-party endorsers" are in no way coerced to provide their product testimonies (unlike paid celebrity endorsers), they are, in fact, willing participants in the promotion of a credible, reliable brand that they have personally come to trust through experience.     

As a result, it depends on what, in particular, your business or organization is looking for when it comes to promotion. Do you want "the sales" or "the reputation?" The money or the relationships? Personally, I believe that increased sales win the race, but a sound, positive reputation wins the marathon, every time. Again, this is just my personal opinion, and not a corroborated scientific theory. It basically all boils down to one thing- you have to decide what's best for you and your organization. Whether that decision delivers you short-lived fame or eternal glory is entirely your prerogative. 

In my next post, I will suggest which promotional discipline- marketing or public relations- is best suited for the current condition of the music industry.