Press contact email. Difficulty level: Plate of Beans

October 11, 2016 2:14 AM

I’m a photographer and a writer. I’m working with a new music site and we really want to land an interview with a band who are on their farewell tour. I’m beanplating about whether to reach out to the band members directly. Help!

We’ve already tried emailing the band, but have been met with utter silence. We don’t even know if the emails are going to the right place, because there’s no email addresses listed on their website. When we asked them on social media for a press contact, they directed us to that website — which of course didn’t help at all.

Here’s the thing. I have in the past corresponded directly with two of the band’s members, when I’ve sent them shots from gigs where I’ve photographed them. I still have their email addresses. I’ve also DM’d before with a third member of the band, and we’re friendly with each other, at least on social media.

My colleague and editor has been suggesting that I should reach out to the band members directly by email, but I’m reticent to do it. It feels rude to me, like I don’t have the right to use their private email addresses for this stuff. At this stage, though, I don’t know what else to do, other than try and get a press contact through the office of one of the venues on their tour.

I guess part of the problem is that I’m afraid that they’re just ignoring me, and worried that I’ll be seen as a pushy pain in the arse. For various personal reasons this band really matters to me, so I’m beanplating the hell out of this whole situation.

Help me mefites. What should I do?

posted by gmb to Media & Arts (5 answers total)

Tour press for "big" acts is handled by a dedicated promotion company, smaller acts often use a combo of record label, band management, and booking agent to arrange for & organize interviews. First, I would triple-check the website, look for any sort of "contact" page; that will give you contact info for one or more of the above. It might be a tiny link at the very bottom of one of the webpages or hidden in a menu. If that doesn't work try a little googling, see if you can find what label they're currently on or who their booking agent is. If you get contact info for any of these companies, a phone call might work better than an email. If none of that works out, then reaching out to venues is probably your next best move.

So I think there are some things to try before actually contacting the band personally. Tours are sort of barely-organized chaos with a lot of moving parts, so if you don't go through official channels it's easy to get lost in the shuffle.
posted by soundguy99 at 6:37 AM on October 11, 2016 [3 favorites]

If you've had contacted them directly before, I'd do it now. The worst that can happen is they tell you to contact their publicist. You' re not a fan, you're a fellow pro and you have a job to do.
posted by Ideefixe at 7:12 AM on October 11, 2016

I write for a small (neighborhood-level) blog, mostly covering music and musicians who live in the neighborhood. A few times I've done stories on local musicians who have releases on independent labels, and I've never had a negative experience from contacting them directly to solicit interviews. Recently, I was working on a story by a well-regarded jazz pianist who isn't a household name but who has recorded a number of albums and regularly performs in respected venues. Her most recent record is a series of duets with various jazz musicians, some of them considerably more famous than she is. I found an email address for a pretty well known guitarist who was one of the guests on the album and sent him a message out of the blue asking for quote to use in the story. He emailed me back giving me his phone number and inviting me to call. He ended up talking with me for half an hour, and he seemed grateful for the opportunity to connect with someone interested in his music.

I'd say go for it.
posted by layceepee at 11:01 AM on October 11, 2016

Best answer: yes. librarians do this all the time.
authors are always more willing to set up events than their publicity people are...

so anytime that you have an email address, use it in a brief, professional manner.
posted by calgirl at 12:36 PM on October 11, 2016

Best answer: Email the band members, say hey guys what's up I want to schedule an interview and I'm looking for whoever the press contact is for your tour to set that up. Perfectly professional and totally acceptable. They'll forward your email onwards if they want the interview.
posted by Jairus at 8:47 PM on October 11, 2016