A press release is not an advert and it is not a review. It is a set of facts arranged so a journalist can write about you without asking a single follow-up question. Judge yours by how little work is left for the person reading it.
Lead with the facts, not the atmosphere
The first two lines carry who, what, on which label, and when. Editors decide from those two lines whether to keep reading, and a first paragraph about journeys and sonic landscapes tells them nothing they can file.
Write it as though the first sentence might be the only thing that gets published, because sometimes it is.
The structure that gets used
- Line one: artist, title, format, label, release date.
- Paragraph two: what the record is and where it came from, in plain language.
- Paragraph three: one piece of context that makes it newsworthy now.
- Then: tracklist, credits, catalogue number.
- Finally: links, high resolution artwork, press contact.
Say what the music sounds like
Comparisons are useful and nobody minds them. Two reference points and a tempo tell an editor more than a paragraph of abstraction, and they help a radio programmer decide where it fits.
Avoid describing the emotional journey. Describe the record.
Phrases to cut
- Eagerly anticipated, long awaited, highly acclaimed.
- Needs no introduction.
- Pushing boundaries, redefining the genre, sonic journey.
- Any superlative you cannot attribute to someone else.
Attach nothing, link everything
A private stream link, artwork at print resolution and a press photo, all as links. A 40MB email gets filtered before a human sees it.
Put those links on a page that stays correct rather than in the body of an email that ages, so a writer coming back three weeks later still finds working files.
Timing
Print and larger outlets work four to six weeks ahead. Online can move in days. Send the promo before the release, say clearly when the embargo lifts, and follow up once.
Common questions
- How long should a press release be?
- One page. If the facts do not fit on one page, the extra material belongs in the press kit rather than the release.
- Should I write it in first or third person?
- Third person. It is a document for someone else to quote from, and quoting from first person makes them rewrite every sentence.
- Do I need a PR company?
- Not for a first release. Relationships matter more than budget early on, and a well-made release sent to twenty relevant people beats a mailout to a thousand.