Public Relations for Artists –why do they need it?


Every artist or creative professional needs PR to build their business or personal brand. Public relations is a field concerned in maintaining a public image for businesses or organization, or even high profile people such as artists. Many people mistake public relations for advertising but they are two different fields; with advertising  you craft you message and you pay have it appear in some media venue such as a magazine or television station on the day and time you choose. Advertising is not free and nor is public relations. Public relations require an investment of your time and possibly money if you choose to employ the services of a PR professional. 

A publicist who will represent an artist will send out press releases as well as works on publicity campaigns. Publicity campaigns may involve recording signings, promotional showcases, listening parties or meet and greets. A music or theatrical (artist) publicist will contact journalists and reporters with possible story ideas for magazines or newspapers placements. A publicist may hold a public event that includes a contest to win free tickets to a performance of the artist that they are representing. Promotions are a key in positioning a clever strategy to keep the client’s name in the public eye, along with social media. Social media is the way to reach your audience, from positioning a music video, to producing a YouTube “interview”. When it comes to the interview, the publicist is the manager of the artist for the message and brand that the artist wishes to show their public. This persona is one that will be remembered and the brand will have an indelible stamp on it. Social Media is much more than a Tweet or a Facebook post. The video in question will go to all Social Media outlets with the intent of being picked up, #hashtagged with the artist’s name and tagline, and then sent out by fans ten –fold. This is especially important for the breakout artist or the artist seeking to rejuvenate their career.

A publicist is usually the first point of contact for media members seeking an interview with a musician. When a publicist is approached by a member of the media for a client interview, they will first consider the media outlet itself, whether it’s a website, national newspaper, TV show, or radio show. The publicist will then weigh different factors to determine whether or not the interview will have a positive effect on the musician’s image and sales. Some of these factors include: how many people the media outlet reaches, what its target demographic is, and whether it’s likely to garner good press or bad press for the musician. The music publicist will also consider factors unrelated to the media outlet itself, such as whether or not the musician has an upcoming album or tour that could benefit from the publicity of the interview.

For example, Glass House PR are the publicists of the well known artist Juliani. We have worked with his to promote his album and he is doing very well. Holding a positive public image is key to excel in the art industry and that is why artists need a PR agency to take care of that. Remember it takes months to build a reputation and seconds to ruin it. With Glass House PR, we build a reputation and brand and also maintain it.

Robin Williams in the film Man of the year (2006)


Man of the year is a political comedy drama that features many stars in the film industry, among them Robin Williams alias Tom Dobbs. In the film, Robin William portrays a host of a satirical political/comedy talk show based on the real life f persona Jon Stewart. He prompts four million people to send email support and he decides to run for president as an independent candidate. Initially he is not serious with the presidency but he decides to go for it.
Eleanor Green (Laura Linney) works for a voting company called Delacroy, which the entire United States will be using for the election. Shortly before the election, Eleanor points out an error with the voting machines but the head of the company ignores her warnings. Election day arrives and the polls show Dobbs at 17% with Kellogg and Mills tied at the 40s, while early returns show Kellog beating Mills everywhere. Eleanor says that was the error. Suddenly Tom Dobbs wins the elections, but Eleanor remains unconvinced. She decides to reveal the computer error to the public but is attacked by the Delacroy agents at her home and is injected with a cocktail of drugs. Later she is hospitalized for drug abuse and she realizes nobody is going to believe her story due to her condition, but she decides to let Dobbs know.
On John Menken’s birthday, Eleanor impersonates a FBI agent to get into the party. She manages to attract Dobbs, the two dance together and he gives her his number. She can be able to tell Dobbs that he never won the election. Dobbs try to get back to her through Delacroy which gets the Delacroy’s officials suspicious. Finally, at the Thanksgiving Dinner for Dobbs, Eleanor manages to tell him that he is not the president elect. Dobbs tells her to break the news in a major speech but the Delacroy denies it and instead blames Eleanor for trying to throw an election for Dobbs. Fear is instilled into her and she flees to a mall from her hotel room where she fears the Delacroy agent might break in and confiscate her computer, the only evidence she had, which is soon confirmed.
At the mall, desperate Eleanor is found by a Delacroy agent but she manages to escape. She goes to a payphone to call Dobbs. A Delacroy agent’s car crashes the telephone booth but she manages to escape though injured and is hospitalize for the second time. Later Dobbs announces that the election were flawed and that he should not be the president. He later settles back for his TV show and marries Eleanor who becomes his producer.
In the film, public relation is portrayed negatively. The Delacroy tries to kill Eleanor so that they can still hold their respectable reputation. They are determined to do anything to uphold their reputation despite ignoring the warning earlier given out by Eleanor. The film shows how the media and the public is vulnerable to lies that can last. Delacroy defends their reputation in the worst way and they finally end up losing their good reputation.
We sure lost one of the best stars in the film industry and he will be a legend to us all. All his movies and comedy left everyone I stitches and we also learnt something out of them. We all wish he could have live longer and make us laugh some more but fate has a way of finding someone, he left us. We shall always miss him! May his soul Rest in Eternal Peace.

The best PR movies to watch

Best PR movies to watch
Working in a PR firm as a fresh graduate is tricky. You think you know all about Public Relation when the truth is that you don’t. Once you find out that you know little about PR, you start looking for materials to read so that you can improve your skills and become an expert. That is why it is Public Relations. You have to keep reading about the current situations and be on the know to be a PR practitioner since the world is transforming day by day. It is about learning, learning and nothing else but learning. Now, you can learn about Public Relations through a more interesting way than reading books; watching movies. Below are some of the movies PR practitioners should probably watch;
1. Wag the Dog (1997)

The movie which starred Dustin Hoffman & Robert De Niro is focused upon a Washington political consultant/PR pro. The movie portrays PR in a negative light. It shows how vulnerable the media and the public are. In the movie, Conrad Brean (Robert De Niro) is referred to as Mr. Fix-it. This speaks to his expertise in handling (fixing) crisis situations. This movie also showcases how powerful entities (government, big business) use their resources to achieve their almost sinister objectives. The movie also brings to light the general attitude of disdain the industry has towards the public. It is clear in the movie that, while the industry is concerned about public opinion, it knows well that the public is gullible and can easily be manipulated through the media.

2. Thank you for smoking
Nick Naylor, a lobbyist and spokesperson for big tobacco companies, makes his living defending the rights of smokers and manufacturers, taking on those who wish to ban smoking. Nick begins a public relations offensive, spinning away the dangers of cigarettes on TV shows and hiring a Hollywood agent to promote smoking in movies. It describes the process of generating effective publicity as a series of well-tailored arguments that aren’t necessarily even relevant to the matter at hand, but rather meant to shift the focus off of the main concerns. The movie ends with a great quote “Michael Jordan plays ball. Charles Manson kills people. I talk. Everybody has a talent.”

3. The candidate
A charming movie about how a PR pro can create a candidate out of very little material. It’s the quintessential story of how Public Relations can spin truth and shows the power of the industry – for good and for bad. Film about the election campaign of a candidate for the Senate, serving as a pretext to show the inner workings of American politics and political marketing.

4. The Queen
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5. Nixon(1995)
This movie represents another movie where PR and politics merge. Anthony Hopkins takes the lead role in this biographical movie of President Richard Nixon, who shows his skills as a political operator by seizing the opportunity provided by the backlash against the antiwar movement to take the presidency in 1968.

6.‘Man of the Year‘ (2006) with Robin Williams
This movie could be an example of a political election media campaign. An extraordinary candidate completely ruins the stereotype of politicians being serious. He avoids boring speeches and transforms his debates into a funny TV show. Female viewers will be pleased to follow the romantic love story as a bonus.

7. Chicago
A talented PR manager can be easily identified in the character of the advocate played by Richard Gere.

8. Jerry Maguire
What list of PR movies could be complete without this classic Tom Cruise flick? From the immortal “Show Me the Money” lines to the disputes with other agents trying to steal his clients, his hard work for his clients and pushing them on marketing, there are many transferable skills from this movie for those of us in PR – and it’s a great one.

9. Primary Colors
This movie is about political PR consultants helping candidates on their path in politics. From cover-ups in media to spin, handling emergency PR situations it’s enjoyable, entertaining and educational.

10. The Social Network
Public Relations today of course includes digital media, and if we believe the movie, Public Relations via the Harvard newspaper enabled students to first learn about their new social media platform – and that’s where all the fun began – and continued with negatively planted stories. It tells a great business story – and encompasses both digital media and more traditional public relations stories.

NB: The article is based on research conducted from several websites such as, Business insider and Action pr group.

How Informal Should Corporates get on Social Media?

The diversification of business communication from traditional media i.e. T.V., Radio and Print, to social media has brought with it new professional challenges in terms of how formal or informal a corporate communiqué should be.

Social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter have since their inception in Kenya been used for informal person to person communication such as socializing and networking. They have been so informal to an extent that they had been banned and are still being banned in a number of institutions, both professional and academic because they are considered to be a distraction thus hindering an individual’s productivity.

SocialMediaPuzzle.jpgThe language used in conversations is highly informal. LOL, LMAO, LMFAO, NKT, and so on, are common conversational phrases that one constantly comes across. Members of the infamous Generation X keep getting nagged by members of the ‘previous’ generations to provide crash courses on basic language use to help them navigate through feedback they are receiving on their social media pages.

Two questions emerge out of all this with regards to corporate social media communication: Should corporates adapt to this informal nature of social media communication? Or should they squeeze in formalities of traditional media into social media?

The challenging fact is that unlike traditional communication channels that have been tried and tested for decades, we are still in the trial and error period with regards to social media communication. Most corporates are still trying to figure out how to fit social media into their communication strategies. There is almost a unanimous agreement that corporates need a social media presence but most are yet to figure out how to leverage on this new communication platform.

It is a valid argument that social media has been an instant success due to its informal nature. The world is full of formalities, from work, school and even church. The fact that people have an avenue to express their thoughts and ideas without having to worry about vocabulary, grammar or other formalities is icing on the cake.

Corporates should figure out how to fit in their communication and marketing strategies to social media while still maintaining the element of informality that comes with it. This is simply because majority of people on social networking sites are the youthful generation who strongly believe that “it’s never that serious.”

Companies should stop posting press statements and releases on their social networking sites because this is “too serious” for social media hence a misuse of the platform. Unless of course you are a news media site which is an exception to the rule. Ensure to keep things short, simple and casual, and you will never go wrong.

Welcome to the Content Marketing Revolution




Posted by 

Edelman Digital, Melbourne

Follow on Twitter @trevoryoung



  • Attract Attention
  • Gain respect
  • Build trust


Emerging from Social Shadows



Strategic Intent



Why the sudden interest in content as a cornerstone marketing strategy?


Distribution Channels





Empathy and Respect

But this opportunity comes with a caveat – several, actually.





Image credit: Rafael Peñaloza