PR Posers!
This one's for the bloggers (or anyone familiar with the contrivances of this often-gross industry). Now, we just wanna start by saying that we stand by White Flight's music; we spun it and liked it. But a week ago, we received this email:
Hey! MY name is [redacted] and I read Stereogum everyday!. I live in LA doing music supervision for films and TV and slave work at the music venue [redacted]. There is this band that I can't get enough of and I don't know why they aren't getting any attention. It blows my mind. I don't think the CD is out, but it is on ITunes. I mean, I really think this band is the real deal and it is so mysterious. Please listen, do it for a fan of your blog.The email also contained a link to MySpace, to the record label, and to a video. So, obviously a bit thorough for a "fan." But now we're hearing that this has gone around to more than one blogger -- verbatim -- and that's a problem. PR people, come on. It's not like we aren't gonna listen to the songs you send us! Why lie?...
I hope to get involved somehow with this band, let me know how you feel and maybe we can bring him to life.
Thanks for the great taste and writing! Let me know if you ever need LA things, sneakings into shows etc.
For the record, we listened to the MySpace page last week as a "reader tip," and weren't that impressed. It was only today, when we simultaneously received a promo CD and an email from the true publicist, that we had heard enough to write (as stated in the original post). We like White Flight. Grab his tracks and enjoy. "The Condition" and "Obsidian" are other stand-outs.
But how many of you guys got this "fan email"? A few of our friends in blogging have already chimed in, and we wanna separate discussions; we're assuming Justin had nothing to do with this, so leave that post to talk about his music. This is where we talk shop. So ... what the fuck?? What other horror stories of publicists pulling the wool are out there?
We give this one credit, though. At least it got our blog's name right.
UPDATE: The email's author has a message.
Woah woah. Dude my email was sooo genuine. I do read stereogum everyday, i worked really hard writing an email to make it thourough and helpful with Links, information, etc.Everything i got. I got all the information by becoming a fan. I found White Flight through an old roomate of mine who was from lawrence KS. I don't know whyt they have gone undiscovered and i contacted the label in order to see what the deal was, how i could help, why wasn't he coming to LA. There is very little for me to do except try to spread the word. I thought sending out an email to the handfull of blogs i read daily would be a good way to focus efforts and maybe bring light to this artist. My only experience in PR is through random events i do around town. I only hit up 8 blogs and im sorry for not altering my language. In all honesty i really am being genuine and i want only to share this band with people. brooklyn vegan, old kentucky, stereogum, robots, dream of horses, gorilla vs bear, tiny mixed tapes, gramophone were the ones i emailed. I don't really don't want to post this because its too many words and i don't think anyone cares but me and i would like to seperate this drama from the good band. but i just wanted to let you know where im coming from. I wish i could get paid to promote this guy.We're sorry for the confusion, and we're not angry with her; we know that publicists draft "personalized emails" and change the "Dear ____" part everytime -- we've come to expect it. So how to differentiate between fans and publicists? It's getting tricky out there.
And attention, PR firms: Hire this girl!
Posted at 5:49 PM
This gives legit publicity firms a bad name!! My company does online promo for a number of bands and we've found the 100% best approach is also the simplest - contact appropriate sites, tell them the most interesting things about your records, and then make any assets they need available. We've found that good records speak for themselves and we don't have to fool people or lie..
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i am working this record and i don't know the source of the other email.
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Yeah, I'm getting a lot of this too.
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i had a guy from a label start emailing me tracks regularly that i thought were just horrid trash so i clicked the link in the email to be removed from their mailing list but instead they kept sending the emails without that link.
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okay, apparently the girl that sent those emails really IS a genuine fan who was trying to help out this band, at least according to another email she sent. so if she's telling the truth, oops, we're all assholes.
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I didn't get the email about White Flight, but I do get emails like that quite a bit - sometimes several about one band from different people. They usually don't have where the person works and stuff though.
I always just assumed they were friends of the band - something akin to having your friends call and request your songs on a radio station... which I actually get a lot on my radio show.
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I hate to be too cynical but any email I get like that and I get a bunch I just assume it's either a "friend" of the band, the band in disguise or some really bad promo guy.
Generally I don't think it's the promo guy but just a super motivated "friend" of the band. The give-away is when they actually compliment you on the blog before going into their little rant.
Here's one from the band Princeton who while decent have been hounding mp3 bloggers to no end!
"I really like the Jim Bryson songs you posted. I had never heard him before,
thanks for the introduction.
I saw My Brightest Diamond last month and the opening band was really good,
Princeton. I've been hooked ever since the show. Have you heard any of their
stuff? their myspace page is www.myspace.com/princetonmusic. The Indifference
Curve is probably my favorite song right now...especially after reading about
how they recorded the album, it's all up on myspace. Let me know what you think
if you get a chance to listen to it.
-Tony"
Give me a break!
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This follow up e-mail, to me, sounds like the PR whiz is trying to cover her tracks. Maybe I'm wrong.
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Nothing irks me more than the fake fan email. I had one earlier this week from a "fan" who was actually the bass player of the band who didn't know his name would show up in the email from line if he chose a different user name.
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this happens all of the time. It happened at my radio station all of the time, where we would get emails that were clearly setups to get us to play stuff, even if it wasn't in our rotation (meaning that we actually added to our possible station rotation as we didn't have a technically required set of records to spin).
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That's almost as bad as the "hey give us a listen" personalized messages on myspace from those insufferable bands.
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I used to work for an company that did this sort of thing. They would have us go on message boards and say stuff like, "have you guys heard the new...it's so awesome, i hear it comes with a free DVD... I first listened to them when I was working at blank as an intern...check it out, let me know what you think". They had to disclose the fact that they were doing this type of marketing for legal purposes, so we had to throw it in the post. It's disgusting. The Captain does a lot of desperate things when his ship is sinking.
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This happens occasionally on eMusic as well, people join, download nothing, and post ridiculously positive reviews for shitty bands. The band is question is always from LA! Seems like people in LA are just dumber or at least soulless.
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For what it is worth I sent you a note a few weeks/months ago about this vid "Say It's Possible" by Terra Naomi because I think it is awesome. You never did anything with it. Apparently she's not your style. Next time I found one I thought was amazing that you might find value in - a cover of "Careful" by Ryan Bliss I passed because I figured if I missed you on Terra I'd surely miss you with Ryan. In either case I am not in PR. I'm a condom salesman. Not sure the point of this except to say if you need condoms I'm yer man! If you need great music, well apparently not.
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Whoops sorry for that. I didn't realize your intercface stripped out links. Consider the two youtube links I included previously to be links non gratis.
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I can guarantee that I'm the only person currently being paid to promote White Flight.
While I'm sure it's annoying to get fan e-mails that seem suspicious, I think it is unfair to slag the band or pr company involved and assume that they are responsible for said e-mails.
The other thing I'd bring up is this: The Anniversary actually had fans. A lot of them. Before people started hearing about bands on blogs. So it's not really that strange to think that White Flight would already have fans that are this rabid - just check out the user reviews on iTunes, some of the most enthusiastic reviews I've seen, although I'm sure most of you will probably think they were posted by interns or something.
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Hey
I'm running my own PR firm focusing on entertainment and tech,.. I just signed a music client. To the PR person, you should have be legit with Stereogum and not try and come across as a "fan". If you had good music and regardless of your being in PR. They might have actally posted it, if they felt their fans wanted to know about the band. As the person above said, good music speaks for itself.
P.S. Stereogum, I got you in my RSS feed. If I send you any news your way, it'll be legit and have my contact info at the end.
Duane
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Lame
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"The other thing I'd bring up is this: The Anniversary actually had fans. A lot of them."
What, White Flight is Anniverary affiliated? This is just great... I get all these mp3s by bands I couldn't give a shit about, and then an artist comes along that I would be interested in writing about and I'm out of the loop.
Or rather, I'm off to find me some of this. The Anniversary were great.
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Oh, you poor bloggers have it so fu(kin' rough. Bands contacting you to get some exposure by using false identities is dumb. But that's what you guys are here for and that's why you even exist. If you all don't like it then find a new hobby! If you don't like the music then just email the band or fake friend and tell them it's not your style and to fu(k off. There is nothing wrong with honesty and most bands should be prepared for it. If they're not, too bad for them. But quit your bitching.
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even Jesus Christ son of God gets these emails, but I think they're fun.
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reminds me of those spam emails that are like
"dear so and so, we have your disclosed amount of $2,000,000 at the discretion of your relative's death in south africa. please write us back so that we may give you the sum of $2,000,000 and all expenses."
something like that. you know what i'm talking about.
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good name for PR firm: bovine fornication ltd. think about it.
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hey everyone,
i found this great source for music on the internet - this guy talks about bands and you should really check it out:
www.stereoblog.com
let me know what you think of it!
-- chuck k
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She's not a PR person, she's a RAD FAN - i know her. She actually told me about White Flight in APRIL and I blogged about them on my last.fm page and put them in my podcast in MAY. All because I was told by this rad fan. It is now five months later and NOBODY has picked up on this band yet. So she's a rad fan who wrote a good pitch about the band and sent it to a few blogs she reads. Whatever. The music is good, that's all that matters. l8r h8rs!
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"I just assume it's either a "friend" of the band, the band in disguise or some really bad promo guy"... Just to present the other side of the coin, I am one of those people who becomes obsessed with certain bands and tries to shove them down the throats of everyone I know. In fact, that's the whole reason I started my blog, so I can write 900 posts about some band I love and feel is underappreciated, and not annoy the hell out of my friends/family/co-workers.
Just pointing out that not all of those e-mails are automatically self-serving/disingenuous. Some of us are just overly enthusiastic and don't know how to properly channel that!
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what's the answer here tho? blogs are becoming more and more the medium through which genuine music fans discover new and "underground" music so how are upcoming bands supposed to get their music out other than bombard online media with demos and pitches?
i *completely* understand how annoying this is having once run a zine with constant emails and calls from bands trying to get me to their show - but i just don't see what the answer is. bloggers seem to spend half their time complaining they never get sent any records and the other half bitching about labels and PR companies. suggestions anyone?
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You get free CDs. Quit bitching!
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Didn't you guys read RS? Blogs kill bands...
J/k...but seriously, I like stereogum, but the whole blog thing has really gotten old. The market's too saturated...in 5 years only a couple of the current blogs that make money and can justify doing daily posts to keep original content and advertisers interested will be around.
Stereogum you are actually contradicting your own profession. How many blogs are started now as a fake link site? A means to generate traffic to another site that has google links or some bullshit?
Complaining about PR companies trying to scam you is the pot calling the kettle black. You guys write your opinions and charge money to do so. Isn't stereogum the most expensive music blog to advertise on?
Blog killed the radio star. i'll be happy when people actually go out and discover music again and not look to see what Pitchfork or some geek blogger says is cool that week.
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I don't quite believe she's legit. At all. There are a lot of e-marketing jobs for "fans" to send out those type of emails and they get paid $20-$120 a project.
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well now I've read Daniel's comments that no one else is getting paid on the project, but something about this still seems shady
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Hmm, I wonder if Force Field PR also handles the Scissor Sisters? Stereogum really loves them, too...
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BFD. As if most of the music you listen to isn't due to salesmanship aka hype. That goes for most everybody, especially Americans. GMAFB. The industry was built on phony bullshit like that.
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for all of you people who talk so much shit about publicity...does it really matter that much if the record is GOOD? let it go. listen to the record and make a fair judgement yourself!
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