Michael J. Media

YOUR MONTHLY DIY TIP FROM MICHAEL J. MEDIA--February 2009

By Guest Columnist Jeff Giles, Editor-in-Chief of Popdose.com

If you were to release an album 15 or 20 years ago, getting the attention of your favorite music critic would have been somewhere near the bottom of your list of concerns – for one thing, recording and manufacturing music in any format was so prohibitively expensive that just having a demo tape was a signal that you deserved to be taken seriously; for another, before the advent of blogs, becoming a critic involved more than just opening an account with a free hosting service and banging out a few thousand words in your free time. Fewer releases and fewer people covering them meant a clearer path to publicity for the anointed few.

That is not, needless to say, the world we live in now. Making technically superb recordings has become affordable enough to attract anyone with a spare couple grand and a dream – and obtaining free copies of said recordings has become as easy as simply maintaining your MP3 blog long enough to attract the attention of enough publicists to stuff your mailbox on a daily basis. It’s a much more democratic system, to be sure, and it’s helped push a lot of worthwhile music into the marketplace that might not have been heard otherwise – but it’s also pumped a lot of static into the dialogue between artists and the writers covering their work, to the point where even the most dedicated, well-meaning critic has to make a lot of quick, brutal decisions regarding which albums he’ll cover, which ones he won’t, and which ones he won’t even unwrap. For proof of that last item on the list, check out an issue of Blender (before it goes out of business); their latest review section feature consists of pictures of the CDs they didn’t bother to open that month.

There isn’t any foolproof way to cut through all that static, and anyone who tries to tell you otherwise is just a shyster in consultant’s clothing – but there are some easy mistakes you can avoid. To begin with, don’t treat your press release like an afterthought; whether you write it yourself or your publicist does the job for you, it should be concise, informative, maybe a little bit funny, and (here’s the kicker) not include any egregious spelling errors. Yes, IMs and text-speak have made proper English something of a lost art over the last 15 years or so, but you’re still trying to attract the attention of people who, to one degree or another, respect the language. And they love music, too, so misspelling words like “Dylan” or “Hendrix” will send your CD rocketing toward the circular file that much faster. Perhaps most importantly, say what you really want people to know about your music. Saying you were influenced by Nick Drake, Arcade Fire, or the Bee Gees provides an easy reference point, but it’s often more trouble than it’s worth – you’re either creating unreasonable expectations or an unfair prejudice, before your music’s even been heard.

One final thing to consider is an element that, judging from the cover of Springsteen’s latest release, is glossed over even at the highest levels: Album artwork. Before the desktop publishing revolution, indie artwork looked like shit because it was too expensive to do it any other way; these days, it looks like shit because anyone with a bootlegged copy of Photoshop can slap some text on a picture and call it an album cover. Do yourself a favor and factor a real designer’s fee into your album budget – or go scouting for a graphic design student who’s looking to beef up his portfolio and has actual talent. Compare this album cover with this one – which artwork is more evocative? Which one makes you more interested in hearing the music? Which reflects a deeper sense of love and care for the songs?

When you’re recording your music, it’s the songs that’ll matter to you most, and you may feel like they should do all the selling for you – but they won’t, especially not in the current climate. For indie artists, the “I” in “DIY” really stands for “Everything,” and the more thought you put into all aspects of your project, including the stuff that happens after the gear is packed up and the studio lights are off, the easier it’ll be to stand behind the final product for years to come.'

Check out Jeff's awesome online magazines at www.popdose.com and www.dadnabbit.com. Jeff is also an associate editor at Rotten Tomatoes, and a regular contributor to Bullz-Eye.com as well as Collider.com.

If you would like to receive 
		these monthly tips through email, please email mike [at] michaeljmedia.com to be added to the list.  

		Thank you!