Not because it is not good. Because the press release went to a reviewer instead of a commissioning desk, four weeks after the magazine closed, and it opened with your name.
I am a classical music publicist. I have worked in the UK and France since 2014, with soloists, record labels, orchestras and festivals. Before that I was at EMI Music and at Albion Media, on campaigns that ran from pop acts to conductors and singers. I trained as a pianist, so I know what it feels like to be on the other side of this.
Most of the artists who ask me for help cannot afford me, and I have spent years telling them so. This is what I built instead.
An independent music publicist charges roughly £1,500 a month, on a two or three month minimum. That is about £4,500 to find out whether it helps. A professional journalist database, the kind agencies use, is £6,450 plus VAT a year for up to five licences, and it knows almost nothing about classical music.
The alternative most people take is a twenty-dollar spreadsheet of music journalists, almost none of whom cover classical, sent to at the wrong time of year.
The Press Room is £299 a month.
The UK, France, Germany and the US. Which outlet, which desk, what they actually cover, how far ahead they work, and how they want to be approached. I use it every week for my own clients, so it is current rather than archived. It is updated every month and published as a diff, so you can see exactly what changed: who moved, which desk closed, whose lead time shifted.
A press release, a bio, a pitch email, a season announcement, a funding application's public summary. You upload it by the 5th. Within five working days you get a written response, against the same six headings every time: is the timing survivable, what does your first sentence actually say, is there a story and is it the one you think it is, who should this go to, the two changes that would make the biggest difference, and one thing to do this month.
Written rather than a call, deliberately, because you keep it and can re-read it in eight months when the next release comes round.
Ninety minutes on the third Tuesday. Bring a pitch you are about to send. I rewrite two or three of them on the call, out loud, saying why at every change. Recorded, so you can watch it later, and you will learn more from someone else's than from your own. Once a quarter I bring a guest: an editor, a producer or a critic, answering questions submitted in advance.
| Right for you if | Not right for you if |
|---|---|
| You have something real and dated in the next six months: a release, a tour, a debut, a competition, a scheme ending. | You have nothing to announce yet. Come back when you do; you will get more out of it and I would rather you kept the money. |
| You will send me something every month and act on what comes back. | You want it handled for you. That is representation, and it costs about five times this. |
| You are a self-managed ensemble. One membership covers the group. | You are a student. There is a £49 tier and it is the right one for you. |
| You run a small label or festival and want it for your artists. | You are looking for guaranteed coverage or a media contact list to download and keep. |
| Tier | Price | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| The Press Kit | £49 a month, or £499 once | The twelve modules, every template, and the media list as a snapshot refreshed twice a year. No live access. |
| The Press Room | £299 a month, or £2,990 a year (two months free) | Everything above, plus the live media list, the monthly written review, the clinic, the annual plan and the directory. Capped at 60 members. |
| Campaign Partner | £1,500 a month, three-month minimum | Everything above, plus two calls a month, my edit on everything you write, and one warm introduction a quarter where I judge the fit is right. Four places at a time. |
£199 a month instead of £299, locked for twelve months from the day you join. Plus a 30-minute call with me in your first month, which nobody else at this tier gets, because I want to hear what you need before I build the rest of it. When the thirty places are gone the founding rate closes for good, and there is a live count above.
Founding places remaining: [N].
This is new. There are no testimonials on this page, because there are no members yet and I am not going to invent any. There are no screenshots of results, because the results have not happened. What there is, is twelve years of doing this for people who could afford it, and a list I maintain every week.
The first thirty members are shaping what this becomes. That is worth a third off and a call with me, and it is worth being told plainly rather than dressed up as a limited-time offer.
If you would rather wait and see how it goes, that is a completely sensible decision. Join the free list [link] and I will send you something useful every fortnight either way.
[Join the Press Room, £199 a month for the first 30 →]