Press
Welcome to the Local 99 Press Page. Click on the links below to take you to the subject matter of your choice.
Musicians-Please be respectful of these journalists when emailing and also, please do not add these names to bulk lists, use this resource for targeted contacts only. Thanks
Local 99 in action, Press Articles
· Musician Health
“Something Difficult”-Willamette Week “ Smoking has Left the Building”-Oregonian, archived June 16, 2007
· OLCC
“The OLCC Enacts Changes: Kids Win!”-Willamette Week “ Minors will get to see Concerts in Bars”-Oregonian, archived, April 19,2008
“OLCC Bans Underage Bar Performers”-Vanguard
“March Rewind”-Willamette Week
“Look, but don’t Touch”-Mercury
· Radio Station
“Strong signal for local music”-Portland Tribune
“Our Town Could be Your Life-91.1 FM”-Mercury “Say Hello to KZME”-Mercury · Travel “Air travel poses weighty problem for musicians with big instruments”-Oregonian
· Media Consolidation and Justice
“FCC Announces Speakers for Seattle Hearing”-Seattle PI
“Oregon Speaks Out for Net Neutrality”-Free Press
“Oregon Speaks Out for Net Neutrality”-Free Press-video
“FCC Rebels to Hit Portland”-Willamette Week
· Union
“Musicians, it’s your Union. AFM Local 99”-Buko Magazine
“The Musicians Union-Basics 101”-Music Liberation Project
“Disruptive Technologies-Artists and Unions”-Music Liberation Project
“The Musicians Union-The View Ahead”-Music Liberation Project
“Letters-Music Liberation Project
Ezra Ace Caraeff, Music Editor, Portland Mercury:
Ned Lannamann, Portland Mercury (anything and everything)
Rob Simonsen (anything and everything)
Andrew R. Tonry (anything and everything)
Mike Meyer (metal, punk, experimental) -
Jalylah Burrell (hiphop, R&B, soul)
Tobias Carroll (indie, folk, experimental)
Ryan Prado (indie, punk, rock)
Lance Chess (metal, punk, country) Hannah Carlen (indie, folk, experimental)
Barbara Mitchell, Portland Tribune
Robert Ham, currently writing for: The Oregonian, Willamette Week, Relevant Magazine, Burnside Writers Collective, West Coast Performer
interests: any and all genres.
Press
The following article appeared in the May 2008 International Musician and was an attempt to capture the tips offered by our local music critics at a seminar on March 29, 2008.
Working with the Press By Bruce Fife, President, Local 99
The press. You love em when they write good things and pay attention to you. You hate em when they diss you, or worse, ignore you completely. How do they decide what they’re going to write about? Why don’t they cover more styles of music? HOW DO I GET THEIR ATTENTION? We musicians have a tough job, but being a music critic is no walk in the park either. I’ve heard so many complaints and questions about the press over the years that Local 99 (
I moderated the event with background on the journalists and initial questions, but the audience soon took over with discussion that was extremely candid and instructive. What emerged from the afternoon dialogue were these key points.
• Think long term-Know your local journalists and read your local publications. You need to develop a relationship with these writers, one that will last beyond one or two interactions. Target the right publication and writer for your band, and know what they cover. Referencing stories they’ve written might even get you some bonus points and increase their curiosity about your band. And just because they didn’t cover one CD release doesn’t mean they won’t write about the next one. Oh, and know how to spell their name.
• Be Professional-Whatever you act like on stage is your business, but being insulting, rude, inaccurate, flighty or otherwise difficult to work with will not help you in dealing with journalists. Utilize restraint. Don’t bombard them with daily emails. Their inboxes are overflowing and it takes time to separate the wheat from the chaff. Scolding them for not covering your band will probably guarantee that you won’t get covered. Ever!
• Timing is key-Every publication has different publication cycles. Make sure to find out what works best for them. Is two weeks’ notice enough? A month? Try, as much as is possible, to work with individual reporters on this. And if you’re planning a big event (CD release party), don’t schedule it on a weekend with three festivals taking place in your area. Often, your chances of getting coverage may be better mid-week when there is less going on.
• Make it easy-Make sure pertinent info is in the subject header of your email, i.e., “For immediate release” means nothing, better would be “local band xyz celebrates release of new album”. Be easy to contact. Journalists, by nature, have questions. They need to find you to get answers. Tell them what kind of music you play (shocking that this is often overlooked), where to find it online, who to contact, where to find photos. Making their job easier increases your potential for coverage.
• Web Presence-See above. MySpace is fine, but it can be anything. A place for them to find your music, bios and tour information. Some of the writers preferred links to your music, some real CD’s with your press kit. If you’ve worked to develop a relationship with them (see above), you’ll know how they prefer to work. All preferred not to have music files emailed to them. Your web site should be easy to find, navigate, and remember, accuracy is really important to journalists, so correct information is a high priority.
• Understanding-Journalists are human too. They wouldn’t be doing this if they didn’t love music, but often, deadlines, overfilled inboxes, pushy publicists/bands/managers/ booking agents, etc. in addition to their personal lives (yes, they do have them) might make them cranky or overlook something. Remember, art is subjective, we don’t all share the same esthetics, so if you don’t get written about, don’t take it personally.Other points shared by the music writers: text space/column inches in a given issue is one of their biggest challenges, so not everything they write or want to write ends up in print; some styles of music don’t get covered because they don’t have access to a qualified freelance writer. They all suggested sending freelancers in their direction for more eclectic musical styles. Also, they all shared examples of how creativity in your approach to get their attention can work. That could be as simple as how you describe your band to what your promo packet looks like. And lastly, they all take a softer, critical approach to local bands over the national acts, meaning they might not be giving you ink because they don’t want to diss you.In the end, it’s clear that all of these suggestions seem like just good common sense, but if everyone followed these tips, they wouldn’t have brought them up. Like the old adage says about catching flies with honey. Treat them right, know your stuff, a little creativity, and maybe that positive ink will start to flow.My special thanks to all four writers for giving their time, suggestions and energy at the seminar and with the writing of this article.