We’re Rachel Hurley and Frank Keith IV, co-owners of the Sweetheart Pub. We’re music industry veterans with over 30 years of combined experience in the music business, having worked in licensing, talent buying/booking, label management, tour management, and more. Once a week, we’ll publish a new edition of this newsletter, where we’ll share some philosophy and actionable advice on all facets of the music industry.
Before we dive in … we have some news:
We often receive requests to work with artists who either don’t have the budget to afford a full campaign, or their release timeline is simply too tight. In an effort to help as many artists as we reasonably can, we’re launching an “Office Hours”-style consulting service where you can book us for 30 or 60-minute blocks of one-on-one time.
You can learn more here (scroll down past campaign details)
What we’re thinking about this week...
Client Question: How the eff do we engage on Twitter effectively?
In my opinion, Twitter is kind of a dumpster of hot garbage behind the mall. If you’re willing to dive into the muck, you just might find something worthwhile.
I’ve been on Twitter since 2006 and I go in and out of being “into” it. Obviously, this past year I’ve been more active simply because I have been homebound and trying to keep up with what’s going on politically and musically.
I have found that Twitter is not a great tool for musicians to use for promotion, but should instead be used as a networking tool — especially right now since live performances are all (mostly) on hold. Even if someone is following you, there’s so much info being pushed, and it goes by so quickly, it’s rare for many fans to engage with it. Instead, musicians should use Twitter to engage with others.
Most music writers are addicted to Twitter. It’s a way for them to connect through words with a multitude of people from music fans to culture writers to editors and directly to musicians. It leans into their greatest strength, which is writing. And...it’s the perfect place to post your hot take of the day.
What I personally did back in the day was go to the sites that covered artists similar to ones that I work with, found the people who wrote about that kind of music and then followed them on Twitter. Then I just did standard engagement: I liked their tweets, I retweeted them, and on occasion I replied. I wasn’t thirsty and I didn’t stalk them — I just let them know that I was there and interested in what they had to say. Then later, when I pitched them — they were familiar with my name.
This is a long game approach. It’s not something that is going to garner you a cover story 6 months from now. It’s more like 2 years after you follow them, they’re going to see a pitch about you or an email from you — and they are actually going to open it because they recognize your name and are interested.
Overnight success is like winning the lottery; it only happens to a select few, and if you are putting any credence in it, you’re going to be disappointed. You can buy $10 worth of lottery tickets every week and end up with nothing, or you can buy $10 worth of stock a week and in 10 years, you’ll actually have gained something.
But…I will give you a head start — here’s a list of 135 music writers I think are worth following.
— Rachel
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Free Advice
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