Meet The Press: Top Ten Things We Learned From Music Editors

By Lee Morin, Esq.

From NARIP's recent Meet The Press program in Atlanta!

Photo (L-R), back row standing: NARIP Board Member Sean Mcpherson, Stomp and Stammer’s Jeff Clark, Paste Magazine’s Josh Jackson, NARIP Board Member Rich Rolyn. Seated (L-R): NARIP Board Members Beth B. Moore, Esq. and Lee Morin, Esq. (panel co-moderators), NARIP Atlanta Executive Director Chloe Peacock and NARIP Board Member Julie Kessler Roach, Esq.

Be something that the press wants to cover. Tell your story. Be authentic in your art.

Play as many shows as you can to refine your performance. Music is all in or all out. If you pour all of your effort into your performance, chances are the press will notice you, too.

Build a local following by doing #1 and #2 successfully. Once you build a following in your city, you can begin building followings beyond your city limits.

Try to book your act in an opening slot if you think that the press will be present to cover the headliner. This increases the chance that you could get some press coverage if members of the press are watching your performance and listening to your music.

The press release is about one page, tells your story, and conveys passion, personality, and an opinion. Avoid errors by running spell check and having someone proofread it before sending.

Every journalist has a preferred method of receiving music submissions. Some prefer physical copies such as CDs. Others prefer digital copies or links to MP3s. Request the preference of your intended recipient and conform your submission accordingly.

The press kit is a resume. Highlight Billboard charting, late night show appearances, other press, and radio airplay on commercial and non-commercial stations, which cover your music. Journalists are always interested in what their competition is doing, so it may incite a bit of healthy jealousy if you can demonstrate that you and your music are in demand.

Editors take suggestions for stories from their writers. So if you are a hip-hop act, contact the writer who specializes in hip hop stories. If you catch the attention of the writer, then he or she will likely bring your work to the attention of the editor.

If you can’t take bad press at the local level, you won’t be able to take it at the national level. When you submit music for review, the journalist will critique you based on his or her subjective taste. Editors conduct a dating service: they put music and writers together and see what happens.

Do not hesitate to send music to an editor or writer because you think the publication doesn’t fit your genre. You would be surprised. For example, Stomp and Stammer may be known for indie rock, but did you know that Jeff Clark is a Swiftie?

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Written by Lee Morin, Esq. for NARIP.com.

About The Author

Morin-Lee

Lee Morin, Esq., Board Member, NARIP Atlanta

Lee Morin, Esq., is Principal Attorney and founder of MORIN Entertainment Law, a boutique law firm in metro Atlanta that specializes in serving artists and entrepreneurs in creative industries including music business, fine art, game design, book publishing, theatre, film, television, and fashion design. Lee Morin has over ten years of experience in legal services, both in the corporate law departments of global companies and national to regional law firms. She counsels and represents her clients to provide each with the means to harness the power of enterprise. Lee leverages her networks to the advantage of her clients. She is an active member of the Entertainment and Sports, Intellectual Property, and International Law sections of the Georgia Bar, Georgia Game Developers Association (GGDA), International Game Developers Association (IGDA), National Association of Record Industry Professionals (NARIP), Georgia Lawyers for the Arts (GLA), Georgia Music Partners (GMP), Georgia Production Partnership (GPP) and the Recording Academy® (NARAS).

Jeff Clark, Co-Founder, Stomp and Stammer

Jeff Clark co-founded Atlanta’s free monthly magazine Stomp and Stammer in 1996. Nineteen years later, he still hasn’t found anything better to do. He is currently the sole publisher and editor, writes a good chunk of the content, distributes them all over town in his battered old Nissan Sentra and, against all odds, occasionally sells an ad or two. Somehow, he still makes time to write for georgiamusic.org , program and host a weekly show of new music on Atlanta radio station WMLB and go see more live music in a week than most people see in a year. He wears size 10 shoes, never learned to swim and, like most people, he hates Jeff Clark.

Josh Jackson, President, Founder, Editor-in-chief, Paste Magazine

Josh Jackson is president, co-founder and editor-in-chief of Paste Magazine. Under his editorial leadership, Paste has won numerous awards, including the Plug Award and GAMMA Award for “Magazine of the Year,” and received three consecutive National Magazine Award nominations for General Excellence. PasteMagazine.com currently attracts more than 5 million visitors each month. Jackson has been named one of Media Industry (min) Magazine’sTop 21 Intriguing People, one of Relevant magazine’s 12 Revolutionaries and one of Georgia Trends’ 40 Under 40. He’s been a regular music and film critic for CNN Headline News/HLN and two Atlanta radio stations; he oversaw and co-hosted four music podcasts for Coca-Cola; and he’s written more than 1,000 stories, including assignments on six continents. He lives in Decatur, GA with his wife, Lori and their three children.

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