Covert PR company does publicity for bands they love, shying away from the mainstream, instead focusing on new up and coming talent. They have a passion for what they do and are more about helping a band get to the next stage of their career, rather than cashing in on the curtails of an artist’s success. UK Indie Touring were lucky enough to get owner Dave to share a few PR trade secrets and let us know just how he got into this publicity business…
Tell us about Covert PR; how did you get into it and what are you trying to achieve?
Starting off as a musician (I’m a guitarist by trade) working in studios, touring and playing sessions; my career progressed on to making records, which in turn lead to producing what was the very first ‘split’ CD. Three bands on one CD, which we sold at shows. I suppose at this point it dawned on me that I was actually running a record label and I then began to pursue that as a main focus. Myself and my partner believed in the idea of the great British indie label, as it was back then, being able to make a difference to the music industry and culture world wide. Labels like Beggars, Stiff, Virgin, were all independent back in those days and had huge global impact with the music they were putting out. We believed we could do much the same and make a contribution. Along with that we maintained a very stoic independent attitude. We were going to do it all ourselves, with no outside influence, whilst supporting and giving opportunity to new, undiscovered talent. We’ve maintained that position for the whole time.
Through this attitude and sheer necessity we ended up promoting our own records and only rarely bought in promotional services. In the end we became quite good at promotion and PR. One year we were asked by the people at Beggars how we managed to get more press for our records than they did for theirs.
As the internet developed and drove down the unit value of records, so it put progressively more pressure on us as a label to look to ways of funding the releases. It came to us that if we were that good at promoting records, we could offer our PR service to others, which lead to us starting up Covert PR as an ongoing business.
Our heart still lies with the idea of working with new talent. There are many other PR firms that base their model on working with majors and top 10 artists, but we are yet to establish ourselves against those giants, although we are beginning to build our reputation and are starting to compete.
We have been fortunate to work work with some amazing artists, a few of which you can find on our website www.covertpr.com.
How has doing PR for bands changed over the last 5 years?
It has changed beyond recognition. The internet in particular has changed things so much. Gone are the days when you used to struggle to find a name or an address or when you used to have to go to a newsagent and buy all the printed press to suss out what they do. Gone are the days of having to post physical product to everyone not to even know if they have even bothered to open the package.
It is no longer so necessary to keep that all important database up-to-date manually. Movement between companies by journalist, producers and dj’s get notified as soon as announced.
Social networks are now far more media rich and video is more important in the mix. The insight and edge you can achieve now from the stats – track plays, geo tag info, track back info, who saw / heard what and when, is truly astonishing. If you know how this stuff works, it can make a massive difference. So much so that artists are now able to drive their careers without the support of expensive and draconian major labels. Some doing away with any industry support entirely. Happy days.
That said, promoting an artist to success is usually a formidable task and many of the basics remain unchanged. Clear communication, a good ‘product’, getting to the decision makers, getting the USP of what you do, being personable, understanding the difference between being tenacious and looking desperate and networking with people, these things will never change.
At what point in a band’s careers do you think they need to be before they should consider employing a publicist?
Difficult one that. Artist rise at different rates and follow different paths. Generally, it is helpful if you are able to meet the fees from your activities. At the very least you need to be at the stage where you know that you are committed to make the distance. It is probably advisable that you have had feedback from your audience that what you do is liked and you have done some of that groundwork.
Often people feel ready after they have released their début record, have achieved some success and realise that they need someone to take on the burden, leaving them free to do the creative / performing side. If as an artist you feel you are spending more time on the phone or at the computer trying to get people to cover your stuff than being an artists, it may be time to bring someone in to do that for you.
Any tips for bands to raise their profile?
Be fearless. Do not keep your music to yourself. Play it to people. Not only to friends and family, send it to radio stations. Maybe start with your local one and move up from there. Same goes for the papers. If you are doing a gig, ask the local paper for their arts / entertainment journalist, then see if they will come and do a review.
There are loads of opportunities online. There are music sites and blogs that might give you a bit of exposure. then there is your website, facebook, twitter, etc. Use the internet. Don’t be too nerdy about it. Few people want to know what equipment you used to record your latest track. Have fun with it and keep doing thing online regularly. It is no good post an update saying ‘we are great, come and listen to us’ once every three months. Post mpfrees of your rehearsal in return for an email – bandcamp and others do this for free or stream loads of photos or videos.
If you are organised enough to write out a plan or ‘strategy’ then that might help give everyone in the band focus. Be creative with your online activity and use the resources out there.
If an independent band wants to become one of your clients, what do they need to do?
We have to like the artist and the material they produce. It is only possible to ‘sell’ something if you believe in it yourself. You also need to demonstrate that you are actively doing stuff. We are not that keen to see things go nowhere. Every artist is the driving force of their career. If they do nothing, we have nothing to tell people and shout about. If we do not decide to work with someone, it does not mean no-one will. This is a very personal thing and the fit has to be right from both sides.
Favourite bands that you’ve worked with and why?
Most of those we work with could be considered favourite. This is probably the hardest question so far.
It is always brilliant to come on board with something and find that the team surrounding the artist is dedicated, purposeful, professional and on it. Conversely it is difficult when an artist is all about calling you every day to see what is happening. That’s understandable, but frustrating. If you think about it if there was something happening, the first thing we want to do is tell the artist the news!
I guess it becomes really great when it all comes together. For example, we work with an artist called Brasstronaut. We have done for a while now. Recently they came over from Canada [where they are based] for their second trip, taking in the continent and doing some of the trade shows like The Great Escape, etc. along the way. Just after they had returned and the buzz around the trip was still going on they became favourited on hypemachine more than Bon Iver’s newly released material. We could literally see the figures of people responding on the internet live in their thousands. When that happens, it starts to spread like wildfire online. It is a wonderful thing to see in real-time all the work from everyone involved coming to fruition in front of your very eyes. You feel great for the band you champion, great for the team who feel like you and work their nuts off and great for the audience, who are loving the music. A win win win situation. Brilliant.