LGBTQ+ UK Music PR
Quite Great has been working in PR since 1996 and, during that time, we’ve worked with plenty of LGBTQ+ artists on all kinds of music projects. Some have been completely independent, others have come to us with labels, management or publishers already involved. Every campaign has been different, which is probably why we still enjoy doing it.
People often ask if LGBTQ+ PR is different from any other campaign. Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn’t. It depends on the artist and what they’re trying to achieve. There are clients who want to speak openly about their experiences because it’s part of their music, and there are others who would rather keep the focus on the release itself. We’ve worked both ways over the years.
The first thing we usually do is sit down and look at the project. We ask ourselves who’s going to be interested in it, who’s already writing about this sort of music and where the story is likely to fit. From there we start putting the campaign together. It’s never really been about sending thousands of emails. We’d rather spend a bit more time finding the right contacts than filling inboxes with something that isn’t relevant.
LGBTQ+ Music PR
Music has always been a big part of Quite Great. We’ve worked on campaigns for singles, albums, EPs, live shows, tours and one-off events, covering everything from pop and indie through to rock, folk, jazz and classical releases.
Some artists come to us well before the release, others only get in touch when everything is nearly ready to go. It happens all the time, so we just work with whatever timescale we’ve got and take it from there.
Most campaigns begin with a press release, but that’s only one part of the job. We’ll contact journalists, radio producers, bloggers, magazine editors and music websites that already cover that style of music. Some of those contacts have known Quite Great for years and others are people we’ve come across more recently.
People move jobs, magazines close, new websites appear and radio shows change. It’s always changing, so our media lists are never really finished.
For some artists, LGBTQ+ media is an important part of the campaign. Others are more interested in reaching the wider music press. Most of the time it’s a mixture of both, and we’ll talk that through before we start contacting people.
We’ve worked with artists putting out their very first single as well as musicians who have been releasing music for years. The campaign might be different, but the work is much the same. You find the story, work out who’s likely to cover it and start making calls and sending emails.
Not everything happens in the first week. Sometimes a review leads to an interview a few weeks later. Sometimes a local radio station picks up a release and then somebody else notices it. We’ve seen campaigns suddenly take off after looking fairly quiet at the beginning, so you learn not to judge things too quickly.
We’ve also learnt that not every release is going to suit every publication. That’s just part of the job. We’d rather send a release to twenty people who are likely to read it than two hundred who probably won’t. It takes longer, but we’ve always thought it works better that way.
A lot has changed since we first started. Streaming has changed the way people find music, social media has changed the way artists promote themselves and plenty of magazines have disappeared over the years. At the same time, new websites, podcasts and independent broadcasters have opened up opportunities that simply didn’t exist before.
Every release is different, so we just get on with the job and see where it takes us. Sometimes the coverage comes quickly, sometimes it builds over a few months. That’s just how music PR works, and it’s one of the reasons we’ve never believed in doing exactly the same campaign twice.
