ABOUT US

The PR Lady staff is a close-knit group of independent music industry publicists totally aware of the sort of challenges an independent artist faces in today's music business.

[In.de.pen.dent: (adj.) able to operate or stand on its own because not dependent on another. not forced to rely on another for money or support.]

Each PR Lady publicist comes to the team with a different skill set, a different way of working and a different work history. We know for certain that diversity is an asset. What we have in common (and the reason we still really like each other after all these years) is a love for music and the determination to help talented-but-unfunded artists build a following. We believe it is entirely possible to have a sustainable and gratifying career as an independent musician - and that every musical genre has worth. (Well, actually death metal is a little problematic for us, but every other genre is something we can understand)

At some point you'll be earning enough money through CD and tickets sales that you'll want a full-time publicist on retainer. (Truly, that's one achievable goal - right after landing a big-time booking agent). Until that time comes we thought it would be cool for independent artists to have quick access to sound advice for a modest financial investment. We're even thinking of having t-shirts printed that say just that.

Repeat after us: quick access, sound advice, and modest financial investment.

The PR Lady Team Leaders look like this:

The One-In-Charge is a hotshot New York PR Lady. The real deal. Some of the artists she has worked press for are legendary; others are less gigantic but still got great press. She has more than 18 years experience as a publicist working with some impressive talent. If we wanted to drop names, we'd whisper something like this: Pearl Jam, Rage Against The Machine, Ozzy Osbourne, Ben Folds Five, Celine Dion, Tommy Lee. Having this much experience means she has a clear understanding of all the How To's:

How to approach music writers
How to select which ones to reach out to first, second and third.
How to interpret their replies - good, bad or otherwise.
How to transform that first positive review into a whole list of reviews.
How to develop a realistic and practical publicity strategy.

It also means she has had the privilege of placing music stories in publications that range from Billboard and Rolling Stone to Relix and High Times. We trust her advice every day around the office so we're pretty sure you'll trust her advice too. Oh yea, and she is in fact, a Lady.

Next up we've got a girl who spent the better part of her formative years (that's career years) in a busy and prestigious major label A&R department. Working her way up from executive gatekeeper to a very-important-A&R-guy, to the girl in charge of marketing his band's new releases. [Insert names here: Pearl Jam, Three Fish, Shudder To Think]. After her formative years were finished, she switched alliances and ran full steam into indie-artist management. [Insert more names here:
Martin Sexton, Chris Trapper of The Push Stars, Sloan Wainwright]. Of course, as an artist manager - it wasn't a stretch to add indie publicist to her resume and the rest, as they say, is history. Well, not so much history as that's exactly what she does today.

Through all this she's established a credible reputation among journalists for her no nonsense pitching style and high-level understanding of what a journalist needs to get the job done.

Seated at the desk by the window we've got another fine PR Lady with another 20 years in the music publicity game. [let's get the name dropping out of the way; Bon Jovi, The Three Tenors, Russell Simmons, Funkmaster Flex] Record label people call her a seasoned professional (she hears that term and immediately wants to know if the seasoning is barbecue or curry, she prefers curry). What's remarkable about our spicy friend is her longstanding ability to recognize the interdependence between public relations and marketing. She continually reminds us that a truly successful PR campaign is the result of real-time cooperation between every player on a client's team (it's a simple principle really; nature abhors a vacuum). We think the diversity of her client list underscores her competency.

What that means is this; every public relations campaign is tailored to the individual artist but the basic principles of solid public relations translate equally to all musical genres.

Finally, to round out the Team, we've got a guy who is an Internet chameleon,
and a college senior, and runs his own music shop and oh yea, is a guitarist in a band. His energy is captivating and his approach to publicity is innovative and smart and actually produces results. [Disclaimer: every once in a while his approach is a little far-flung and we watch him spin in circles for a bit before we step in and say hey, that's just not going to work. Of course we love him for just trying and someday one of his ideas will surely turn out to be The Next Big Thing (YouTube as a marketing tool comes to mind)].

Of course in between (and generally hovering around) the PR Lady Team Leaders are bunches of colleagues with equally impressive credentials.

There is never a shortage of talent in our bustling office.

The PR Lady reserves the right to politely pass if the material does not meet general music industry standards.

So here we are, dedicated to you, the musician.

Let's get started!

Click the 'Coming To Your Own Party' link below to read a recently published article, written by Publicity Lady founder Ellyn Solis.

Coming To Your Own Party