About 10 years ago, there was an idea put forth that Myspace – at that time the lynchpin of the social networks and the internet ‑ would give rise to a new wave of self-publicised musicians who would tiptoe around the system and go direct to fans.
While YouTube stars, niche acts and crowdfunding shows to a certain extent that is true, not every act is as savvy as Amanda Palmer, who has to sell experience and ephemera to a hungry audience for each project.
Not every act is suitable to being a teen YouTube superstar like Dublin singer-songwriter BriBry, who can action hundreds of thousands in his name (more than 450,000 subscribers and counting). Most artists are just musicians who want to play music, and they have to start somewhere, and that usually involves promotion on radio, TV, print or online.
For bands who are independent and don't have a huge mainstream appeal but still a sizeable potential folowing, it has become harder to reach their audience. The lake of noise has become a sea and new music is everywhere.
For any ambitious band in this position, the next step is publicity.
Generating the heat
Friction PR is an Irish music PR company set up in 1995 by Dan Oggly and Martin Byrne to work with independent bands and labels in the publicising and promotion of music releases and events.
When Byrne left in 2003, Liza Geddes fresh from a work placement at a poster company, joined and was soon working alongside the likes of Snow Patrol, David Kitt, Josh Ritter, The Frames and Bell X1.
The company represents Domino Records in Ireland, whose stable includes Villagers.
"They have a lot of bands on their roster - they would be a big enough part of our business," Geddes says. "We've recently started working with Rough Trade, but only in relation to Girl Band; as well as Irish labels such as Any Other City and Delphi. Up to about five years ago we worked on a few major label bands, but with the decline of CD sales and budgets, they do most of their publicity in-house."
When should a band contact Friction to represent them?
“With social media and online distribution, there is a certain amount a new band can do themselves once there is someone in the band who is up for taking on that role.” says Geddes. “When they are too busy to do it themselves, and they need an experienced campaign planner to move things on, that's a good time to get someone else involved.”
Friction don't take on any band that comes to them. There is a list of criteria to consider first, starting with the music.“I have to like it and feel that it is something I can be enthusiastic about and make work,” she says. “After that I have a general chat to make sure they have a plan in place outside the publicity side of things and then check to see if they have realistic expectations along with a budget.”
Friction would then create a plan around a release or tour, and will contact media, send out press releases, albums, singles, set up interviews and contact journalists, writers, radio presenters and online publications who might like the band's music.
Most of the planning of the promotion of the record happens months out from a release; less-experience bands, instead, are prone to rush-releasing their music to media a week before it comes out. This is asking for the music to fall with a thud before it even reaches deaf ears. “We would plan at least three to four months in advance of an album release and many labels and bigger bands would plan a year ahead,” says Geddes
As for assessing whether a campaign is successful or not, it depends on the band's situation. “It could be airplay for a single, a sold-out show, a chart position for an album, playing a bigger venue or simply profile-building that allows a band a much easier path when it comes to releasing their second album.”
Faster, more laid back
The last decade has brought change in terms of efficiency but sometimes at the expense of revenue. "Digital delivery means that you can do a mail-out in 10 minutes; you can give someone a watermark steam or download of an album via email," says Geddes. "Things have got easier - but faster at the same time.Fees have gone down too with the decrease of artist revenue due to the decline in music sales."
“There's still a huge thrill and satisfaction in working with bands from the start who go on to be successful as well as working with bands whose music you really like”, enthuses Geddes. “I don't have to wear a suit or use formal language in emails, It's a laid-back industry, but professional too of course!”
