Aipate Team

Jonilar: The role of a music publicist and why an an artist needs one

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A music publicist is a press agent representing a musician or band. Armed with a specific set of skills, including communications, and marketing, these he or she is able to craft and promote a musician’s brand. Music publicists may hold a degree or Diploma in a communications-based field but most of them are self trained. These individuals use public relations to ensure that the image of the artist remains good while also communicates the artists stand and news to the media.

Publicists can develop musicians’ public and media relations training and strong communication skills, as well as knowledge of the Internet and other new media formats. In addition to speaking for their clients, music publicists may also create press releases and speeches for press conferences, interviews, and other important events. Individuals in this position are typically contacted first by media professionals to schedule meetings and speak to the artists they represent.

They may also consider the importance and necessity of career opportunities for their clients, such as working with charities and non-profit organisations, going on tour, promotional appearances, or interviews. As one of the lead marketing professionals for an artist’s projects, the music publicist often helps promote tours, albums, and campaigns for these opportunities to increase exposure and generate sales.

We had a Twitter chat with Jonilar, a Ghanaian publicist on #GrospoolMusicChat and he gave us some insight into the world of music publicity.
According to him, a music publicist is one who…

Does he train those musicians he work with on communications?

 

Also, he says artists should read about certain things to help them out in communication

Would he like to work with any Kenyan artist or band?

You can get more of the Twitter chat on the hashtag on by checking his @jonilar handle (tweets between 1 pm and 3.30 pm on 14th March)

In Kenya we have a number of publicists. Standing out is Anyiko Owoko with her Anyiko PR company while others, as mentioned during the Twitter chat are Agnes Nonsizi (@agnesnonsizi), Grace Kerongo of @hotsecretz PR, Priya Chana (@priyachana) among others. As a musician you need to know who they are and when the right time comes, you approach them or…if you’re successful enough, they approach you.

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