Industry news & advice blog

Manchester music’s movers and shakers give us their unique perspective on the best (and worst) of working with unsigned acts…

Lisa Durrant works for In House Press, who do the PR for a diverse roster of bands including Manc natives Beat The Radar, Young British Artists and The Longcut.

Favourite Manchester bands:
The Heartbreaks, Beat The Radar, MAY68

What’s the best way for unsigned bands to approach you?
With a good quality recording they're happy with - there's no point in sending something that'd half-finished or a 'rough' version - and a little bit of information about themselves; not pages and pages, just a short line or so about where they're from, whether they’re signed or unsigned, release plans…

Everyone prefers different things, but I prefer physical promos as it makes me listen to them - they sit on my desk until I've checked them out! I'm happy to listen to MySpaces/MP3 links as well though or simply just thrust a CD into my hand at a gig - the personal touch is always more memorable!
 
How can they make an impression?
For me it really just comes to down to what the act both sounds and looks like. I look for two things: 1) if I like it myself and 2) for PR purposes, if it's something I can see getting a lot of interest from different publications.

It helps if the band has a good identity, know what they're about and want to put across. I like acts that stand out, don't look/sound like everyone else, have something to say for themselves and have their own good story to tell.

What’s you biggest bugbear when it comes to dealing with unsigned bands?
Bad press shots. If you're having photos done make sure they say something about your act; the standard 'brick wall' line-up shot has been done so many times. If you really want people who see the pictures to want to check out your music, you need  something interesting - pick a location, interesting clothes, something that instantly sums up what the act is about.

Can't speak for everyone but I also find it really annoying when unsigned acts list the other bands they've 'supported' in a bio... this tells us nothing about the act themselves and, at the end of the day, could easily just be a made up list.

Top tip for unsigned bands:
Gig a lot and work hard on building your fanbase. It's good to have the ambition to get signed to a label but you also need fans to play to! It might seem a ball ache but keep on the case with your Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, band mailing lists etc and let everyone know about the shows you've got coming up, funny tour stories, special merch offers, competitions etc. Those things are a great tool to contact everyone you know, even friends of friends that you don't know, so use them! There's nothing worse than going to see a band that's trying to get signed with nobody there to see them play.