Your emails represent you and your music so ensuring it is professional, interesting, without ego and easy to read is utterly vital.

At some point in your musical career, you’ll be finding yourself emailing publications, blogs, and content creators to get them to cover your latest release. Thankfully, in the internet age, getting in contact with people is easier than ever. Most publications are a simple email away, most journalists are on Twitter, and content creators are everywhere. However, it is important to remember there are thousands of people like you, looking to get your music heard and covered. 

Throughout this article, I am going to talk you through how to write the perfect email based on my experience as a freelance PR manager. 

Step 1 – The subject

So, the first step is to create an engaging subject title, one that is snappy, informative but not too bloated. If you see the example above, you can see that I have included a previous accolade (establishing the artist as legitimate), the artist’s name, the format of release, and similar-sounding bands. All in one punchy sentence. This means that before the recipient has even read the email they know what to expect and if they are going to be interested. Remember, the subject title is the first thing they’ll see, it is vital this bit is perfect. 

Step 2 – Make sure you get their name right

This one’s easy and is simple manners, make sure the recipient’s name is correct when emailing them. It’s an easy mistake to do as you copy + paste your email but it will reflect poorly on you and make it seem you’re not invested in them as a creator/publication. 

Step 3 – The main body of the text should be short and simple and not over inflammatory. 

Your main body of the text should be nice and simple. Start with a simple pleasantry (i.e how are you?) and then explain why you are emailing and what sort of coverage you are wanting. See the example above for a good idea. 

Step 4 – Make sure media assets are attached and links are available in the body of the email

ALWAYS make sure your press release is attached before sending, having to send a follow-up with it attached is embarrassing and lowers your chance of being considered or taken seriously. Also within the body of text make sure you include your social media links, private links to the release (if it isn’t out yet), and single artwork with a solid press photo. All of this saves time and makes it easier for the recipient. 

If you have found this article helpful and want more advice on how to run your own PR as an independent musician then check out our previous article here.