Music ‘Zines and Indie Promo Submissions. Slam dunk or no-go?

Old-school music store - Indie Promo Submissions

Music Marketing works both ways. Bands should excel at it when launching a record – and the RMR crew wrote about this often thorny issue pretty extensively already. It is after all the lifeblood running through the veins of that music business of theirs. And this is exactly what it truly is, a business. It needs to be managed, cajoled, and strategically administered. Apart from letting your artistic creativity run free, of course. Not an easy job description at best, and it is thus understandable that not many are really good at every facet of it.

In contrast, music reviewers … [...] Click to raid more!

Online Presence in Music Marketing. Crucial – or not?

RockmusicRaider - Online Presence and Music Marketing

Underground bands are somewhat of a staple of the RMR ‘zine. Many are insanely talented but – for some reason – some of them decided to stay invisible. Or they chose to be more kvlt than trve kvlt allows. As in, only offer plastic cassettes on a frugal Bandcamp page, for instance. That usually goes hand-in-hand with an anemic presence on Social Media, or none at all. To add insult to injury, they usually won’t bother with a proper website. Because – you know – there already is that Bandcamp page.

And that’s quite enough to ensure that coveted online … [...] Click to raid more!

Eluveitie @ RMR – A Shoutout!

Eluveitie 2021

If there’s one band on the RMR beat that got extensive coverage, it is – for sure – the Swiss band Eluveitie. An outfit that appeared out of nowhere in 20021 and broke into real fame by the time the 2008 piece Slania hit our turntables. An enigmatic and sometimes downright excellent band that that didn’t always get good rates from this ‘zine during its 20-year career. But the band around Chrigel Glanzmann continues to fascinate those deckhands @ RMR, so future coverage is literally ensured. And besides, a ‘zine like ours is supposed to be critical and … [...] Click to raid more!

Opinion: Free-for-all? Download that promo. Or not?

RockmusicRaider - Promos are free

A few weeks ago, I stumbled upon a somewhat desperate tweet from a PR agency. Its representative bitterly complained about some reviewers downloading all the music promos sent their way but never returning any written articles. Apparently, once the agency accosted the webzine (or ‘zines), they were told that simple downloads don’t guarantee reviews.

Of course, that didn’t sit too well with the PR guys. But the ‘zine’s opinion does strike a chord with yours truly over here at RMR HQ.

Let’s take good ol’ RockmusicRaider as an example.

Promotion agencies, labels, and bands of all couleur usually inundate our … [...] Click to raid more!