Music Press Release Tips: How to Write One Journalists Actually Read

Sun, 02 Mar 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Quick answer: A music press release needs to read like a news story, not an ad - third person, fact-first, no exclamation points, with a clear headline and a first sentence that gives the actual news before anything else. Keep it to one page, format it the way editors expect, and send it to outlets that actually cover music, not just any free distribution site you can find.

As an independent artist, you are your own press department, whether you feel qualified for the job or not. Every real move you make - a new release, a tour, a benefit show - is worth telling people about, and a press release is still the format editors and bloggers expect when you do it. Get the writing and formatting right, and you dramatically improve your odds of an actual response instead of your email sitting unread between a PR firm’s fourth pitch of the day and a spam newsletter.

Writing Tips

A press release needs to be attention-grabbing but factual, with an angle that’s actually yours - not a template with your name swapped in. Music journalists get pitched constantly; the ones that read like an actual news story are the ones that get opened twice.

Make sure it’s genuinely newsworthy. A release, a tour, a chart placement, a notable collaboration - not “we’re still making music.” That last one is called Tuesday, not news.
Write in third person. This lets an editor use your text nearly as-is, the way they’d use any other news copy.
Stick to the facts. Skip the hype. Adjectives don’t convince anyone; specifics do. “Genre-bending” has been said about every artist since 2009 and means nothing anymore.
No exclamation points. They read as advertising, not news, and editors notice immediately - it’s the press-release version of writing in all caps.
Make the headline count. It’s the first - and sometimes only - thing an editor reads before deciding whether to open the rest.
Front-load the news. The first sentence should state what happened before it states who’s announcing it.
Answer why, where, and when up front. Why should this reader care, where can they find out more, when is it happening.
Add one real quote. From you, a collaborator, or a fan - a single human sentence goes a long way in a document that’s otherwise all facts.
End with a clear call to action. Listen to the track, buy tickets, visit the site - tell the reader the one next step you want them to take.

Try this prompt: Once you’ve got the raw facts down - what happened, when, why it matters, one good quote - hand them to an AI assistant and ask: “Turn these bullet points into a 400-word music press release, third person, AP-style, no hype adjectives, no exclamation points, headline under 170 characters.” Treat the output as a first draft to tighten, not a finished release - it’ll get the format right, but the quote and the specifics still need to sound like you, not a template.

Formatting Tips

Good formatting is what makes it easy for an editor to just run your release as-is.

Keep it to one page where you can - roughly 400-500 words, two pages at the absolute most.
“FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE” at the top.
City, state, and date at the start, exactly like a news article.
A clean headline - title case, no all-caps, roughly 80-170 characters, one sentence.
A short bio and your contact info, separated out after the main text.

Want to see the format in action? Browse real artist press releases from ArtistPR’s own roster before writing yours.

Distributing Your Press Release

Once it’s written, distribution is what actually gets it in front of anyone - a perfect release nobody sees is just a very well-formatted document sitting on your hard drive. A few free options still worth using:

PR Log
OpenPR - the strongest free option for reach outside the US
Press Noise - built specifically for music news, so the editors browsing it are already looking for exactly this

Worth knowing going in: free distribution rarely produces real media pickup or a traffic bump on its own. It’s a supplement to direct outreach to the outlets and playlists that actually cover your genre - not a substitute for it, no matter how many free sites you blast it to.

If Writing Isn’t Your Thing

Not every artist wants to spend their limited time learning press-release formatting on top of everything else on their plate - and that’s exactly what ArtistPR’s Done-For-You Music Press Release service exists for. You get a release written by an in-house music writer, built to grab an editor’s attention and formatted to maximize the odds of pickup, plus distribution to ArtistPR’s own network of music journalists, blogs, and playlist curators.

Frequently Asked Questions

What makes a music press release newsworthy? An actual event or milestone - a new release, a tour, a chart placement, a charity show, a notable collaboration. A press release announcing that you exist, or that you’re just “working hard,” isn’t news and won’t get picked up.

How long should a music press release be? One page if you can manage it, two at most - aim for roughly 400-500 words. Editors are skimming a stack of these; the shorter and more scannable yours is, the better its odds.

Should a press release be written in first or third person? Third person. Write it the way a journalist would write a news story about you, not the way you’d caption an Instagram post. That’s what lets an editor use your text with little to no rewriting.

Where can I send my press release for free? General distribution sites like PR Log and OpenPR still accept free submissions, and Press Noise focuses specifically on music news. Free distribution rarely drives real media pickup on its own - it’s a supplement to direct outreach, not a replacement for it.

Ready for your release to actually land? Submit Your Music and let’s get your story in front of the people who cover it.