Music publicists open their inboxes every morning to find hundreds of press releases competing for attention. Most get deleted within seconds. The ones that survive aren't necessarily promoting the most talented artists or the most innovative projects. They're just written by people who understand what journalists need.

The biggest problem with most artist press releases is that they read like advertisements instead of news. Writers bury the actual story under paragraphs of biographical background, past accomplishments, and vague descriptions of their "unique sound." By the time they get to the point, if there even is one, the journalist has already moved on. The thing is, editors don't assign stories based on how much an artist wants coverage. They assign them based on whether there's something genuinely newsworthy to report.

What's newsworthy varies by publication, but it's rarely just "artist releases new single." Journalists need an angle. That could be a collaboration with a notable producer, a comeback after years away from music, a concept album addressing current events, or a DIY success story that challenges industry norms. If the press release doesn't establish that angle in the first two sentences, it's not getting read. Period.

The promotional language problem runs deeper than most artists realize. Describing music as "genre-defying" or an artist as "breaking boundaries" without backing it up with specifics makes journalists skeptical, not interested. These phrases appear in virtually every press release, which means they've become meaningless. Real music critics want concrete details. What does the production actually sound like? Who did the artist work with? What influenced the creative direction? Answering these questions with specific examples gives journalists something they can actually use.

Timing matters more than artists typically understand. Sending a press release the week an album drops is already too late for most publications. Print magazines and major music sites work months in advance. Online outlets need at least a few weeks to plan coverage, assign writers, and fit stories into their publishing schedules. The press release should arrive when there's still time to premiere a track, schedule an interview, or include the project in a roundup. Sending it on release day signals that the artist doesn't understand how media works, which doesn't inspire confidence.

Structure makes the difference between a press release that gets used and one that gets ignored. Journalists need the facts up front: who, what, when, where, why. The artist's name, the project title, the release date, and the news angle should all appear in the first paragraph. Supporting details come next. Background information, if necessary, goes last. This isn't because journalists are lazy. It's because they're working on tight deadlines and need to extract information quickly. A well-structured release lets them pull quotes and facts without hunting through paragraphs of fluff.

What actually works? Press releases that sound like they were written by someone who reads the publication they're pitching. That means understanding the difference between sending a trap artist's project to a folk music blog versus a hip-hop outlet. It means knowing which writers cover emerging artists versus established acts. It means recognizing that a 300-word email with clear information beats a five-page PDF with formatted graphics and elaborate descriptions every time.

Real examples show the contrast clearly. A bad press release might start with "Rising star Alex Thompson continues their musical journey with a new single that showcases their evolution as an artist." A good one would say "Alex Thompson's new single 'Drive' features production from Grammy-winner Sarah Chen and samples a 1960s soul record that inspired the project's retro sound." One makes a vague claim. The other gives specific, usable information that could become a story.

The artists who get coverage consistently aren't always the most talented ones. They're the ones whose teams understand that journalists aren't their marketing department. Press releases should provide information that helps writers do their jobs, not sales copy that tries to convince them why they should care. When publicists approach media coverage as a service to journalists rather than a favor being requested, everything changes. That shift in perspective, more than any other factor, determines which press releases get opened and which ones get deleted without a second thought.