At some point in a musician’s career, one starts to ponder the thought of seeking an artist endorsement. This is a very common thought for an inspiring musician, especially taking into consideration all of aspects associated with getting your name out there, acquiring the necessary gear, covering travel expenses, etc. As Director of Artist Relations for PRS Guitars, I thought it might be helpful to provide a few tips on what AR executives look for in artists, and what artists should look for from brands.
First, ask yourself why it is that you want an endorsement. Are you looking for support from a promotional standpoint? Are you looking for gear or tech support? Are you looking to establish a relationship with a company that you believe in? Are you knowledgeable about the product offerings? Are you willing to enthusiastically promote products social and publicly? Basically, what are you going to do for the company you are endorsing? If you’re looking for free gear, you should rethink your approach and ask yourself the above questions. For the most part, the days of free gear are long gone, and if you have the expectation of receiving free gear right off the bat, you will likely be disappointed. But there are many other benefits that come with the endorsement relationship.
I often refer to an artist endorsement as a ‘marriage.” It’s a commitment that involves loyalty and dedication. It’s a two-way street and should be mutually beneficial to both parties. The moment that the two-way street becomes one-way, the relationship is compromised. I’m happy to say that things don’t come to this point often, but if you approach your endorsement with a company as an investment or marriage, the desire to commit and support should be at the top of your priority list – not free gear
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Advice to a musician seeking an endorsement
First take a good look at yourself and the state of your career. You should be prepared to convince us that we’re constantly seeking new artist endorsers to add to our roster who will be influential, and we invest a lot of our time seeking out artists who have the big names; however, we offer several different levels of endorsement. For example, we work with numerous pro players who are well-respected in their markets but are not of national renown. We also seek out emerging artists, session players, and influential educators in various markets. We aren’t a company that puts all of our eggs in one basket, and we value all of our artist endorsers regardless of the level at which they are endorsed. More often than not, making a decision on an artist endorsement is very tough for us. We get hundreds of endorsement inquiries on a monthly basis, and it’s extremely time consuming to review the requests, materials, music, etc.
Some questions you should ask yourself before approaching a company for endorsement.
Do you sound good? Are your peers impressed with your skills?
C’mon, let’s face it, of course you think you sound good! And you probably think you understand many aspects of music, but this is the time to be completely honest with yourself. What does the public think about your playing? Have you received any media acclaim?
What kind of reputation do you have within the industry? How would you describe yourself as a person
We aren’t solely interested in your influence as a musician, but also how you would describe yourself as a person. Are you a positive, outgoing, and easy to get along with? Are you a giver or a taker? You’d be surprised to know just how often artist relations folks talk to one another, and we can usually get a good feel on a potential endorser just by having a quick chat with our industry peers.
We live in a world of social media. What’s your social
media presence like?
The old saying of “don’t judge a book by it’s cover” is not applicable here. First impressions are important, and we want to see how you’re engaging with others. A strong social media presence is highly recommended. This will most often be the first place we look when trying to determine whether or not to consider extending an endorsement to an artist. Your social media pages should show a sizable influence (i.e., number of followers), but it should also show us that your followers are engaged with you (i.e., ratio of likes/comments/shares per cost to total followers). Remember your goal is to be perceived as influential, and the connections should be meaningful rather than just numbers.
What do you bring to the table as an endorser? How are you going to help us with our business needs?
Artist testimonials are important and influential to consumers. You are an important voice of ‘your brand’ whether it’s through your skills, tones, or a simple verbal/written statement that attests to the quality and reliability of the product and/or the brand. We need you to “wave the ‘Company’s’ flag” on and off the stage and let the world know why you represent our brand. Think about what projects you have on the table and how a relationship with the brand could mutually benefit you both. Can we help get the word out on what you are doing? Can we be a part of your project in a way that gets our products and your support of them in front of a broader audience? And because content sharing is the name right now, remember that if you can produce good content with our products, we’ll share it across our networks (which reach more than 725,000 unique people per month right now).
When starting out the relationship, it’s also important for you to ask yourself if and how much you’re willing to support the company’s goals. If you’re open to supporting the products that are important to our brand at that moment in time, we’re going to be way more interested in working with you.
Helpful tips
- You will need a press kit. It should be available in print but also as an EPK. Ideally, it should be available in a format that you can email as well as make available fo download via your website. Your press kit should provide a brief overview of who you are and any major accomplishments. Consider including some impressive photos that represent your onstage presence and embed links to relevant online content (i.e. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc.). You should have a dedicated website with an active performance schedule that includes everything mentioned above as well as audio samples of your playing.
- Be patient and allow time for a response to your endorsement inquiry. You should anticipate a three-to-six week response time, as most companies receive hundreds of simultaneous requests
- Be realistic with your expectations and open to any opportunity that you may be given. Remember, this is the beginning of a relationship. It’s a starting place from which to grow.
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