I love indie music, and am a big fan of hardworking publicists. My favorite episodes of SongWriter often feature relatively unknown artists, and I consider it part of my mission to help shine a light on these folks. (I am, after all, a relatively obscure artist myself!)
However, publicists often mistakenly assume that SongWriter is an interview show. SongWriter is a podcast of stories and songs written in response.
In order to pitch more effectively, please take a listen to an episode and consider the following questions:
Is the artist definitely up for writing and recording a brand new song in response to a story? (Please note that I pay a minimum of $100 to all participating artists.)
Does the artist have a story in mind for an episode, and is the storyteller/author willing to take part? (Related, does this pairing elevate diverse and/or underrepresented voices?)
Is the artist a competent professional who will respond in a timely fashion to emails, requests, etc.?
Do you personally like their music?
If the answer is "no" or "I'm not sure" to any of the above, they may not be a great fit for SongWriter. If yes, please tell me how you imagine collaborating. I'm truly looking forward to it!
(I get fewer pitches from storytellers/authors, but generally the stories that work best have emotional stakes, which helps the songwriters write a great song. They also usually have a beginning, middle, and end, and are around 8-10 minutes. More info about story structure from the Moth can be found here.)
