A placement has an editor
Someone other than you decides the piece belongs in their section. That can be a review, an interview, a premiere, or a feature. The byline, the headline, and the verdict are theirs. If you need the wording to stay under your control, you are making an announcement, not earning press.
What you should have before anyone pitches
- A finished recording, or a clear news hook if the story is not a release.
- A date. Editors plan. “Sometime this year” is hard to assign.
- One sentence that says what is new. Not a mood board of genres.
- Credits that are true: who made it, who is in the photo, what city the work comes from.
- A link a writer can open, and images you have the right to send.
- A short bio that matches the pitch. If the bio claims a chart, a sync, or a tour, it has to be real.
If those pieces are missing, fix them before outreach. A premature pitch teaches the desk to ignore the name. The order of a campaign is covered in press around a music release.
The formats that actually get used
Most music press fits one of four asks. A review needs a recording a critic can judge. An interview needs a person who will talk and a reason to. An editorial feature needs an angle beyond the link. Digital press is the same standard on sites that publish online. Pick the ask that matches the news. Do not ask one editor for all four.
What a campaign can and cannot do
A campaign researches desks, writes pitches, checks them, sends them, and reports what happened. It cannot make a writer like the song. It should not buy a quote or invent a crowd. Hooked Engine’s press for musicians is that campaign. If you want to see the shape of a single note first, read how to pitch music to editors, then start an inquiry when there is a real release or story.