PR · 7 min read
Pitch three tiers, not one.
Blanket-emailing 200 outlets with the same press release is why you're not getting coverage. A tiered pitch — targeted, personalised, staggered — is how signed indies with modest budgets still land features in 2026.
Tier 1: Aspirational tastemakers
The Line of Best Fit, DIY, Loud & Quiet, Dork, Clash, NME online, Crack. These get 300+ pitches a week. To cut through: address the specific writer (read their last three pieces), reference a comparable artist they've covered, and send 3–4 weeks before release with a private link. Never attach a press release — link to it.
Tier 2: Regional and lifestyle
Time Out (city sections), regional papers, BBC Introducing (your local station), local magazines. Higher hit rate, and often deeper coverage — a 400-word feature in your regional paper is more shareable than a 40-word Tier 1 mention. Pitch 2 weeks out.
Tier 3: Genre blogs, Substacks, podcasts
This is where the compound work happens. Independent Substacks (For the Rabbits, The New Cue, Talkhouse), genre blogs, and small podcasts are hungry for exclusives. Offer a first-listen, a track-by-track, or a guest essay. Pitch 1–2 weeks out.
The email structure that works
Subject: '[Artist] – [Track] (for fans of X, Y) – out [date]'. Line 1: a genuine, specific sentence about their recent work. Line 2: what the song is and why it fits them. Line 3: a private link + press shot + one-line bio. That's it. No attachments, no essays.
Follow-up
One follow-up, 5 working days later, on the same thread. 'Just floating this back up in case it got buried.' Never a third. Move on.
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