Industry Press Releases

Industry Press Releases

Music Nation is ideal for marketing your band, live event or news, our front page, dedicated news section and social media channels, displaying to over 30,000 visitors every month.  Depending on the concentration of articles received news posts can display on our front page anywhere from a few hours to many days.

Promoters, agencies and artists are very welcome to add us to your regular press mailing list. Please use email info@musicnation.co.nz

Please note, Music Nation will only post articles directly relevant to New Zealand general music, music production or New Zealand related bands, albums and tour information. We do not post international content unless it’s directly related to a New Zealand band or event.

Music Nation Press Release Guidelines

Timing

Send PR soon as possible so we can help generate a buzz. Informing us on the day of your big event is next to useless as it takes a few days for the wheels to start turning. We recommend a teaser email a month out, with the main announcement 2-weeks from the event date.

Mark embargo content with a clear date you want it publicised.

Format

Press releases are best supplied in plain text format – please do not send Word Document formatted or PDF copy, we don’t have time to rewrite your content. Also, our anti-spam filter is very sensitive to strange attachments, chances are anything but plain text will be filed in the spam folder.

Your article should include a catchy headline of no more than 8 words. The headline should read like a news headline: concise, catchy, and factual – not self-congratulatory nor egocentric.

The body of your copy should read like a news story and be engaging for our readers. Please limit to around 600-1000 word, and keep in mind most of our readers use mobile phones so they don’t have time to read through a huge spiel.

Hyperlinks are great, but we will remove affiliated or links to other media outlets. We only post links to mainstream social media sites (Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram) and official related site, like your website, ticketing and streaming services (like Spotify, YouTube and SoundCloud).  

A link to your website is highly recommended.

Press releases will be edited for both content and length, as required, to meet the goals of the site and obtain maximum interest of our visitors. We will most likely edit profanity and political activism.

Not all submissions can be used.

A little insider advice

Think about your focus keywords and use plenty of them in your copy. The keyword should be used in the heading and a few places throughout your copy. The title of your album is a great keyword, of even the band name. If you want to be seen as a rock band, for example, make sure you use ‘rock band’ often in your copy.

Name drops are awesome in press releases. If your news is connected to someone famous or well known, use their name in your copy. It is likely a highly requested search phrase on Google and will help your post rank well.

Testimonials are gold!

Use bold highlights to emphasize key points.  TYPING IN ALL CAPS is considered shouting on the Internet, which is perfectly fine for a heading or very important line – but use it sparingly.

Centralizing your copy can be effective, but can look cheesy – use with caution.

Finally – please spel ckech…and then spell check again. We scan for obvious typos, but it’s important you supply accurate copy. We do not know if you’re being artistically creative with your band name, or its a genuine spelling mistake.

Media content  

Your press release must contain at least one high-resolution, copyright-free image we can use for the feature image that does not include text overlays. We do not use logos as feature images. Please do not provide copyright media. We do not post photo credits.

Best image size for us is landscape oriented 1200 wide. Portfolio, or skyscraper images will get cropped by our web software, so anything in the top and bottom thirds will get cut – great if you like headless photos. We prefer full colour photos as opposed to black and white – we want the site to be bright and vibrant. Ideally keep photos under 100k in size, but we do optimize all images so anything you send will be compressed down.

YouTube or Vimeo video links are excellent, as are Soundcloud demos.  We cannot, unfortunately, host any audio or video content due to copyright restrictions and APRA licensing requirements in New Zealand.

Send all press release information to info@musicnation.co.nz

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