Should You Hire a Publicist If Label Services Includes PR?
Compare your label services scope with a separate music PR offer. See when an extra publicist fills a press gap and when you’d pay for the same work twice.
The short answer
Hire a separate music publicist only if they can cover a press task, audience, or market your label services partner has left open. Compare the two written scopes line by line. If both teams would pitch the same story to the same outlet, assign one sender and ask for a narrower quote before paying for more work.
Three things to know
- 01
Find out whether the existing PR line covers preparing materials, sending pitches, or both.
- 02
Treat any outlet on both target lists as a decision to resolve before sending.
- 03
Ask for the price and deliverables for the uncovered work before adding a second provider.
What belongs in the two-scope worksheet?
Use one row per proposed press task. Complete it before approving the second quote.
- 01
Existing commitment
Name the task, intended outlets or audience, and what the label services partner has agreed to deliver.
- 02
Proposed addition
Describe the new publicist’s work, target, timing and fee. Mark whether it is covered, additional or unclear.
- 03
Shared outlet
Where both teams propose the same target, record the sender, follow-up owner and any open offer the other team must respect.
- 04
Purchase decision
Mark the line keep, narrow, skip or pending. For pending work, record what must be confirmed and who will decide.
What PR work is already included?
Start with the latest label services scope and mark the publicity work the partner has actually agreed to do. Use the Records guide to scoping deliverables to separate a promised action from an editorial result. Break a line called press support into tasks: write the press materials, research outlets, send pitches, follow up, and coordinate replies. If the proposal only says the partner will prepare a media list, ask who is expected to use it before you count outreach as covered.
How do you tell whether the second offer adds something?
Put each proposed task next to the existing one and compare the story, outlet or audience, timing and follow-up. A publicist offering a series of podcast pitches may fill a gap when the current partner is preparing materials and pitching only local print outlets. If both teams propose writing the same artist bio, decide whether one can reuse the approved version. If neither scope is clear enough to compare, mark the work unresolved and get written clarification before buying it.
When is splitting the work by market useful?
Planetary Group says it can work with other publicists and divide specific markets. Ask your own providers what they can support. If one team handles Canada and another handles the US, check which outlets publish across both markets or use the same editorial inbox. Decide who handles each shared target, who responds if it writes back, and when an unclaimed target can be reassigned. If a premiere or exclusive is in play, have one person track the exact offer and alert both teams before either sends a conflicting pitch.
How can both teams check for overlap without sharing private lists?
Agree on the smallest campaign-specific view that lets the teams compare targets. It might show the outlet, assigned sender, whether an offer is open, and when the sender will check back. A manager can also compare the proposed outlet names privately and send each team its own list of exceptions. The PRSA Code of Ethics calls for protecting confidential and private information. Ask what each provider may share and keep unrelated contacts and private correspondence out of the tracker.
What does a two-scope comparison look like?
Constructed example. A label services partner is handling Canadian music press. A publicist proposes US web press and regional podcasts. A genre newsletter on both lists already has a live pitch from the label services team. The manager keeps the reply and follow-up with that sender and removes the newsletter from the new proposal. The rest of the web list has too few relevant targets to justify the work, so the manager asks for a podcast-only quote. The artist can then decide whether those interviews are a good use of the campaign budget, with no expectation that any outlet will say yes.
What should you confirm before approving a second fee?
Request a revised written scope with the specific additional tasks, excluded outlets, start and end dates, who handles replies, and the fee for that work. Compare the extra cost and the time you will spend coordinating both teams with the value of the uncovered audience. If the publicist cannot show enough distinct work, keep one provider or leave that audience out for now. If you are changing an existing agreement, confirm the change through the agreed process and take exclusivity or other agreement questions to qualified music counsel.
Frequently asked questions
- Does a press release mean that journalist outreach is included?
- Check the deliverables. Writing the release, distributing it, and sending tailored pitches can be separate tasks.
- Can the new publicist take over an existing pitch?
- Agree on the handoff first. Record who will respond, what can be shared, and how the outlet will hear about the change.
- Do we need both providers on every publicity call?
- Invite both when the decision affects them. A short written note may be enough for decisions one provider owns.
- Can both providers mention the same article in their reports?
- Yes, as context. Keep one record of the coverage and distinguish each provider’s role from the outlet’s decision to publish.
- What if I have only one press budget line?
- Ask for a revised breakdown before approving work. Compare the price of the additional scope with what you already committed.