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Essentials in
Quartet Singing
PR for Quartets
Getting famous as a quartet starts with knowing what to say, to whom. Learn how to craft a compelling message.
Updated: 7/29/2002 6:59:00 PM
There are hundreds — no, thousands — of entertainers and musicians in your community trying to get public recognition. Why does your quartet deserve fame? And what purpose does it serve? A quick tally:
- Increased show bookings
- Ego: "Look Ma, I'm on TV!"
- Preserving and encouraging barbershop harmony for its own sake
- Build chapter membership — chorus membership
- Building relationships/friendships/networks of stakeholders: people who have a reason to care whether you succeed or fail. There's no substitute for friends.
Fame is great. We want it. How are you going to get it?
The answer: earn it.
Public relations is doing something good, then getting credit for it. Your quartet does plenty of good things worthy of fame:
- Singing /entertaining well — sharing music and love
- Serving the community through charity performances
- Spreading barbershop harmony to a new generation
- Assisting other Barbershoppers in enjoying and improving in their hobby
- Giving the news media just what it needs — warm-hearted stories about real people doing good things.
Re-read the last point. Give the news media stories. ALWAYS start with a story. “Gimme some free advertising” is not a story.“ Hey, we’re a barbershop quartet” is not a story. Look for the hook that gives your story immediacy.
For example, 10,000 Barbershoppers in a free Massed Sing is a pretty easy story to sell. So is Harmony College; but notice how we sell the Harmony College story. It’s not simply, “Here are 700 singers.” Instead, the hook is, “Why would a 50 year-old man give his vacation to spend a week in Missouri wearing a propeller beanie?” A story you can describe visually is a story you can sell to any medium.
Give the media the tools they need to tell your story
There’s no substitute for knowing what they’re already doing. If the Morning Zoo has a daily feature of “Dumb excuses for missing work”, come up with one of your own, and offer to sing it for them.
See what’s happened? You've reversed roles. Instead of begging for a handout, you’re providing the media with the material they need to do their jobs.
An easy way to achieve this is to do for the community what the media is doing for the community. Why do they sponsor fund drives for food shelves, Toys for Tots or raise money for little girl’s liver transplant? Big-hearted? maybe — but they also position the station as friends to the community. Ride along. The station looks good when they showcase people lending talents to a common cause.
Put music where it belongs:
The easiest way to get in front of people is to put barbershop harmony in all the places where music is expected. here’s a good years worth of singing opportunities
- January — Excalibur is extremely successful with their “Winter Parking Rules” song, a spoof on when it’s legal to park on the even-side, etc. Work up a “snow emergency” piece.
- February — Singing Valentines
- March — Irish tunes for St. Paddy’s
- April— Harmony Month. Tax time. A little parody bemoaning your late tax returns should hit.
- May — Graduation blues, Memorial Day patriotic salute, Mother’s Day
- June — “Take Me Out to the Ball Game”, Father’s Day, Flag Day (“Stars and Stripes” for the ambitious)
- July — Independence Day, International Convention, fairs, festivals
- September — back to school blues for kids
- October — Pumpkin carols. Election season - get out the vote (a good, non-partisan sentiment, please; keep in mind the prohibitions against campaigning on behalf of a particular party or candidate)
- November — Turkey songs, Americana
- Christmas — Christmas/holiday songs. New year’s. (Safe driving tips?)
What to do once you’re on the air
Give the media exactly what they need:
- Pretty pictures / sound. Make sure your costumeis apprpriate to the event.
- Feel-good ending
- Always provide a response mechanism — sample of the quartet, call 555-1212. (use station response line)
- Treat it just like a show performance: know where you’re going, and how you’re getting there. They’re going to edit you, so you have to give them something pretty nuggety.
- Remember that you’re there to serve them first, and your own needs come second. Good exposure is good exposure — we’ll take the impressions first, then the messages.
Have a simple message, and say it at the beginning and the end.
- Set the call letters to a tag. Mickey Mouse works pretty well. Ask in advance how they like to say their slogan, then work around it.
Sell the basic messages:
- Barbershop is easy.
- Barbershop is fun
- You can do it, too.
Always leave something behind
- A great impression
- An offer to help out again in the future
- A CD or cassette
Write a thank you note!
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