Music PR in Birmingham
Britain's second city is consistently under-covered by the national press, which is a problem for artists and an opportunity for a campaign that knows the local landscape.
Campaigns run remotely across the UK. We do not need an office near you, and you should be sceptical of anyone charging you as though they do.
Birmingham has a long-standing structural problem with music press: it produces a great deal and is written about comparatively little. The national titles cover London and Manchester as scenes and treat the Midlands as individual acts who happen to be from there.
The practical consequence is that a Birmingham campaign has to build its own context. We lean harder on the local and regional layer here than we would elsewhere, because that is where a Birmingham artist's first real coverage almost always comes from — and because national writers respond to an artist who already has a story in their own city.
Birmingham media
Birmingham and West Midlands media.
Birmingham-focused music coverage with genuine commitment to local artists.
Broad regional reach across the West Midlands.
Community station with strong local music programming.
Regional BBC Introducing, and a route towards national specialist play.
Documents and champions the city's scene, past and present.
City lifestyle coverage with a large and engaged local list.
North Birmingham community radio with local music support.
Local outlets sit alongside the national and genre-specific targets on your list. Coverage is never guaranteed anywhere.
The Birmingham circuit
Venues are not press, but a campaign that ignores them is missing half the story. Where you have played tells an editor more about you than any adjective in a press release.
Hare & Hounds in Kings Heath is the city's most consistently important small-to-mid room and a genuine tastemaker venue. The Sunflower Lounge and Dark Horse cover the early stages. The Flapper is a long-standing fixture of the local circuit. Mama Roux's and The Mill serve the mid-size touring level. O2 Institute marks the step into larger rooms. Birmingham's metal heritage also gives the city a specific and internationally recognised identity that is genuinely useful in a heavy-music campaign.
What we tell Birmingham artists
Build the local story first, because the national press will not build it for you. A Birmingham artist with real coverage in Counteract, regional radio support and a visible live presence is a far easier sell to a national writer than one who arrives with nothing but a track. For heavy bands specifically, the city's metal lineage is a genuine asset and worth using explicitly.
What a Birmingham campaign costs
The same published price as everywhere else. £695 for a single, everything below included.
Strongest genres in Birmingham
Where the city's media and circuit give a campaign the most to work with.
Releasing from Birmingham?
Tell us the track, the date and the rooms you have played. We will tell you what a campaign could realistically do with it.