Nikki Wright - Music Festival PR

Nikki Wright runs London based Global Publicity, a music PR firm with a difference. She specialises in the live music sector, and in particular in PRing music festivals outside the UK, both to a British and a global audience.

Festivals she works on include Melt in Germany, Tignesfest in the French Alps, the Pohoda Festival in Slovakia and Serbia’s popular Exit Festival.

We spoke to her about how she got into music PR, and about the challenges of PRing events on a global level.

By Unicorn Jobs

Tell us a bit about your career, how did you get into PR?

I’ve always loved music, but was originally inspired to actually work in the music industry after winning a competition on Kiss FM that saw a radio rig visit my school. I initially got into radio – working for hospital radio and then student radio at Manchester University – but after graduation moved into the music business proper, working my way up from from receptionist at V2 Records to Promotions Manager at Neo Records.

In 2002 I joined a DJ agency called International Management Division where I set up an in-house promotions department which was charged with the task of promoting DJs represented by the agency on a global basis. It was there that I started building a strong international media database, so much so I began to get offers of work from external clients, and began publicising albums, club nights, festivals and music conferences worldwide.

Why and when did you set up Global Publicity?

I set up Global Publicity in January 2007 because I love music and travel and wanted to concentrate on publicising international events.

You specialise in PRing non-UK music festivals, how did you get into that?

It came mainly from word of mouth and meeting people at music conferences. Not many people do publicity on an international level, so word gets around and people started approaching me and introducing me to people. It was all quite organic really, which was a surprise.

Are you PRing the festivals primarily to a UK audience, or to global audience?

I promote all my festival clients to a UK and international audience depending on their requirements. Some want me to concentrate on Europe at large, while others also want me to target close neighbouring territories.

How do you manage to build up press contacts globally?

It’s very time consuming, but mainly through travel and buying lots of magazines and loading up my suitcase with them. I also get to meet lots of media at each event I work on, so the database is continually growing.

How does PRing a festival abroad different from PRing a domestic music event?

I always try and work with events that have something unique or interesting about them to make them stand out and be different from UK events. Most people have been to all the festivals in the UK before and want to discover something new, and the lure of a press trip to foreign country with the promise of hot weather is also a bonus.

How does PRing live music events compare to other kinds of music PR – such as when you worked in promotions at a record label?

Working on events gives you so many more angles to pitch and more than one artist to work with, meaning that there will always be one on the line up that a particular media might be interested in. I also have the travel angle as my events are abroad.

You also do PR for some technology companies, how does that compare to the festival work?

Taking my background in music and entertainment PR, and applying those skills to working in a different sector, was an interesting challenge. It takes a while to build new contacts and for media to trust you, but the technology companies I work with go hand in hand with my event promotion as they offer online ticketing and email and mobile marketing solutions.

Has the growth of the internet – websites, bloggers, social networking etc – impacted on the way you PR events?

It means I have to constantly keep up to date with new developments which can be tough, but it also offers more opportunity to promote your events if done right.

What advice would you have for someone thinking of a career in music PR?

I would suggest they do work experience – that’s how I started. Try working at a few different companies to find out what kind of PR you like best and what kind of working environment you prefer. You could even have a go at promoting your mates band, which is what one of my work experience guys is doing.

What advice would you have for someone thinking of setting up their own agency?

I’d say do it. Believe in yourself, be passionate and want it and don’t be afraid to do things outside your comfort zone.

Find out more about Global Publicity at www.globalpublicity.co.uk