I just stumbled upon Beat Wire, a service that can distribute your press releases to thousands of media outlets. Now there are several services that will do this, but Beat Wire is different be they’ll distribute your press release to music related sources specifically.

This is a great service because if you have a professional looking setup (ie. a website, a press kit, a record, etc.), you’ll be able to project your band as a serious act and maybe get some coverage in the music media.

The reason I stress being professional is that the people that receive these releases get several of them all the time. Services like this make it easy for anyone to send them anything that they want and the majority of what that they get is unprofessional crap.

You need to distinguish yourself and the best way to do this is to put your best face on when you make contact. You should only send out a press release if you have something news worthy to promote. If you’re touring, releasing a record or have something else to publicize you can and should issue a press release. You shouldn’t send one out if you just finished a demo or formed a new band – this is bush league and the people that are neck deep in the business don’t have the time.

In running a music related site I can tell you that there are people out there that don’t much care where they’re sending things, they just send them. If you’re reading this site, you probably know that it is a music promotion site, yet I get countless form e-mails from musicians that ask for reviews or stories about their new demo. Besides having these e-mails sent to me with less than a thought about who they were actually sending them to, they failed to send out anything worth writing about. No one who can do anything about a great undiscovered band has the time to seek out every undiscovered band to see if they’re great. You need to impress them or you’re wasting your time.

If you’re having trouble figuring out what to release, think about the bands that you see covered in the music press. Not the Amy Whinehouse-tabloid end, but the business side. They get coverage for all of the business end stuff.

As for writing the release, you can also have them write it for you if you’re not up to it. This is probably best if you aren’t much of a writer or if you don’t know anyone who can write. The press release is written much like a news story and can look amateurish if not done well. There are many books on the subject, but if you need to get your release done and out it’s worth checking out their writing service.

So if you have your act together, and you have something worthwhile to promote, check out Beat Wire.