Can you spend a nickel and two dimes at a five-star restaurant and expect to be served filet mignon and their finest champagne? You would most definitely insult the chef who prepared the food, the wait staff who presented your meal and kept your glass topped off throughout the night, and the restaurant owner who forked over the cash for the ingredients, not to mention the chair you are sitting on...So that just wouldn't fly. In fact, that neglected bill might even earn you a night in the county jail.

The same principle applies to the music industry. It takes money to make money. The problem with today’s entertainment industry is that people are not focused on one of the most important aspects for their career -- the publicity. You can have the hottest song, the greatest lyrics or the nicest production, but without exposure, it just doesn’t matter. It's true that it’s easier than ever to get exposure with all the online social media outlets available, but those avenues will only get you so far. There is an intricate, thought-out strategy behind the art of publicity, no matter how easy or scattered it may look.

As publicists, we get flooded with calls to represent some of the most well-known

personalities, as well as some of the most unknown starving artists. But more often than not, clients expect a five star meal on a one-dollar budget. In some cases, artists spend 99% of their budget on the biggest feature or hottest producer they can land -- and save their last dollar for promotion.

Enter: Larry, Curly and Moe. Hats tilted, chains dangling, dressed in Armani and Jordan’s and carrying a knockoff Louis Vuitton bag with their latest single or mixtape. They slam $300 dollars down on the table and they brag about how they got the hottest song out right now and yada, yada yada. Wait...let me get this straight. They want us to break their project and make them famous overnight for less than what they paid for their shoes and those tacky cubic zirconium name plates dangling from their puny chests?

Bottom line: be reasonable. Don't expect imported champagne on a Budweiser budget. Respect your PR people and your project and be patient or be prepared to spend money.

Don't be Larry, Curly or Moe… by the way, nice shoes. 

Jonathan Hay from Hoopla Media Group

www.jonathanhaypublicity.com