Pitching music press as an indie MENA artist

PR is one of the most overlooked levers for indie MENA artists, and it's a shame. The right write-up can do more for your credibility than a month of paid social. Here's our method.

Identify 10 journalists, not 100 outlets

Outlets don't decide. Journalists do. Start with Mouv', Booska-P, Génération, Konbini, Pan African Music, and look at WHO writes about artists adjacent to you. Five to ten names max. You'll write to each of them individually — never mass-email.

The perfect pitch fits in 4 lines

• Line 1: who you are, one sentence, no fluff
• Line 2: what's dropping, when, and why it matters to THEIR audience
• Line 3: a factual hook that sets you apart (first sold-out, feature with X, etc.)
• Line 4: the private listening link + your phone number

Personalize the pitch — actually

Reference a specific piece the journalist wrote. Not vague praise, a concrete callback. "Your piece on [X] stuck with me because [specific reason]." That changes everything.

Make their job easy

• Short bio (150 words max) and long bio (400 words)
• 3 to 5 royalty-free HD photos for publication
• Private listening links ahead of public release
• 1 or 2 narrative angles to make the article easier to frame

No time for any of this? That's exactly what we do for the artists we work with.