Sheryl Crow Speaks Too Soon

Sheryl Crow, in an AOL interview on Spinner.com, gets a little too gun ho about collaborating with Fleetwood Mac. She, as reported in an E!News article, said in the interview that she and the classic rock band “definitely have plans for collaborating in the future.”

This is an example of poor communications within the same camp. Internal mixed messages can cause for a lot of confusion and hurt egos.

The classic rock band said in a Reuters article that they were considering Crow as a possibility to add a woman to “shake it up a bit up.” There was no definite agreement between the band or the singer/songwriter that they were going to join forces.

The Starpulse Entertainment blog talks about Lindsey Buckingham’s response to Crow’s “premature” comment.

Considering the fact that the media are around celebrities at all times, it’s very important to make sure that everyone involved in a project are on the same page.

The PR team needs to make sure that celebrities are prepared when chatting with the media. Celebrities have to 1) get the correct information out and 2) keep hush hush on the information that shouldn’t be leaked.

This kind of tactic should also be applied to movies. Movies have been known to take years to develop, which presents a very long window of time for the wrong information and rumors to spread. Rumors are to be expected but having a meeting to prepare the actors and actresses can prevent a large fraction of them. PR management should sit down with all of the key actors and talk about what key messages about the movie are to be discussed with the media and what their role is in disseminating the messages.

By taking this simple measure, management can prevent any confusion not only among the public, but also among the celebrities involved. The last thing anyone needs when developing a partnership is for one of the parties to pull out because they felt like an idiot.

Sheryl Crow image courtesy of ecorazzi.com

P!nk & Carey Hart Divorces; P!nk Speaks Out to Fans

No divorce is easy, especially for those celebrities who find their marital turmoil at the center of media scrutiny.  

But, if you know anything about the papparazzi and the public, they have to know what’s going on. Who did what? Why? Did someone cheated? All the biggies. I’m getting ahead of myself with the question, but I’ll pose it anyway: How do celebrities balance their need for privacy with the public’s need for information?

The mainstream media and the gossip sites (Perez Hilton) reported that singer P!nk (Alicia Moore) and motorcross rider Carey Hart separated after two years of marriage.

With rumors about a coming divorce going around for months, everyone wondered if this was the real deal. Instead of waiting to hear more news about it on the mainstream sites, P!nk answered my questions directly.

Don’t get your hopes up because I didn’t receive a phone call or an e-mail. P!nk posted a blog on her MySpace page that explained the separation. She also asked her fans to support Hart. 

This exemplifies what a celebrity can do to get the message out to who’s important while keeping away the paparazzi. Anyone who is P!nk’s friend on MySpace and subscribed to her blogs will get a notice that she posted something.

I know I’m beating a dead horse, but celebrities need to take note: Feedback! Feedback! Feedback!

At the core of public relations is the feedback between entertainers and their fans. P!nk could have done interviews and media tours about her divorce but who would want to go through that? And for what reason? With the power of the MySpace blog at her fingertips, P!nk was able to get the story out as fast as possible without having to exploit any wounds by talking to the media.

Also, she was able to get hundreds of comments from her fans that wished her well.

P!nk and Carey Hart image courtesy of tvguide.com

P!nk image courtesy of pinkspage.com

They May be Up to Something; Using MySpace to Promote Career

What started out as a social networking site has now become a pseudo label for rising artists and bands. Who would’ve thought that hopeful musicians can bypass the major record labels and still be successful?

Blogger Noah Grieco showcased Kate Voegele in his ”Independent Artist Series” on his PR Rocks blog Voegele successfully launched her music career on MySpace and now guest stars on CW’s One Tree Hill.

An article on BusinessWeek.com reported that from the beginning, MySpace has always catered to musicians. Any entertainer can all have a specially designed MySpace page with pictures, tour dates, biographies, blogs and music. The best thing about the music feature is that visitors can listen to or download the songs, a lot of times for free, and learn the lyrics.

Big label artists such as Justin Timberlake, Gwen Stefani and Beyonce all have profiles.

The real appeal are those unsigned or indie-label artists who don’t have the big bucks to do the traditional PR and promotion. These pages fall into the direct feedback category that many A-list celebrities don’t have.

Fans can comment on pictures and on MySpace pages and celebrities have the opportunity to know exactly what each fan is thinking.

Comedians also use MySpace to promote their careers. Unlike artists and actors, their craft doesn’t get blasted on the mainstream media as often. They perform in comedy clubs, universities/colleges, and lower-education schools. Comedians can put clips, audio and visual, of their performances on their pages for fans who don’t have the opportunity to see them in person.

Dane Cook, while an A-list celebrity now, started his career small with the accompaniment of a MySpace page after launching a traditional Web site. Cook actually became one of the first comedians to launch his own Web site, according to his biography. One special feature about Cook’s page is how he gets his fans involved through his “Top 40 friends,” which are selected based on who has the best SUperFInger picture. What’s also smart is that he changes it periodically with a new contest, which injects more enthusiasm within his fan base.

The beauty of this new guerrilla tactic is that it levels the playing field between entertainers. New musicians who want to get a major record contract have to struggle for a long time before they can actually “make it.” Oftentimes, when entertainers actually do make it, there could be a disconnect between them and their fans because of the mainstream PR tactics they use. MySpace helps entertainers make a beeline to their fans.

Kate Voegele image courtesy of mtv.com

Dane Cook image courtesy of siriusbuzz.com