PR relationships and the music industry

PR Relationships and the Music Industry 

The music industry is a machine of publicity. Much like Hollywood, the music industry prides itself on making and breaking stars. Many singers, if not all singers, who have worked in the music industry are subject to the might of the big three labels. The big three labels, like the biggest film production companies in Hollywood, market their stars in a way that sells the glitz and glamour of being a star. They have the best clothes, the best cars and massive mansions, but how much does it cost to be at the top? What is the price of fame? And can you get out once you’re in? These are the questions and more that this article will cover. 

Firstly, to become a star you have to be willing to sell yourself in some ways, but the extent of how much of yourself you give away or have to hide depends on multiple things: the contracts you sign; how much control you’ve given over to the label and management company; what your sexuality is and whether you’re a solo artist or in a band. All of these things are considered when the label and management company are deciding how to market you. Are they going to sell you as a sexy womaniser, or a cute, funny yet talented man? 

You see, when that contract is signed, you stop being a person only. You become a brand, a product for them to sell and that is where the label’s publicity team comes in. They will look at you and decide how they want to market you to help you reach a wider audience. They look at your character, looks, charisma and decide which avenue they want to go down. This is done in a way that reduces singers down to characteristics that they want to sell. The person you were before that contract signature is no more and now you’re a puppet on string or a mermaid without her voice because as soon as you put pen to paper, the label owns your image rights. 

Management companies work with the labels to curate the perfect image and that is what is presented to the general public. The media work with management companies and labels and stories about singers are fed to the press by the publicity teams from the label or from their own management company to keep them in the press and to either promote them or to bring them down a few pegs. If an act starts to act out, becomes too problematic or refuses to conform then they are cannon fodder for the press. Certain celebrities have had their lives almost ruined in the press and oftentimes this is done because they’ve caused someone in power a headache or pissed them off. 

Many of the ‘entertainment journalists’ have been on the label/management companies payroll and are only too happy to feed bullshit stories to the general public and let the public run with the ideas they form from the mainstream media. This is often done during   celebrities’ relationships. How many celebrity couples have been in the press for one thing or another? 

If fans want information about their favourite celebrities they go onto places like Popbase, or Just Jared or other websites to get up to date details. Some of these details, especially for teens and young women will centre around the dating life of a celebrity and celebrities can engage in PR relationships.  PR relationships, or public relationships are a common tool for both marketing and for keeping clients relevant and in the news. The reason for utilising a PR relationship for labels and management companies is two fold- it keeps the client in the news and keeps their name in the public’s mind. That way if a celebrity is seen dating another celebrity they can use the interest garnered to promote each other, or to give the general public a story to pique their interest in the celebrities in question. 

If a relationship is for PR purposes, one or both participants will benefit from the relationship in some way. This happens because they either benefit from more’s publicity, give their name a boost or generate interest in upcoming projects, like movies, albums or clothing lines. PR relationships are used to promote clothing brands and models will be placed with singers or actors because it’s normally mutually beneficial in that the clothing brand the model represents will get a boost from the publicity and both parties will be paid for promoting the brand by the owners. 

Another way PR relationships are utilised in the music and film industries is that it can give the general public an insight into celebrities and help keep the names of the celebrities in the press when they have projects that they  might be in together. A recent example of this was during the lead up to the release of Don’t Worry Darling with Harry Styles and Olivia Wilde. This was a clear PR relationship as it kept both parties’ names in the press in the lead up to the movie and the coupling parted only a month after the release of the movie. 

Harry’s fans however did not embrace this pairing and most found it disturbing that Olivia was one- Harry’s superior during filming and therefore had more to gain from the public relationship than Harry and two- was ten years his senior with two children who she was rarely seen with while this publicity stunt was ongoing. The movie was also promoted by Olivia as a movie about female pleasure, yet was in fact about sexual assault. 

This was one of the most poorly executed public relationships and Harry was notably uncomfortable around Olivia. This only worsened over the later part of the stunt when Harry was on tour and there was a marked difference in Harry on the nights Olivia was there, compared to the nights she wasn’t. Harry is famous in his own right and it appeared that Olivia was desperate to ride the coattails of that fame to garner her own fame, but this didn’t work and many in Harry’s fandoms disliked Olivia immensely and were glad when this stunt ended. 

Public relationships, like the one mentioned, are crafted in boardrooms and fed to the media by publicists who often send information over to their friends and colleagues in the media regarding relationships. If you see an article that says ‘the information has been provided by’  a source close to the couple, close friends or insiders state, those are generally the ones fed by the publicists to the media. Another aspect of public relationships is that at times family members will be involved in promoting the relationship. This is set up to make the stunt seem more organic and real, when in fact families often act to protect or prevent one party having to do more things with their fake girlfriend/boyfriend. 

One more aspect of PR is social media usage. All celebrities when they sign their contracts pass control over to their management teams and labels to use. This is again because they are a public brand and as such, their Social Media accounts are often controlled by their teams as a public tool to promote their brand and if their brand is that they are currently in a relationship with Person A then you’ll see likes, comments and follows by the celebrity as a means of selling that narrative to the public. 

The narrative of the relationship is decided by the publicists depending on the needs of their client, for example Harry Styles and his current public relationship with Taylor Russell is very different in design to the previous one with Olivia Wilde. This is probably for multiple reasons, one being that fans were so sick of seeing Harry and Olivia in the newspapers and there were constant paparazzi pictures of them, even going to the gym was an event where the paps were called. (If you see yacht pics/HD pics by Backgrid or any other photo agency then chances are they have been called and this is a PR relationship). 

The primary goal of any PR relationship is exposure. One party, or both parties benefit from increased exposure and when you see HD pictures, followed within an hour or so of multiple news articles then it can be assumed that the relationship is for PR. Real relationships can also be used for PR and celebrities will go out to dinner having their publicists call the paps if they need the exposure, but there’s a vast, marked difference between real relationships and PR relationships. 

For a PR relationship the subjects are often acquaintances at best, strangers at worst and this is always evident in the pictures that are taken. If you think your fave celebrity pairing might be a PR relationship, take a look at their body language in pictures and videos because body language doesn’t lie. It’s an unconscious thing that we do in any and all situations. A person who is familiar with another and intimate will show this through gestures, relaxed posture and smiles that meet the eyes. 

If a person looks stiff, uncomfortable, and is turned away from the other person then the chances are that this is a PR relationship. Kissing isn’t always an indicator of a relationship, neither is hand holding. Couples hold hands, fingers interlocked or with hands clasped around each other, but they are relaxed in posture and turn towards each other, often using other touches to reassure their partner they are there. Kisses can be forehead, lips or cheek kisses but in stunt/PR relationships the participants are stiff and uncomfortable, pulling away as soon as the kiss is done without any further affection. 

Forehead leaning is a good indication of intimacy, as is a hand on the lower back of a person. A hand around the waist or the shoulder can be done without any intimacy or closeness being present, but eye contact, softening of the gaze and smiling with the whole face is a sign of comfort and relaxation. So, the next time you see a celebrity couple, look for these indicators of intimacy and check out the jaw of each person, shoulders too. If these are tense or locked then it shows that the person isn’t relaxed or comfortable. A person, even a celebrity,  can be relaxed in public when with their partner, but most celebrities won’t be papped with their partners in public because they value their private lives too much so if you see it, it’s probably a fake relationship. 

The exception to that rule is award shows, however fake relationships are also often present, but most real life couples will show a level of trust and relaxation that will be missing from PR relationships. The golden rule of PR is to try to make it look as real as possible, but there is always a tell. People can’t be fully relaxed around others so keep your eyes open and watch out for being tricked into believing public relationships because many of them are only out there to fool you into watching a movie, TV show or to give a singer a narrative for their music to be tied back to. 

PR is a marketing strategy and as such is widely used, but if you see through one PR relationship, you start to notice the trends and common themes of them like LA Sushi restaurants, Lime bike/ biking pictures/ yacht pictures. Staged photos of celebrities coming out of restaurants and walking down the street are common when their publicists are wanting to sell a narrative and if a celebrity doesn’t want to be seen then they won’t be. 

So, remember if you can see it, it’s probably not real. Real people don’t put their real relationships out there for the general public to pick apart because they value their privacy, especially given that as public figures they already give much of themselves away. Everyone has the right to a private life and publicists need to move beyond pairing celebrities together to sell movies or albums and give the people involved a chance to sell the product based on its own merit. 

Behind the Curtains.