Should You Hire a Music PR Agency or Pitch Yourself on Curator Platforms?
Short answer: Pitch yourself on curator submission platforms when you have a small budget, one single and time to manage it; you pay per submission and get a listen, not a guaranteed result. Hire a music PR agency when you need interviews, features and reviews secured around a release and want experienced publicists to find, pitch and follow up for you. Many artists do both at different stages.
What curator submission platforms do
Curator platforms let you pay to send a song to playlist curators, blogs and other tastemakers who have agreed to listen. Typically:
- you choose who receives the song and pay per submission;
- curators listen and can accept, decline or give feedback;
- you manage the targeting, the follow-up and any coverage that results.
They are useful for testing a song, getting quick feedback and reaching smaller playlists and blogs. They don't build a press narrative, line up interviews or coordinate a campaign across channels.
What a music PR agency does
A PR agency is hired to do active publicity. On MusicPromoToday's music PR campaign page, that means:
- researching the right outlets and people for your genre, market and story;
- developing tailored pitches and sending them to relevant journalists, editors and producers;
- following up, responding to interest and working to secure interviews, features, reviews and premieres;
- coordinating press requests, assets and editorial deadlines;
- reporting weekly on activity, responses, confirmed opportunities and published coverage.
Earned coverage is still the outlet's decision. A credible agency won't guarantee a specific publication.
Side-by-side
| Pitch yourself on curator platforms | Hire a music PR agency | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Testing a single, quick feedback, small playlists and blogs | Building a story around a release, interviews, features and reviews |
| Who does the work | You | Publicists, with your approval |
| Cost structure | Pay per submission | Campaign fee (MusicPromoToday lists PR from $5,000 for a typical 45-day foundation campaign) |
| Reporting | What the platform shows you | Weekly reports on outreach, responses and coverage |
| Guarantees | None | None on placements; the agency commits to the agreed work and reporting |
A practical way to decide
- Is this a test or a moment? For a first single you're still testing, start on your own. For an album, a tour or a career milestone, a PR campaign is more likely to pay off.
- Do you have a story? PR works best when there's an angle beyond "new song out".
- What's your time worth? Self-pitching done well takes hours a week across research, pitching and follow-up.
- Can you sustain the budget? Don't spend the whole release budget on press if you also need content and ads.
FAQ
Can I use curator platforms and hire a PR agency at the same time? Yes. Some artists use submission platforms for playlist reach while a publicist works on editorial coverage. Just make sure everyone knows what the others are doing so the same outlet isn't pitched twice.
Does a PR agency guarantee press coverage? No. Journalists and editors decide what they cover. MusicPromoToday says it guarantees the approved work and reporting in the written scope, not the outcome.
How long does a PR campaign take? MusicPromoToday describes a typical foundation PR campaign as 45 days with weekly reporting.
Does MusicPromoToday work with every genre? Yes. It works across all genres and territories.
Sources: musicpromotoday.com/services/music-pr/ and /faq/, read on November 2, 2026.