Michael Walker: YEAAAH! Alright. I'm excited to be here today with my new friend, Dawn Jones. Dawn is the founder of PressedFresh Collective, FreshNoise Distro, and Pressed PR. She's secured coverage for artists in publications like Billboard, Forbes, and Esquire. She represents both emerging and celebrity artists. Today, I'm excited to have her on the podcast to talk a little bit about how, in today's day and age, indie artists can cut through the noise and connect with fans in an authentic way. Dawn, thank you so much for taking the time to be here today.

Dawn Jones: Thanks so much for having me, Michael. I've followed Modern Musician for a long time, so I'm excited to be here.

Michael: To kick things off, for anyone who’s connecting with you for the first time, could you share a quick introduction about yourself and how you're able to help artists get featured on Billboard, Forbes, and publications like that?

Dawn: Definitely. So, I got into this business as a musician, first and foremost. I think, like a lot of people, I kind of found my way to the business side of things and found my natural self there. In 2017, I launched Pressed PR. At that time, we were exclusively a public relations agency. We followed the traditional PR model, working with a lot of independent artists just getting press placements, coverage, and promotions in that way.

Over the next few years, we grew to the point where we began working with labels and bigger artists, in addition to still working with independents. Really, the independent artist sector is where my heart is, and where my passion lies, so that’s always going to be a focus for us.

Eventually, we grew to that place and then, right around the pandemic, things started shifting in both the PR landscape and where we were working, as well as the skillset our team had developed over time. Shortly thereafter, I believe it was around 2021 or 2022, we transformed from Pressed PR into PressedFresh Collective.

So now we operate under the moniker PressedFresh Collective, even though a lot of people still know us as Pressed PR. We brought in a lot of partners and really focused more on holistic artist development and holistic promotional aspects, rather than just PR. We started doing digital marketing, social media, playlisting, and all the other elements that go into cross-platform promotion. Our goal was to be a one-stop shop, where artists could come to one place and strategize all their promotions with one team.

Through that, I personally began to focus a lot on artist development, helping artists not only develop their brand—which is something I had done through PR—but also develop their fan base and their business as an artist. We work to get them to a point where they can be financially sustainable. That’s been a big focus for the collective over the last two years.

We launched the Keep It Indie membership with a major focus on that aspect, and we also have a course coming out next year. A lot of things have evolved in that direction. While making those changes and growing, we also launched FreshNoise Distro, our own distribution platform.

It essentially works the same as any DIY distributor, but the real difference is that you have a personal team to help you through the distribution process. We also work with artists to not only distribute their music, but to promote it effectively. It's been really cool to bring all of the pieces of an artist releasing music under one roof, so it’s a seamless process for the artists we work with. We can be involved in all the steps and help them be effective at every level, rather than jumping in halfway through.

Michael: Awesome, that’s amazing. It sounds like you initially entered the world of PR and publicity, then realized there were wider needs that artists have. You’ve created an ecosystem to support artists at different stages of their journey.

Now, having had experience both in PR and working with the foundational pieces of building a successful career, a community, and monetizing it, I’m curious—what have you found to be some of the common challenges or biggest issues that artists are facing in today’s industry?

Dawn: I would say one challenge is the rate at which the industry is evolving. Even as a company, I think that’s been a challenge for us—keeping up, so to speak. And I know on the artist level, that’s a challenge as well because right when you feel like you’ve found a sweet spot with one marketing tactic, it changes. There’s something new, and you’ve got to compensate for that.

So, I think that’s something I’ve talked about with a lot of artists in recent years: the rate of evolution in the industry. In some ways, it’s great because it makes things more accessible, but in other ways, it makes competition a lot tougher. It also makes it harder to stay educated on what you need to do, how you need to do it, and when you need to do it.

That’s been a big problem. A lot of artists struggle with marketing and standing out on social media, which used to be a lot easier. Now, everyone is on social media, so figuring out how to differentiate themselves in the sea of artists out there has been a real challenge.

That ties back to another struggle many artists face: finding their unique story and niche, and really leaning into that. I think part of that is just being creative—you feel all these things and have so many different facets that it’s hard to narrow down. I know many artists we’ve worked with have said that one of their biggest struggles is figuring out how to tell their story authentically, without subscribing to trends, while still being original, successful, and finding their audience. That’s a lot of what we deal with on a daily basis.

Michael: I can hear and relate to that. I mean, that’s sort of the theme happening across the world right now with technology and just how fast things are evolving. Now there’s AI to contend with, and it was already super saturated. Now there’s even more music than ever, and it’s easier to create.

The point you brought up about helping artists discover what’s unique about their story and what can help them cut through the noise—how to set themselves apart in such a saturated sea—is so important. I’m curious, in your experience, what do you recommend for an artist who might be listening right now, feeling overwhelmed with the rate of change? There’s so much going on, and they’re also trying to discover their unique voice, their angle, or how to post on social media without feeling awkward about it. What are a few best practices you would recommend?

Dawn: Well, when we’re doing artist development, that’s kind of the first thing we dive into. We have a really detailed process for looking inward, as I like to call it, and really figuring out who you are, what your music represents, and being super confident in that.

And that’s not an overnight thing, to be honest. It’s something you really have to sit with and ask yourself critical questions. I think a lot of people miss that step because they’re making music and just want to get it out there. They think, “Oh, my fan base is probably just like me,” but in reality, they probably have a lot of similarities to you.

It’s important to take the time to analyze that. In the first step of our artist development process, we have artists sit with it for about a month. We have them work through those questions, think about them, and dive in to create a “fan avatar”—what does your ideal fan look like? What are they doing on the weekends? Where are they hanging out? What are their other interests? Where does that crossover with your interests and what you’re doing? What are the themes in your music, and how do they overlap with your audience?

So, really just analyzing every facet of not only who you are, but what your music is, who it reaches, and, if you already have a social following, looking at who’s showing up, who’s engaging, and piecing all of that together. That’s a great first step.

Then, obviously, there will likely be thematic elements in your music. A lot of artists talk about mental health or similar topics. If that’s something really important to you, figure out your lane in that and how you’re talking about it and bringing awareness to it.

But really, just taking ownership, looking inward, being authentic, and not doing something just because others are doing it. That’s something I see a lot with younger artists—they think they have to fit a mold. The cool thing about the industry evolving is that there really isn’t a mold anymore. People all over the map are being super successful. It’s really just about authenticity and owning who you are. You will find your people. It might take time, but you will find your audience that relates to that.

For younger artists, it’s important not to just copy what you see other people doing. Instead, take the time to understand where your music is coming from, who you are, what you want to represent, and how you can put that into words. Sometimes you’ll need help, and that’s where people like us come in, but sometimes you can do it on your own. I think just taking the time to sit with it is the biggest thing because I see a lot of people rush through that step, and I think it’s crucial to everything that follows.

So, my advice would be: Don’t be in a hurry.

Michael: Super smart. Yes. So it sounds like what you're saying is that it's really important to first look within and define who you are, what you're trying to say with your music, and who it's for. Getting clear on your ideal fan is the entry point through which you can put yourself out there. You don’t want to just copy or try to be someone else because you want to be authentic. What are some examples of your favorite questions related to artist identity? How do you help someone who's listening to this right now and feeling overwhelmed, maybe not knowing who they are or fearing putting themselves in a box? How do you help them get started, and what are some of your favorite questions for someone to reflect on?

Dawn: Off the top of my head, the first thing that comes to mind is analyzing your music. That’s what most people are most excited to put out there—it’s your connection point to fans. If you have a catalog of songs, start by looking at those songs. Begin broad. What does this music feel like? Is it happy? Is it sad? Is it somewhere in between? Do I have a mix of both? What’s the vibe? What does it feel like? Start broad and easy. Then, go into the thematic elements of the music. Am I talking a lot about love? Am I talking about heartbreak? Am I talking about growing up, maturing, or maybe being a mom and writing songs about my kids? What are the themes in my music?

I mentioned mental health earlier. I know that’s one we work with a lot. Just figure out, okay, in broad strokes, what is my music talking about in general? There might be several categories, not just one. Write that down and look for connections. For example, love and heartbreak are obvious connections. Depending on your age group, young love and young heartbreak can be categorized separately from older love and heartbreak. Look at your demographics and how that affects your music. Then dive deeper into the specific themes. For example, if you’re a mom and writing songs about your kids, that’s part of the season you're in. If I were writing music, I would probably be writing about the tough days of having a two-year-old and the sweet little nighttime snuggles. It’s all about finding the different pieces within these themes to pull from and lean into.

For every aspect of your brand, start broad and then narrow it down, until you get to the nitty-gritty. That’s an example for music. If you’re looking to figure out who you are, start broad. Am I a generally happy person? Am I thoughtful, serious, or goofy? What is my general presence, and how do I portray that on social media? A lot of people are either goofy or serious on social media. What are you portraying? Just take note of that and dive into things that are really important to you, like your values and morals. Is there a cause that’s dear to you? Something you’re passionate about?

We’re working with an artist right now who is both an artist and a gamer. His gaming community loves his music because it's for the same people. So, figuring out what your passions are and how they crossover is important. Start broad, go deep, narrow down, and do that with every piece—your music, yourself, your audience, the demographics—just really get into the nitty-gritty. Start with the big questions and narrow it down as far as you can.

Michael: Amazing. There are so many great pointers and questions there. That’s fantastic. When you mentioned hypothetically being a mom with a two-year-old and how that comes through in your music, were you saying that you do have a two-year-old? You're a mom as well?

Dawn: Yes, I’m in that phase of life.

Michael: That's awesome. We have three kids—six, four, and two as well. When you were describing that, literally just two days ago, I recorded a video for my daughter, Willow, for a song I wrote called "Hello Willow." It was a really sweet moment. So, I thought, wow, that's so relevant to my own journey too.

Dawn: Yes, yes.

Michael: The next question I wanted to ask is, I know you mentioned starting out with PR story-building, getting to the heart of artist identity and development. One of the next challenges that often comes up is: How do artists actually find and connect with the fans who will resonate with their music?

So, let’s say someone listening right now has done the initial work. They have their music and their brand, and they have a good idea of what they want to do, but they’re still feeling lost. Social media feels daunting and overwhelming, and they don’t know how to break through and connect with people. Maybe they’ve tried posting, but haven’t really seen much response. What would your recommendations be for someone in terms of building their audience?

Dawn: Yeah, that's a really tough area to navigate, and I think it's another one of those things that you have to dedicate a little bit of time to and have a bit of an experimental mindset. The first thing I would say is, are you showing up on the right platform? Based on your demographic and who you're trying to reach, are they there? Instagram has a different audience than Facebook, which has a different audience than TikTok, which has a different audience than something like X or Threads. They're all very different. What I would say is the majority demographic is different on every platform. So, double-check to make sure you're showing up in the right spaces for who you're trying to reach. If you're a younger artist, your audience is probably on TikTok or Instagram. If you're an older artist, they're likely not on those platforms at all; they're probably on Facebook. YouTube is also a great way to find people since it serves as a search engine for everyone. I also say, don't ignore YouTube for finding your audience. That's a really great tool. But yeah, I would start there. Then, I would say, let's be experimental. Let's try different things. The biggest thing about connecting on social media is that it has to stand out in half a second while someone's scrolling by, which is really tough. So, it has to have some kind of eye-catching quality. It has to have some kind of hook. So, is your content doing that? In a lot of cases, you could probably improve that. Starting there, and being back to authenticity, I think authentic content goes much farther in connecting with people than just superficial stuff, like capturing trends, etc. So, is your content authentic, or is it just pushing your song? Everyone gets a thousand ads a day, so they'll just keep scrolling if it's just an ad for a song. Finding authentic content and a connection point with someone is key. For example, if you were putting out your song, Hey Willow, I probably wouldn’t stop for a song that says, "Hey Willow." But if the hook was something like, I wrote this for my two-year-old, or whichever child you're referencing...

Michael: She's—I mean, they all have their own song.

Dawn: If it were something that grabbed me as a mom, I would definitely stop. I mean, I did that last night. I was scrolling Instagram and saw, "If you're a boy mom, you know, watch this," and I’m a boy mom, and the song brought me to tears. It was so sweet. But, you know, something relatable versus listen to my new track. Nobody really cares about that. So, I would say being authentic, being relatable, and then also providing value. I think that's a really big piece of growing an audience that people miss. They think people will come and just stay for the music, but you have to provide some sort of value. Whether that's you telling the story of your music, or letting people into the creative process and making them feel like they're part of it, there are many ways to provide value. I think people forget to consider how what they're offering is going to be valuable to the person they're trying to reach, and what will make that person come back for more. So, as far as content goes, I would say, look at those things first, and then drive traffic. We've talked already about how saturated the industry is and how hard it is to find people. So, you need some kind of traffic generation, whether that's organic through creating blogs, boosting SEO, doing stuff like that, or doing crossover posts with other people in your genre and speaking to their fans. Or, if it's using ads, there’s no shame in that. You can target ads to the demographic you want to reach. There are a hundred different ways to drive traffic, but there needs to be some sort of traffic generation element in place to really begin to grow your audience. Growing organically these days is like 1 in a million.

Michael: Okay, got it. So, it sounds like what you're saying is that, once you're clear on who your audience is, you can kind of build on the work you did in the first step—defining your identity and understanding who this is for. Once you know that, it helps you create a better hook or something that really speaks to those people. Instead of just saying, "Listen to my new track," you could say, "If you're a parent or if you're a mother, you might enjoy this song I wrote about [insert theme]." That's much more powerful than just saying, "Hey, listen to my new track." And then from there, it's important to have a way to generate traffic—whether through collaborations, ads, or organically, just through a community network you're already a part of. But there needs to be a way to actually get your music in front of those people you’re speaking to. Brainstorming where those people congregate could be a good place to start.

Dawn: That's one area where PR comes into play too: getting your music in front of the right people. Those are targeted audiences. When you're reaching out to a publication, it doesn't have to be a music publication. If we're sticking with the parenting theme, you can find a lot of creatives and artists through women's lifestyle magazines and blogs because I am a mom, and that’s where I spend my time. But you can think outside the box like that too. Once you’ve identified who your audience is—what their age range is, what they're doing on their weekends, where they’re spending their time—you can look outside the music industry to find them. You can target PR toward mom blogs, parenting blogs, or whatever applies. If you're a gamer, you can target gaming media. You name it, you can target it. There’s media out there for it. Music publications are great for the music industry, but your average fan, the one who will be listening to your music on their playlist, probably isn’t looking at the music blogs you care about. They’re not in the music industry, so they’re looking at lifestyle, humanitarian, or general news sites. You have to think outside the box: Where are they spending their time on the internet, and how can you plug in there? Showcase your music in a way that isn't strictly music industry-focused. That’s why that first step is so important.

Michael: Thanks, that makes a lot of sense. Yeah, it seems like there's something magical that happens when you mix music with any other... you know, it's like soundtracks, and it's cool. It’s sort of like that purple cow effect—if you're in a room with a bazillion other musicians on Spotify, it's very saturated. But if you take your music and bring it somewhere that doesn't have a bazillion musicians, all of a sudden it's like, Whoa, it adds dimension. The purple cow, it, you know, stands out. So it seems like a really smart way to think about tapping into bigger audiences.

One of the things you had mentioned was, uh, focusing on providing value and thinking outside the box in terms of, you know, how can you go above and beyond to do something valuable or add more depth and contribute more to your community. One of the things that reminds me of is just how important it is to build your email list and your own community on a platform that you own. Maybe you could share a little bit about your perspective on building things like an email list. Is an email list important? If so, why, and what are some of the best ways that artists might be able to create something valuable that could be a good incentive for someone to join their email list?

Dawn: Yeah, I definitely think email lists are important because, like you said, you own it and it can’t be taken away overnight. It's something you have complete control over. So, I think there’s definitely still a place for email lists. Some artists tell me, "Oh, I'll do the email list," but I really want my community to be on something like Discord or whatever. For sure, have that special community where people can go. But the email list, to me, is such a crucial part of that fan funnel, getting them from just being aware of who you are to trusting you to ultimately spending money on you in some way or spending their time on you in some way. So, I think the email list is a really crucial step.

As far as what to do with it, you know, I think letting them in... I think if you're looking at yourself as a fan, what do you want to glean from the artists and creatives that you follow? Most of the time, you like the music and you want to see more. You want to see how it’s created. You want insight into their personal life because that informs the music, or maybe because you relate to the music and want to see how their personal life is similar to yours. So, I think in terms of providing value, in the artist’s world, it’s really about letting people into your process, into your creative mind. A lot of people follow because they don't have that and they want to experience that. So, letting them experience that in whatever way, whether that's behind-the-scenes footage or, you know, here's a story about how I wrote this song. Especially when you're talking about the fan funnel, each level should be a little bit more exclusive.

If you do have that private community, you know, letting them watch a recording session live, that’s a great thing. Letting them vote on your cover art, letting them vote on your merch, letting them vote on which song is the next single, doing intimate dinners before your show—if you’re a touring artist, that’s a great upsell for a show, like a VIP dinner before the show. Just anything that kind of allows them into that inner circle and lets them be a part of the creativity and the experience, I think, is where it's at. And I think a lot of what artists do is bring experience. Music is an experience. It is not a tangible product, and you can't treat it like you're selling something at JC Penney. You would treat that marketing a lot differently versus music as an experience. You’re selling an experience every time you sell a song, every time you get someone to listen to the song.

So, it's just taking that idea and expanding it into everything else you do. How can I make this experiential, and how can I make this valuable for them in that way?

Michael: Awesome. Yeah. So, it sounds like what you’re saying is that one of the best ways to provide more value is just with access, having more exclusive access to get closer to the creation process of the music. Some ways to do that include exclusive recording sessions where fans can see a bit of the creative process, or live shows—VIP dinners, VIP lunches before or after the shows. These are other levels of access where someone can take a step closer. It seems like musicians, in particular, just have this cool factor to knowing the artists, being friends with them, or being closer to their inner circle.

So, that makes a lot of sense. And, hopefully, this is a relief to some artists who might feel overwhelmed when trying to define their offers and how to provide value. They might wonder, “Do I need to create X, Y, Z?” But, actually, they can just keep doing what they’re already doing—being creative and bringing people along for the journey, letting them be a little bit closer to the process as it happens.

Dawn: Yeah, I like to tell artists: do what you're already doing, and figure out what you're not sharing. Most of the time, when you're in a recording session, the only thing that comes out of it that you share with people is the finished song, but there’s so much that goes into that that you could share. So, like, what are the “wood shavings,” so to speak? What are the extra things you’re just kind of like, “Oh, nobody cares about that”? How could you potentially package that up and offer it to somebody and see if they care? You know, like, I mentioned the cover art—you could have three different renditions of cover art. The final product is what people will see, but your inner circle would love to see the three different ideas and how that process went.

Songs that don’t make it onto the record could be offered as exclusive songs for that inner circle. Just different things like that. I think it’s about thinking as you go through the process. You don’t have to spend extra time creating—you just need to think about what you're already creating. What is considered excess and what’s not being shared? And is that something you could package up and share? In a lot of cases, I think you can.

Michael: Absolutely. Yeah, I mean, the idea that comes to mind as you're describing documenting the recording process is, maybe for one of your most exclusive or inner-circle access parts of the community, you could have a day where they actually come to the studio and witness the creation experience, maybe even contribute, like doing a clap or a stomp on one of the songs.

Dawn: Yeah. Put them to work. There you go.

Michael: Being in a music video, that's another really cool one.

Dawn: Yeah, like there's a ton of things. And yeah, even to that point, I mean, using your fan base to help you create, I think that would be something people would be all over and would love to do. I think about it from the perspective of a fan myself, and if my favorite band lived in my city and offered something like that, I would be there. You know, like, I would be like, "Please, use me as an extra, use me!" I would love to come in the studio and watch you record or whatever it is. Yeah, I think that's a great point to make for sure.

Michael: Yeah, it’d be super cool to be a part of the experience, connecting with the community, being a part of doing it, connecting with the artist, and potentially actually having your own stamp, like in the song or in the videos. That's super cool. All right. Well, Dawn, thank you for taking the time to come on here and share some actionable tips that artists could take to discover their unique voice, how to cut through, and how to start building an authentic community and relationship with those people. For anyone that's listening or watching this right now and is interested in diving deeper into you and what you do with your company, could you share the best next steps for them to dive deeper?

Dawn: Yeah, we’d love to connect. The best place to connect is our website, pressfreshcollective.com. From there, you can find everything you need, from our socials to our services to who we are. You can even schedule a call—all those good things. So yeah, definitely hit up our website, see what we’re all about, find us, connect with us, and let's chat.

Michael: Awesome. For anyone that's watching this right now, obviously there's a selection process and making sure that it's a good fit. I’m curious—who would you say is the ideal candidate, in terms of artists that you’ve personally really enjoyed working with?

Dawn: We don’t have a parameter on music because we are a team with very diverse musical styles. There’s not a lot of genres we don’t take, but I would say the key for who we want to work with is someone who's serious about their music and understands the value of what we do and what we bring to the table. In terms of promotions, brand development, and artist identity, someone who is ready to do the work, because it’s not something that you hand over and wipe your hands clean of and say, "Okay, make me a star." It’s something that you have to put in the work for as well. So, we want someone who is ready to do the work, ready to be coached, and is just pleasurable to work with overall. If you fit those things, it will be a great fit. And yeah, we’ll take a listen to the music to make sure it’s something we can get behind. We take music we would listen to on our days off. Our team is very diverse, so most of the time we take a lot of different types of music. I will say we’re not just folk-only or country-only or hip-hop-only. We take everything, we just have to align with it. The product quality has to be there, so it has to be good and sellable. You also have to meet those criteria of being ready to work and be a good fit for us.

Michael: All right. Fantastic. Well, I’ll put the links in the show notes for easy access. And Dawn, thank you again for being part of the podcast today.

Dawn: Thanks so much, Michael. I really enjoyed it.

Michael: YEAAAH!