View all case studies Sofar Sounds
Muck Rack helps the global producer of secret, intimate concerts identify the right journalists and outlets in cities where they host shows in to share city-specific stories with leading up to the event.
Learn how Sofar Sounds uses Muck Rack to:
- Seamlessly manage media relations efforts in-house after previously working with an agency
- Curate topic and geographic-specific media lists with Muck Rack’s journalist search engine
- Collaborate on media relations efforts with fellow members of the Sofar Sounds communications team
About Sofar Sounds
Sofar Sounds reimagines the live event experience through curated, secret performances in more than 400 cities around the world. Founded in London in 2009, Sofar brings guests and artists together in unique locations, without the distractions that plague other live events. Sofar shows begin as a secret: guests sign on for three unnamed performances at undisclosed locations, hosted by community members in everyday spaces — from living rooms and rooftops, to boutiques. Through the transformation of these spaces into captivating venues, Sofar serves as a platform for artists to connect with engaged audiences in cities around the world. Sofar invites guests to discover new artists, spaces, people, neighborhoods and cities, whether at home or abroad, creating an inclusive and accessible global community where people make genuine connections.
In Their Own Words: Sofar's Favorite Muck Rack Features
Search and Monitoring
For a short time, Sofar Sounds worked with a PR agency, but given that we are a young startup, it proved to be costly, so we decided it was best to bring PR in house and give it our own go. That’s when we decided to find a database. We were familiar with Cision, but wanted a tool that was more forward thinking with a better interface. When Muck Rack came up in our search, we did a demonstration with the team and decided to move forward.
Because we operate globally with different cities hosting 1-2 shows/month, we previously found it difficult to find the right journalists and outlets in cities we weren’t familiar with. We knew it was important to tell city-specific stories, so being able to search Muck Rack based on city, country or beat is really helpful. It allows us to cover a wider breadth of our own story and the space around the world we’re reaching through our concerts.
For example, we recently held a concert in Chicago at the top of the Willis Tower. To pitch the story, my team and I searched for reporters who had covered entertainment, arts and local music in the city or has covered the venue in the past. It’s helpful when pitching a reporter to easily reference back to when they covered Willis Tower or covered a Sofar artist previously. If we see interest, we’ll offer tickets to a reporter and begin establishing a relationship from there. Our main goal is to get more reporters through the door to see what we’re about and explore coverage opportunities later down the line.
As another example, Sofar Sounds partnered with London Tech Week to bring an additional layer to the conference. We booked artists who used technology in a unique way to play their music, including the No. 1 beatboxer in the country for an intimate show with just 75 people at the conference. We sent out a pitch to 50 journalists with just a few days to go to drum up additional interest -- we ended up confirming about 12 different journalists to cover the concert. Not only was this great for Sofar Sounds, but it also added value to our partnership with London Tech Week.
We also love using Muck Rack to track Sofar Sounds mentions in the media, but also to track competitors with Alerts. Alerts for competitor coverage help us target potential outlets we hadn’t previously thought of. More and more companies are getting into the experiential space — from immersive dining experiences, other pop-up concerts or secret events. We want to make sure they don’t take the narrative from us, so we monitor to see who our competitors are getting coverage from and target those journalists with our own pitches to show that we are the leaders in live music experiences.
In-platform pitching
Pitching through Muck Rack is a huge time saver since you’re able to send the same pitch multiple times, while also tailoring them to specific journalists quickly.
Muck Rack’s in-platform pitching tool has helped us improve our pitches. For example, our pitches were too long, and Muck Rack made the suggestion to shorten them. That feedback has been helpful. It’s also amazing to be able to see the success rate of a pitch sent directly through Muck Rack. I’ll look through open rates, giving me guidance on when to send a follow up, along with tracking and testing subject lines.
I was nervous to bring PR back in-house after working with an agency, but with Muck Rack, my team and I feel empowered to handle media outreach on our own. It’s exciting!
—Sarah Lipman, Head of Communications
Team Collaboration
Because we’re a newer startup with limited established relationships with journalists, being able to target specific reporters directly through the Muck Rack platform has been incredibly helpful in collaborating with my team and keeping track of who is reaching out to whom.
With three of us working on media relations, we use the notes feature to see who has contacted which journalists and in what capacity. Because we work in different countries and time zones and can’t always chat in person, collaborating through Muck Rack and having all of our media information in one place is incredible.
Five Fast Questions
1. How would you describe Muck Rack in three words?
Seamless, empowering, exciting
2. What would your job be like if you didn’t have Muck Rack?
Harder. Really, it would be a lot of Googling to find reporters we think may be interested in Sofar’s platform or may not be. Muck Rack helps us find those people quickly and easily . It’s incredibly helpful. Knowing we can’t bring on a PR agency anytime soon, without this tool, we may not focus on PR at all. As a startup who wants to grow brand awareness, PR needs to be an element of outreach.
3. What would you tell other companies considering using Muck Rack?
Do it! Definitely do it. The team is a joy to work with, we’re having fun with it and it’s an exciting and useful tool for any company, no matter how big or small, to amplify your reach on the internet and in press.
4. What has your experience been like working with Muck Rack’s customer success team?
Everybody has been so lovely. Anytime we have a question via email or via the platform, there’s always such a prompt response. We’ve never waited for more than half a day to get responses. We feel incredibly supported by the platform and employees. We’re really pleased.
5. If you had to explain how you use Muck Rack to someone in a tweet, what would you say?
Through the Muck Rack platform, Sofar Sounds has been able to better target journalists around the world with invites to get them in the door to discover new music at our secret, intimate gigs.
