Punk PR that doesn't embarrass you
Press campaigns for UK punk and hardcore bands, run with an understanding of a scene where being seen to buy your way in does more damage than no coverage at all.
Punk is the one genre where hiring a PR agency is itself a risk to your credibility. The scene's instincts about authenticity are sharp and unforgiving, and a campaign that reads as an industry push can cost a band more standing than the coverage is worth.
We run these campaigns quietly and factually. No hype language, no manufactured narrative, no pretending a band has momentum it does not have. The pitch is what the record is and why it exists, sent to people who cover this music because they care about it.
The outlets a punk campaign is built around
The UK punk and hardcore press, which is largely independent and largely run by people in bands.
Long-running and central to UK punk coverage. Genuinely open to unsigned and DIY bands.
Broad remit across punk, post-punk and the political end of guitar music, and reachable for a good record.
Independent UK coverage across punk, hardcore and emo.
Frequently more valuable than a national placement for a band building a real scene presence.
Community station programming and internet radio built by people inside the scene.
Open to unsigned submissions and a realistic first radio play.
Interview formats run from inside the scene rather than about it.
The DIY promoters, collectives and venues that are the actual infrastructure of UK punk.
This is an illustrative view of the landscape rather than the list you would receive. Your actual media list is built for your specific release and sent to you for approval before anything is pitched. Coverage is never guaranteed anywhere.
The tier above, named honestly
The bigger punk and alternative titles. Worth reaching, and reached by bands with a scene behind them rather than a budget.
Covers the more melodic and crossover end of punk with significant reach.
Focused on alternative and emo-adjacent punk, and more accessible than most at this level.
The heavier crossover end, with a high bar.
Specialist support carries genuine weight in this scene.
We list these so you can see the ladder, not to imply that one campaign puts you on it. If your release is genuinely in range of this tier, we will tell you, and we will tell you what it would take.
How we build a punk campaign
No hype language, at all
We write pitches for this genre in plain, factual, unembellished English. The moment a punk pitch reads like marketing copy it is deleted, and rightly.
The DIY infrastructure comes first
Zines, distros, promoters and community radio are the actual infrastructure of UK punk. We treat them as primary targets, not as filler around the national titles.
Politics, if it's real
Punk press engages seriously with what a record is about. If the work has a genuine political or social dimension, that is the pitch. If it does not, we will not invent one, because invented politics in a punk pitch is transparent and fatal.
Touring is the credential
A band with a real gig history and DIY touring behind it is legible to this press in a way that streaming numbers never will be.
What we work across
Hardcore and its UK variants. Melodic punk and skate punk. Post-punk and its current revival. Emo and midwest-influenced UK bands. Crust and d-beat. Riot grrrl and queercore. Ska punk.
What's included
The same package regardless of genre. What changes is who we pitch, how we pitch them and when.
Punk PR by city
Where local media and the local circuit change how a punk campaign should be run.
Questions
Planning a punk release?
Send us the track and the date. We will tell you which outlets are realistic, what the timeline needs to be, and whether it is worth running at all yet.