This is Not How to Promote Your Band (Plus, a reminder about deadlines!)

Let’s take a look at the image above, shall we?

What you see there is one burned CD, a single word written on it in fine-point Sharpie.

This is what came in a plain brown envelope earlier this week.

Just this.

No bio. No track list. Not even a flimsy little slip of a cover for the poor naked CD.

Here’s the thing: We get a lot of mail. While it’d be nice to be able to thoroughly research every piece of mail that arrives, there is this thing called time â€” limited amounts of it. Things that take extra time are the first things to get shoved aside until a later that often takes its own sweet time getting here.

I’m not saying you need to do a lot of work to get our attention, mind you. I’m saying that a tiny bit of information goes a long way. For example, had this plain silver CD come in a paper sleeve with a sticker with the name of the band and the album, the band’s website and any relevant tour dates, it would have been a whole different item. Not an example of what not to do.

While I’m talking about the difference between useful and frustrating items, let me offer up a quick reminder about calendar and music deadlines:

Calendar submissions are due by noon on the Thursday prior to the issue in which your listing should appear. Calendar submissions should be emailed to cal at eugeneweekly dot com; the receipt of these messages cannot be confirmed due to the sheer volume of email in the calendar editor’s box. If you send interesting, high-resolution photos along with your listings, they are more likely to get in the paper. Tiny, poorly Photoshopped images of you on a mountain or four dudes leaning against a wall are regarded with heavy sighs, and your SonicBids link isn’t helpful if the photos there are the size of postage stamps.

The deadline for consideration for a music story is the Thursday two weeks prior to the issue in which a story would appear. This does not mean two weeks before the show, but two weeks before the relevant issue. Please be sure to include (in your email to music at eugeneweekly dot com) all the pertinent information about your show: who, where, when, price, etc. Local CD releases are a priority, but nothing is guaranteed; the space we have available for music previews is limited, unfortunately. I wish it were otherwise. (Another aspect of the limited space is that we don’t run CD reviews that are not associated with an upcoming show.)

When you’re sending stuff to the calendar or music editor â€” or anyone at EW, really â€” please be sure to include the basic information in the body of the email; a too-brief message with an attachment is often greeted with mild expletives.

Any questions? I would very much like to answer them.

(The amusing postscript to this story is that, against my better judgement â€” who’s to say it wasn’t going to contain some weird virus that, oh, eats all my email? â€” I popped the mysterious Europeans CD into the computer. It wasn’t too bad.)

A Note From the Publisher

Dear Readers,

The last two years have been some of the hardest in Eugene Weekly’s 43 years. There were moments when keeping the paper alive felt uncertain. And yet, here we are — still publishing, still investigating, still showing up every week.

That’s because of you!

Not just because of financial support (though that matters enormously), but because of the emails, notes, conversations, encouragement and ideas you shared along the way. You reminded us why this paper exists and who it’s for.

Listening to readers has always been at the heart of Eugene Weekly. This year, that meant launching our popular weekly Activist Alert column, after many of you told us there was no single, reliable place to find information about rallies, meetings and ways to get involved. You asked. We responded.

We’ve also continued to deepen the coverage that sets Eugene Weekly apart, including our in-depth reporting on local real estate development through Bricks & Mortar — digging into what’s being built, who’s behind it and how those decisions shape our community.

And, of course, we’ve continued to bring you the stories and features many of you depend on: investigations and local government reporting, arts and culture coverage, sudoku and crossword puzzles, Savage Love, and our extensive community events calendar. We feature award-winning stories by University of Oregon student reporters getting real world journalism experience. All free. In print and online.

None of this happens by accident. It happens because readers step up and say: this matters.

As we head into a new year, please consider supporting Eugene Weekly if you’re able. Every dollar helps keep us digging, questioning, celebrating — and yes, occasionally annoying exactly the right people. We consider that a public service.

Thank you for standing with us!