Pricing
Three published prices, an annual plan, one discount that ever exists, and a set of rules that are not broken for anybody. The prices are a recommendation argued from comparables, not a market factS40.
| Tier | Monthly | Annual | Founding rate | Cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Press Kit | £49 | £499 once, permanent access to the current version | n/a | None |
| The Press Room | £299 | £2,990 (two months free) | £199/mo for the first 30, locked 12 months | 60 |
| Campaign Partner | £1,500 | Not sold annually | None | 4 at a time |
Prices exclude VAT if and when Sam is registered. Payment by card through Stripe, monthly in advance or annually in advance. No invoicing, no purchase orders, no exceptions below the institutional licence.
Why these numbers
£49 for the Press Kit
Above the $49 one-off spreadsheet that is the buyer's mental anchorS10, and below the psychological £50 line. It is priced to be an easy yes for a student or a composer, and priced so that twelve months of it (£588) costs less than half of Gloria Chou's $1,495 packS11. It is not really a revenue tier. It exists to catch people who cannot afford £299, to catch people leaving £299, and to give institutions something they can buy in bulk.
£299 for the Press Room
£3,588 a year. Sits inside the programme band set by Gloria Chou at $1,495 and Selena Soo at $2,997S11, S12, and mid-range against reported group-programme pricing of £97 to £997 a monthS37. Against the alternative it is unarguable: a general media database is £6,450 plus VAT a yearS7 and three months of the cheapest real publicist is about £4,500S5. Note also that Prowly's general media database is $258 a month, almost exactly the founding rateS9. A specialist list plus a specialist reading your work should not cost less than a general list on its own.
£1,500 for Campaign Partner
Set at the reported floor of an independent publicist's monthly retainerS5, so it is honest: it is the same money, for less service, from someone better. It must sit clearly below whatever Sam charges a retained client, and this guide does not know that number. Confirm it before publishing this tier. If it is close, delete the tier.
The founding offer: the first 30, then it closes
| What they get | What Sam gets |
|---|---|
| £199 a month instead of £299, a third off, locked for twelve months from their join date. After twelve months they move to list, with 60 days' notice in writing. | A base. Thirty founding members at £199 is £5,970 a month, which is most of the base case's first six monthsS27. |
| The "founding member" badge on their directory entry, permanently. | Visible social proof for the next thirty buyers. |
| A 30-minute call with Sam in their first month, which no other member at this tier gets. | Thirty conversations that tell her exactly what the product should be. This is the real reason the founding cohort exists. It is market research she is being paid for. |
| Their say on what the first six modules cover. | A curriculum that answers real questions instead of guessed ones. |
What they owe in return, said out loud when they join, not written into a contract: a testimonial once something has actually happened, and an introduction to one other artist who might benefit. Ask for both at the moment they are happiest, which is when their first piece of coverage lands, not at renewal.
The rules of the founding offer
- Cap it at 30 and publish the counter on the sales page: "Founding places remaining: N". It is the only honest urgency this product has, because it is true.
- Never discount below £199, for anyone, for any reason. If a third off does not close it, the problem is not price, it is that they do not have a release.
- Founding rates end at member 30, not at a date. Say that at the start of every founding conversation.
- No free trials and no free months. The Press Kit at £49 is the trial. Free members do not do the work and then blame the product.
- The price lock is twelve months from their join date, not from launch. Track it. A member repriced by surprise is a member lost and a bad review.
The annual plan, and why it matters more than it looks
£2,990 a year against £3,588 monthly is two months free, a 17% discount. It is worth giving away because membership churn in this category runs high: the model assumes 6% a month, which means about half a cohort is gone within a yearS35. An annual payer cannot churn in month three, which is when most people do.
Institutional pricing
Conservatoires, labels, festivals and schemes buy differently: they need an invoice, a purchase order and a named contact. This is the one place where the published price list bends.
| Buyer | What they buy | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conservatoire or scheme | Press Kit seats for a cohort | £29 per seat per month, minimum 20 seats, annual term | £6,960 a year for 20 seats. Below the £6,450 a year they would pay for a Roxhill licence they cannot useS7, which is the comparison to make in the proposal. |
| Record label | Press Kit seats for the roster | £29 per seat per month, minimum 10 seats | £3,480 a year for 10. Cheaper than one indie campaign at $3,000 to $8,000S4, and it covers the whole roster. |
| Anyone | A one-off workshop, 90 minutes, online or in person | £750 online, £1,500 in person plus travel | Priced so that it is easier for the institution to say yes than to negotiate. Often given free as the way into a channel: see Chapter 10. |
Rules that are never broken
- The price is published and never negotiated. The founding rate is the only discount that has ever existed. A member who talks Sam down tells everyone.
- No free access for a friend of a client. Give them the Press Kit free for a year if the relationship demands it, never the Press Room. Free members in a paid room poison it.
- Never bundle the membership into an agency proposal. They are separate businesses with separate promises, and mixing them is how a retained client starts asking why they pay the other number.
- Raise the price rather than raise the cap. If the membership hits 60 with a waiting list, the next thirty pay £399, not £299. The cap exists because of Sam's hours, and hours cannot be bought back with volume.
- Refund the first month on request, no argument, once per person. It costs almost nothing, it removes the only real objection to a monthly product, and it is cheaper than a public complaint.