Coming in from Atlanta, Georgia Chad Shearer joins the conversation to discuss the evolving role of public relations in electronic music and large scale festival culture. As a partner at Caren West PR, Chad oversees the firm’s music festival division and works with events across the United States, helping shape how festivals, artists, and brands communicate their stories to audiences and media outlets.
Chad explains how festival publicity has evolved beyond traditional press coverage into a broader ecosystem that includes digital media strategy, influencer engagement, and year round storytelling. Successful festivals now operate like full media brands, building anticipation months in advance through coordinated campaigns that combine artist announcements, visual identity, social content, and partnerships with key publications.
The conversation explores how artists can better position themselves within festival lineups by understanding the PR pipeline behind major events. Chad breaks down the relationship between booking teams, marketing departments, and publicity teams, explaining how timing, narrative, and audience alignment influence which artists gain momentum in a crowded field.
He also reflects on the long term value of authentic storytelling in music promotion. Whether working with emerging artists or globally recognized festivals, strong narratives help audiences connect with the people and culture behind the music. In an industry driven by constant releases and nonstop content, meaningful storytelling remains one of the most powerful tools for building lasting artist careers.
Topics
0:08 – Introduction and Chad Shearer’s role at Caren West PR 3:12 – How music festival PR has evolved over the years 7:46 – Building anticipation through festival announcement strategies 11:20 – The relationship between booking, marketing, and publicity teams 16:02 – How artists gain visibility within major festival campaigns 21:30 – The role of digital media and influencer partnerships 26:18 – Why storytelling matters in modern music promotion 31:42 – Working with festivals across multiple markets and states 36:55 – How emerging artists can attract PR attention 42:10 – The future of festival promotion and audience engagement
Connect with Chad Shearer
Caren West PR: carenwestpr.com Instagram: instagram.com/carenwestpr
Discover more interviews and exclusive content at thedjsessions.com
About Chad Shearer –
Entering its 20th year, Caren West PR is an award-winning, full-service public relations firm specializing in lifestyle, entertainment, and events. From music and fashion to food and events, we work with forward-thinking companies, artists, events, and brands. We are a team of multi-talented insiders, facilitators, and influencers ingrained in the entertainment community and defined by drive, vision, and experience. We believe in the power of being connected, good old-fashioned hard work, and providing our clients with innovative and strategic PR, social media, and design solutions backed by research, expertise, and our passion for delivering meaningful results.
The firm was co-founded by Caren West and Chad Shearer. Shearer is in charge of CWPR’s music festival vertical, with events throughout the country, across 10+ states.
Over the last twenty years, Chad David Shearer has developed Caren West PR into a regular fixture on the national music festival scene, which ably complements its lifestyle and entertainment public relations division.
In addition to serving as the firm’s co-founder and Creative Director, Shearer has served as the PR project leader for many of CWPR’s music-based clients, including; Relentless Beats, Imagine Music Festival, the Frye Company, Bass Camp Festival, Highball, Lost Art Music Festival, Revs & Riffs Music Festival, Big Night Out, Phoenix Lights Festival, Goldrush Music Festival, Decadence, DUSK music festival, Seismic Dance Event, Camp Bisco, Project Pabst, Gem & Jam, CRUSH, BOO!, Mad Decent Block Party, Wildwood Revival, Euphoria Music Festival, Global Dance Festival, TomorrowWorld, Nine Dot Cannabis Beverages, the Georgia Hemp Co., Wild Heaven Craft Beers, and more.
https://www.instagram.com/carenwestpr/
https://www.facebook.com/carenwestpr/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/caren-west-pr
About The DJ Sessions –
“The DJ Sessions” is a Twitch/Mixcloud “Featured Partner” live streaming/podcast series featuring electronic music DJ’s/Producers via live mixes/interviews and streamed/distributed to a global audience. TheDJSessions.com
The series constantly places in the “Top Ten” on Twitch Music and the “Top Five” in the “Electronic Music”, “DJ”, “Dance Music” categories. TDJS is rated in the Top 0.11% of live streaming shows on Twitch out of millions of live streamers.
“The DJ Sessions” is listed in the Feedspot directory as one of the Top 60 EDM Podcasts. The series has also been covered by Magnetic Magazine, MI4L, EDMTunes, Fame Magazine, and more.
It has also been recognized by Apple twice as a “New and Noteworthy” podcast and featured three times in the Apple Music Store video podcast section. UStream and Livestream have also listed the series as a “Featured” stream on their platforms since its inception.
The series is also streamed live to multiple other platforms and hosted on several podcast sites. It has a combined live streaming/podcast audience is over 125,000 viewers per week.
With over 2,700 episodes produced over the last 16 years “The DJ Sessions” has featured international artists such as: Matt Staffanina, Cosmic Gate, The Midnight, Amal Nemer, Andrea Casta, Peter Mac, Martin Jensen, Felix Sama, Larse, Ria Mehta, Jens Lissat, Riko & Gugga, BT, Martin Eyerer, Thomas Turner, Plastik Funk, Johan Blende, syence, Redman, Youngr, Dr. Fresch, Sergio Matina, Remo Giugni, Andrew Mills, Robbo Fitzgibbons, HAXHIA, Jungstedt, Deuandra, Faranoe Bros., Leandro Da Silva, Djuma Soundsystem, Massimo Vivona, Late Aster, Andrea Grasselli, ASTOR, Ferry Corsten, Nvrsoft, Alejandro, Thaylo, Robert Owens, Darude, Erika Grapes, Herbert Holler, Meecah, YORK, Sevenn, Amber D, Joey Riot, Drove, Martin Trevy, Thomas Datt, Siryuz & Smoky, Simon Shackleton, SurfingDJ’s, Jacob Henry, Rïa Mehta, Vintage & Morrelli, Joachim Garraud, Mizeyesis, Drop Out Orchestra, Dave Lambert, Tom Wax, Kenn Colt, Nathassia aka Goddess is a DJ, Joni Ljungqvist, mAdcAt, Wuki, DiscoKitty, Handshake in Space, Thaylo, Moon Beats, Barnacle Boi, IAMDRAKE, Spag Heddy, Scott Slyter, Simply City, Rob Gee, Micke, Jerry Davila, SpeakerHoney, Sickotoy, Teenage Mutants, DJ Mowgli, Wooli, Somna, Gamuel Sori, Curbi, Alex Whalen, Netsky, Rich DietZ, Stylust, Bexxie, Chuwe, Proff, Muzz, Raphaelle, Boris, MJ Cole, Flipside, Ross Harper, DJ S.K.T., Skeeter, Bissen, 2SOON, Kayzo, Sabat, Katie Chonacas, DJ Fabio, Homemade, Hollaphonic, Lady Waks, Dr. Ushuu, Arty/Alpha 9, Miri Ben-Ari, DJ Ruby, DJ Colette, Textbook Maneuver, Nima Gorji, Kaspar Tasane, Queen City Hooligan, Andy Caldwell, Party Shirt, Plastik Funk, ENDO, John Tejada, Hoss, Alejandro, DJ Sash U, Arkley, Bee Bee, Cozmic Cat, Superstar DJ Keoki, Crystal Waters, Swedish Egil, Dezarate, Maddy O’Neal, Sonic Union, Lea Luna, Belle Humble, Marc Marzenit, Ricky Disco, AthenaLuv, Maximillian, Saeed Younan, Inkfish, Kidd Mike,