Big Hassle Media

What Big Hassle Media does

Big Hassle Media is a music publicity firm that provides press campaign development, media outreach, and public relations management to musicians, bands, nonprofits, and record labels. Founded in 1999 and headquartered in Brooklyn, NY, the firm operates from five U.S. offices (New York, Nashville, Los Angeles, Kansas City, Seattle), with each location staffed by publicists who manage ongoing press relationships for the firm's artist roster. The company has represented over 300 artists across genres including rock, folk, indie, hip-hop, and country, with marquee clients such as Jack White, Phish, Rufus Wainwright, The White Stripes, and Violent Femmes. Distribution of services is direct: publicists acquire clients through relationships with artists, managers, and record labels, then deliver press-campaign services on a quote-based fee structure.

The firm's service portfolio is organized into four practice areas: Music (artist publicity), Events (live-event and festival publicity), Nonprofits (music-related nonprofit organizations), and Labels & Brands (record labels and music brands). The company provides no proprietary technology platform — it is a people-driven publicity services firm whose core production asset is the personal relationship each publicist maintains with music media outlets. There are no APIs, no SDKs, no app, and no disclosed software product surface. GTM motion is sales-led via direct relationships rather than inbound marketing.

Big Hassle Media operates on a professional services revenue model, monetizing through quote-based service fees for press campaigns, media outreach, and public relations management. Pricing is not publicly disclosed. The firm has not raised outside funding per available data, is privately held, and employs a small team operating across five cities. No acquisition history, no leadership changes, and no regulatory actions are documented in the source material.

Name

Big Hassle Media

Legal name

Big Hassle Media

Website

https://bighassle.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Big Hassle Media is a music publicity firm representing 300+ musicians, bands, nonprofits, and record labels through five U.S. offices, providing press campaigns, media relations, and promotional services since 1999.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Music Public Relations

NAICS

Agents and Managers for Artists, Athletes, Entertainers, and Other Public Figures (7114), Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services (5418), Media Representatives (54184)

SIC

Services-Advertising Agencies (7311)

akta.pro primary industry

Publicity, PR & Media Relations (Artists) (MPAIAGAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Media Relations & Press Office Services (MPAAADAI), Media Relations & Press Office Services (BPAFADAF), Nonprofit & Cause Communications (BPAFADAK)

Keywords

• Music publicity services
• Media relations
• Press campaigns
• Tour promotion
• Artist PR

Headquarters

HQ city

Brooklyn

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Music Publicity Services: Big Hassle Media provides publicity and promotional services to musicians, bands, nonprofits, and music labels, generating revenue through service fees for press campaigns, media outreach, and public relations management.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

Big Hassle Media is a music publicity firm that provides press campaigns, media outreach, media relations, and promotional services for musicians, bands, nonprofits, and record labels. The firm operates across four practice areas — Music (artist publicity), Events (live event publicity), Nonprofits (nonprofit music organizations), and Labels & Brands (record labels and music brands) — delivered by a team of publicists based in five U.S. cities.

Product overview

Big Hassle Media is a music publicity agency that operates as a single unified service offering rather than a platform with modular components. The company provides publicity services for musicians and artists, organized into four main practice areas: Music (artist publicity), Events (live event publicity), Nonprofits (nonprofit music organizations), and Labels & Brands (record labels and music brands). The agency maintains offices in New York, Nashville, Los Angeles, Kansas City, and Seattle, representing a diverse roster of artists.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Music Publicity Services Core publicity services for musicians and music artists, including media relations, press coverage, press release creation and distribution, and public visibility management.
• Event Publicity Publicity services for live events, concerts, festivals, and tour appearances.
• Nonprofit Music Publicity Specialized publicity services for nonprofit music organizations and music-related causes.
• Labels & Brands Services Publicity services for record labels and music brands.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves3 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Shore Fire Media: Long-standing independent music and entertainment publicity firm based in New York with a deep artist roster. Directly comparable to Big Hassle in service offering (artist press campaigns), client base (recording artists, labels), and category (music publicity).
• Nasty Little Man: Music publicity firm specializing in press campaigns for artists, tours, and festivals. Directly comparable as a competitor in the indie/major music publicity space, serving a similar artist client base across the U.S.
• Falco Ink: Independent publicity firm focused on music, entertainment, and lifestyle clients. Comparable as a direct competitor offering press campaigns, media relations, and event publicity to artists and entertainment brands.
• ID-PR: UK-based music and entertainment publicity firm serving artists, festivals, and events. Comparable in offering the same core music publicity services as Big Hassle, with primary overlap in festival and live-event press campaigns.
• Mitch Schneider Organization: Long-established music and entertainment publicity firm representing artists and labels. Directly comparable as a competitor in the same music publicity category, with a similar roster-driven business model and media-relations focus.

Broad incumbents

• 42West: Large entertainment and culture PR firm serving film, TV, music, theater, and corporate clients. Comparable because it operates a dedicated entertainment publicity practice that competes with Big Hassle for music and event clients, though it serves a much broader portfolio.
• The Lede Company: Entertainment, lifestyle, and communications firm with dedicated music publicity capabilities. Comparable because its music practice competes directly with Big Hassle's artist publicity services, though it operates at broader scale across talent, brands, and content.
• Sunshine Sachs: Full-service public relations firm with a notable music and entertainment division. Comparable in serving music artists and entertainment clients, though it offers broader PR services spanning crisis, brand, and talent representation.

Emerging players

• Primary Wave Music Publishing: Independent music publisher and talent management firm that has expanded into publicity and marketing services for its roster. Comparable as an adjacent player offering publicity-adjacent services to recording artists, though its core focus is publishing and management.

Regional players

• Becker & Associates PR: Independent music and entertainment publicity firm. Comparable in service offering (artist press, event publicity) though primarily serving a different geographic market segment, providing a regional benchmark for comparable publicity firms.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles16 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Big Hassle Media