Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Rhí McPhelim. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Rhí thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s talk about social media – do you manage your own or do you have someone or a company that handles it for you? Why did you make the choice you did?

I have always managed all of Cobra Promotions’ social media accounts: I absolutely love planning and designing content, tracking engagement, growing a following and building my brand. Cobra Promotions is a one-woman show, so in a way, I have no choice but to run my own socials, so I’m lucky that I love it! I have always been interested in writing and digital media, and I find running the socials to be as exciting as the content itself. There are so many free resources to take advantage of – it’s all about doing some research and finding what’s best for you. When I started out my blog, it was solely Instagram based, and it was nice to design all of my content with only the one social media in mind, and not get overwhelmed with the thought of running other accounts. Once I got comfortable with networking, posting and how my brand looked, I used this knowledge to transition to other socials, which made the process quite seamless. It can be daunting for start-up businesses and content creators to think about “being everywhere all at once”, especially if you’re not used to using social media, but starting out using just one, will definitely help you ease into it. As you become more tech savvy, you’ll be able to do content splintering and automate what you post, helping to grow your audience across lots of different platforms.

I enjoy running my own socials because I like giving my blog and brand a personal touch. Almost everyone who views my story, engages with my posts or gets in touch knows that it’s Rhí behind the screen, and that I have a genuine passion for what I do. If you scroll down through my Instagram page, you can see changes in my content style, and I think it’s fun to showcase exactly when I have decided to make some brand changes and experiment with new ideas. I like my audience to see how Cobra Promotions has grown, and how I have grown.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Rhí, and I am a journalist, publicist and musician from Ireland. I founded Cobra Promotions (formerly known as RuaMedia) in August 2020, during the first COVID19 lockdown, and right before I started university/college. Cobra Promotions started out as an Instagram-based music blog, where I showcased music of all genres, from artists all over the world. It was devastating to see the music industry collapse under COVID, and hear of so many musicians’ struggling, so I wanted to be a supportive platform to independent acts. I offered music reviews, playlist adds, interviews, directories, PR tips and anything else that I could, so that artists could feel supported and stay creative throughout the lockdowns.

In December 2021, I rebranded to fully become Cobra Promotions, and focus on hard rock, blues, indie and alternative acts. These genres would be my personal favourites, and I wanted to focus on this niche because it’s tough for acts of these styles to get into the mainstream. In Ireland specifically, there are very few, or perhaps no other 100% rock and blues dedicated music outlets, so the aim for Cobra Promotions is to become one of the leading publications of this niche in the nation, and Europe!

Before Cobra Promotions, I had no experience in music journalism, PR or blogging. Literally two weeks before the country shut down (February 2020), I had been finalizing music auditions for different colleges, and I was starting to feel that the business side of the music industry intrigued me far more than the performance side. I ended up choosing a course that could help me learn about, and balance both aspects, and it was actually the lockdown itself that gave me the opportunity to explore music journalism and PR properly. Now three years on, I have written hundreds of reviews (between my own publication and contributing to others), have built a fantastic network of music industry professionals and independents, and have conducted PR campaigns for some brilliant Irish artists.

In June of this year, I launched my brand new site, so that I can bring all of my content to a wider audience. With this new venture, I have started to explore iconic and influential classic acts, so that Cobra Promotions will become an all-around rock and blues discovery hub, supporting everything from the old to the new.

At the moment, my main work includes: Reviews, interviews, playlist curation, PR & marketing articles, making directories and conducting PR campaigns. Episode One of my new classic rock & blues discussion podcast, “Bite-Sized Classics” is also available to stream on Spotify or YouTube. In the near future, my focus will be turning to tiktok and youtube content, where I’ll hopefully be hosting livestreams and listening parties so that I can share great contemporary music!

Overall, Cobra Promotions has represented so much development for me in terms of knowledge, networking and content. I have so much more to learn, but this year has been a very productive one, and I’m looking forward to seeing what 2024 brings!

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

The ultimate aim for Cobra Promotions is to be a launchpad for rock and blues bands, and I would love for the platform to become the “go-to” place for music fans, musicians and people in the music business to discover the best emerging music of these genres.

Either from the articles on my blog, or my work as a publicist, I would love to play a role in launching a band’s career. I get so much gratification from bands thanking me for my work as a journalist and publicist, and it would be just amazing if down the line, one of those bands came back to me and said that I helped them find this person, or helped give them an opportunity that led to the “break” in their journey. To think even bigger, if a major music label or A&R executive said that they found “the next big band” through Cobra Promotions, or by Rhí’s recommendation, that would make me extremely proud.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Because Cobra Promotions is still so young, and because the platform focuses on a very niche area, I would have a very small, humble reputation. However, plenty of my followers or contacts in the industry have come from my name being mentioned through someone else, so Cobra is out there! And it is always a delight to hear someone say “I found your profile through…” or “I got your name from….”

I’d like to think that Cobra’s reputation comes from my genuine passion for what I do, and from the support I provide to others. I pride myself on being cordial, professional (but not too intense), and supportive in a way that any band or artist would feel welcome and comfortable in coming to me for advice or a chat. I always say that there is so such thing as a silly question, and I regularly encourage my audience to get in touch with questions, comments or feedback, so that they know that I am actively looking to improve myself and the platform, in order to benefit them as much as possible. I try to build my reputation through a determined and authentic image, which is something people always appreciate seeing,

Contact Info:

• Website: https://cobrapromotions.eu/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cobrapromotions/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CobraPromotions
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cobra-promotions/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/cobrapromo
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnH8fhFYYWvaaL9uQ1yPt2Q
• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@cobrapromotions