WORDS: LILY NGUYEN
IMAGES: WILFUL & SULLIVAN
David Sullivan is Managing Director at Wilful & Sullivan, a UK music publicity company specialising in album campaigns, singles, touring and artist promotion. Founded in 2013 and recently rebranded to reflect Sullivan's promotion to partner, the firm has worked with some of rock's most enduring names — Iron Maiden, Bryan Adams, Motörhead, Alice in Chains and The Scorpions to name a few — alongside contemporary acts including Kodaline, Within Temptation, Corinne Bailey Rae and Corella.
In this Behind The Music interview, Sullivan talks through how PR campaigns are built from the ground up: developing press narratives, securing coverage and working out how traditional publicity fits alongside streaming, editorial playlists and social media.
Hey David! Let’s kick things off with your role at Wilful and Sullivan. What does your day-to-day actually look like right now?
Each day varies from the next, but before we begin the outreach for publicity it always starts with planning and strategy. We work alongside teams to help decide on release timelines or single choices, which assets we feel would be most suitable for the publicity campaign, and agree on our goals and targets.
From here we then start work on the press materials and developing the narrative surrounding the project to present to journalists. As the campaign grows through our conversations with media, we then work to schedule promo time for interviews secured, while also pitching throughout to confirm reviews for albums, tours and coverage for songs.
We are reactive to developments throughout the campaign from a wide variety of areas, be it from the artist themselves, major breakthroughs at radio, TV, streaming etc to enhance the approach to media and the profile of the artist.
Essentially each day involves fluid conversation throughout the industry, making sure the music is heard in the right places and being presented in the best way it can.
How did you end up working as a publicist? Did you always want to work in music?
I’ve always loved music, and it’s been a massive part of my life. I went to uni and studied a degree in Music Journalism which was my first major introduction into the industry. There I ran a blog with my friends, started to have my freelance work published in more major publications, and then undertook a PR internship which further opened the doors to where I am today.
Streaming and social content play such a huge role in how music travels nowadays. How does traditional PR work alongside those channels today? Has the role evolved?
Absolutely! It works very much in tandem with PR and that’s reflected within the traditional editorial publications themselves. With the huge amount of new music releases now available, many publications are generating their own editorial playlists to highlight the best songs, rather than committing to an array of news posts for singles which was previously seen in the industry.
Socials have also been embraced, with artists invited to deliver exclusive content to be published on the social arm of publications. We have also seen a development of editorial style, with many editors and journalists now reporting in an influencer style on socials.
You’ve worked with artists at lots of different stages of their careers. What usually makes you stop and pay attention to a new artist early?
First and foremost, the music has to be good. A unique story also really helps what we do, so if there is a standout narrative surrounding an artist that would be of interest. We also look at the quality of the assets, if the press shots, videos etc are up to a high standard.
Is there a particular moment in your career that you're especially proud of?
This year it’s a very personal one for me as we made an exciting change at Wilful, rebranding from Wilful Publicity to Wilful & Sullivan Publicity. I was made Managing Director and it was a huge honour after working here for 12 years. I’m really proud of what we have achieved over the years. Year one of the company in its new form is going really well and I’m very excited with what we have coming up in 2026.
Finally, if you could recommend one person for us to interview next for Behind The Music, who would it be?
Ruth Wyatt at Nettwerk!
Learn more about Wilful & Sullivan Publicity at https://wilfulandsullivan.com/
About Behind The Music
Behind The Music is an interview series from Hype-Index exploring the people behind today's music industry. Through conversations with artist managers, publishers, marketers, publicists, label executives and other industry professionals, the series aims to shed light on how artists are developed, supported and discovered behind the scenes.
Each interview offers a practical look at the roles, decisions and day-to-day work that help shape modern music careers.
About The Author
Lily Nguyen is Editor-in-Chief at Hype-Index, where she covers artist development, music marketing and the wider music industry ecosystem. Through the Behind The Music series, she speaks with the professionals helping shape the careers of emerging and established artists across the industry.