Electronic Press Kit

What Is An EPK?

When you’ve completed the mixing & mastering process, and hit export on your music – your next step to focus on is promotion. Your goal might be to get an article written about your album, get featured in a playlist, land sync deals, radio plays – or just get the word out about your music. With any of the above – it’s important to help make it easy for the person you’re reaching out to on the other side to write about you. 

An Electronic Press Kit (EPK)  is a resume for musicians and aims to do just that. It’s a page where promoters, venue managers, journalists, and music supervisors can find all of the info they need to promote you. Back in the day – it used to be a physical “kit”; it then became a messy email with several attachments – and it’s now evolved to an elegant page usually linked out to from your artist website.

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Why Do I Need One?

If you’re serious about getting the word out about your music – the industry will expect you to have an EPK. From a brand perspective, it’s important to put your best foot forward so you can highlight your latest music, highest quality photos, and descriptions that best summarise your vibe. Also, the easier you make it for someone to write about you or book you for a gig, the more chance that it will happen!

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Want to learn more? Our 6-week course on Mixing, Mastering, and the Music Business launches soon!

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6 Essentials To Include In Your EPK

(Source: Bandzoogle, 2016)

Put yourself in the position of the reader. Whether it’s a promoter, potential manager or booking agent – what information would you want to see? How would you like to come across to them? Do your photos, music, artwork and videos translate cohesively, or are they disjointed?

Here are a few key elements that most EPK’s include.

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Bio

A bio is a short summary of who you are, what your music is about, and your story. What makes you unique? Try to strike a balance between being entertaining and informative, while still slipping in facts you might want a journalist to quote about you. A pro tip is to have a short bio (100-200 words) on your EPK, with a link to a longer bio if the reader wants to learn more.

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Links To Your Music

This is the most important part of your EPK! Make it easy for the reader to listen by embedding a playlist into the page. You might also want to consider using smartlink services such as li.sten.to to guide readers to their music player of choice. The reader is most likely to press play on the top song on your playlist so make sure you keep this playlist updated and always put your best foot forward. Statistics such as play count, purchase history, and fan feedback might help you decide what tracks to highlight here.

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High-Quality Photos & Videos

 

(Source: Bandzoogle, 2016)

Think about the production quality that went into your music creation. From the choice of instruments to the mix and the master. Make sure that the quality of your photos and videos match – so that your brand stays cohesive in its aesthetic. Consider including horizontal and vertical photos, as well as your album art & logo – so that the booking agent can easily create a poster, for example, just using the resources on your EPK.

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Social Media Links

To stand out in the modern music business – it’s essential to tell your story  & gather engaged followers via social media. Promoters use these channels to keep a tab on how active, busy, and popular acts are. The keyword here is having an ‘engaged’ fan base. There’s no point taking a shortcut route and buying 5000 likes if you can’t round up 10 people for a gig in your hometown!

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Press & Reviews

If you’ve already had a bit of press, been nominated for an award, or won a local competition – make sure to include these achievements in your press kit. The best way to do this is to include a quote, linking back to the full article. From a journalists point of view, it’s a lot easier to feature someone who’s already been validated.

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Contact Info

This might seem obvious – but when you’re tweaking the fine print, it can be easy to lose sight of the simple stuff. Keep this section short, succinct and easy to read. Include relevant names, contact numbers, email addresses, and link back to your website. 

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Get Inspired – Examples & Templates

Feeling motivated to write your EPK and want some examples & templates to help you get started?

Check out the following websites: Bandzoogle, Sonic Bids, and Reverbnation

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If you’d like to learn more about our 6-week Mixing, Mastering & Music Business course, follow the link below.

 

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