FIRSTLY AND FOREMOST BEFORE WE EVEN BEGIN TO COLLABORATE ON ANY BRANDING FOR YOU WE NEED THIS INFORMATION BELOW! IF YOU DO NOT HAVE THE INFORMATION BELOW, I KNOW IT WILL TAKE A LITTLE BIT OF TIME TO GATHER! THIS IS THE BIGGEST TASK BUT THE MOST HELPFUL AND BENEFITIAL TASKS YOU WILL EVER PUT TOGETHER AND WE WANT IT TO BE AWESOME! WE WANT YOU TO STAND OUT FROM THE CROWD AND GET YOU NOTICED I MEAN THAT IS THE FIRST THING THAT ARTISTS/MUSICIANS WANT TO DO IS GET THEIR MUSIC HEARD AND VIDEOS SEEN!
A Musician’s Guide to Electronic Press Kits (EPKs)
A digital press kit should contain everything about you on one page, and be easy to scan. If someone is interested in your music, they won’t want to search across all of your social media channels to find out what they need. Make it easy for people to hear your music and book your band by putting all of your media assets in one place. Update your EPK regularly, using it as a valuable tool in marketing your music.
Our Main TOP Services we offer our Entertainment PR clients include:
– Writing services (press kits, biographies, press releases, website)
– Organizing CD release parties (booking the venue, sending out media invites, securing press placements)
– Media outreach (radio, broadcast, online and in print publications)
– Design services (press kit design, CD inserts, websites, logos, blogs, etc)
WHAT IS AN ELECTRONIC PRESS KIT ( EPK )
An electronic press kit is an essential tool for musicians. EPKs communicate all of the important information that festivals, industry and media need to cover your music. It typically contains media assets that summarize your career to date. This includes an artist bio, promotional photos, music, video, press quotes and more. Most times when you contact a venue to get hired for a gig, an EPK is the first thing that venue's ask for.
WHAT DO I NEED FOR MY EPK
- ARTIST BIO
Your band bio is the perfect way to make a first impression in your EPK. Include a long and short bio, since different press outlets and promoters might have different needs and word counts.
To help you craft this bio, imagine it being used to introduce you out loud at a showcase, or on a podcast. It might also appear on a venue website, in a music review or a brochure.
Kick off your musician bio with a recent press quote, mention your music and then add a recent notable show or career highlight to round it out. Make sure you write it the way you want it to be received; this is your chance to create a compelling narrative that illustrates who you are as a musician.
- PHOTOS FOR PROMOTION
Add a few high-resolution images to your press kit. These artist photos should be tailored to whatever your goal is. If you are trying to book shows, use good quality live shots. If you are promoting upcoming music, include some posed promo shots as well as your album cover or single artwork.
Make sure to include a variety of sizes that will work across all avenues. You’ll need horizontal, vertical, and easily cropped to square images.
- MUSIC SUBMISSION
Whether you’re creating an online résumé for your career, or actively promoting an upcoming release, you’ll want to carefully consider the music that you add to your EPK.
Add your new single or songs from your recent album, if your goal is to garner press for this release. If you’re making a press kit to book shows, choose a mix of your best-known and well-received songs, and make them easy to stream in a music player right on your page.
The key to adding music to your EPK is that the titles are clear, and the songs are easy to listen to. Don’t add too many tracks; make sure you curate your song choices on your EPK carefully, without inundating your target audience with too much music at once.
Don’t want to have a free copy of your latest single floating around just yet? This is a case where password-protecting your EPK can come in handy. Otherwise, creating an EPK as a public facing page is a good way to be sure any promoter or talent buyer can access it quickly.
- ALBUM INFORMATION
If you’re promoting an upcoming album or a latest release, make it easy for a manager, blogger, or radio station to grab details (in text) from your EPK.
Add information about your music that’s easy to copy and paste. You can include album credits or liner notes mentioning the songwriters and production team, and place lyrics into your music player for easy access.
Update this information as your promotion evolves as well. If your song was playlisted and had success on streaming platforms, for example, add that info to help with future promotion.
- VIDEOS
It’s common for a festival or venue to share a recent video once they’ve booked a band to help with selling tickets. By adding a video to your press kit, you’re enhancing your brand by suggesting a video that best represents you and your music. Choose a video that reflects your current goal for your EPK. A live video is perfect if you’re booking shows, or showcasing your performances to date. If you’ve got a video that accompanies your new single, put that on your EPK to help with album promotion.
- PRESS
There’s no better way to add authenticity to your music than press quotes or music reviews. Update these as your career progresses to be sure that anyone accessing your EPK sees recent reviews that talk about the music you are making now. These reviews will help give a sense that your music has momentum, especially if you’re promoting a release. Add quotes from venue owners, music reviews and more. To be sure your EPK looks concise and remains easy to scan. Use one sentence and then link out to a full review. As you get new press, swap in the most relevant quotes.
- SOCIAL AND STREAMING LINKS
Your social and streaming links will paint a fuller picture of your artist brand and your music.
If a press outlet is developing a story about your new album, a view into your online presence across all channels will help them understand you better. A venue or booking agent, for example, may be interested to see if you regularly promote shows and get good engagement.
Add the links only to platforms where you’re active, and show that you built up your social media presence in a professional way.
- DOWNLOABLE FILES FOR MORE INFORMATION
To be sure your EPK is concise and easy to scan, consider adding additional files for download. This could include versions of your bio in PDF format, tracks in MP3 or WAV format, links to download extra promotional images, or a stage plot. You could also create a downloadable version of your press kit, and add that as a file on your EPK for additional reference.
This seems like a lot to put together, but trust me, in order to put together a brand that works for you, we need this in your EPK. It not only makes us look good but it makes you stand out from the rest and in having a well thought out collaborated EPK that works for you and for the venues! We also like to promote those as well. Once we've gotten you online an EPK can last a lifetime, and basically tweaking ever so often with all of your new information and that is what we do for you! FOR STARTERS!
Finally, to be sure that you’re easily reachable for further inquiries or follow-up details, add contact information to your EPK. This might just be your email address, and it might also include your manager, your publicist or anyone else who’s working with you.