Recording albums, building a following, branding, promoting, booking shows, and announcing upcoming releases. When you started all of this you probably never realized just how much it would end up looking like a job. But, so long as it has, you may as well be professional, and that includes making a professional introduction, so how is that done exactly and do you need an EPK?
Yes, an EPK is an absolute essential promotional device. It is intended to engage professionals who have the authority to book, manage, or promote you and your project. In effect it is an elaborate digital calling card equipped with concise information necessary to inform preliminary assessments of you as an artist. It is your opportunity to control the narrative, promote your brand, and make a lasting first impression.
It is certainly in your interest to prepare an EPK at your earliest convenience. The EPK will follow you through the duration of your career and you will use it to keep a chronicled account of events, releases, as well as images and media. All of which you’ll keep organized and updated as you progress. Most importantly it should demonstrate the personality, and aesthetic of your project while maintaining simplistic professionalism and function. It is a basic requirement to be sure that all of the contact information is correct and current, and that the copy available in the EPK is downloadable in appropriate formats and file sizes for those cases it is needed to reference your band.
It may seem daunting, but you’ll be ok. I will do my best to give you a step-by-step account of all the things you need to take into consideration before organizing your EPK. I can assure you that if you make a few preliminary steps now, it will yield a significant benefit later. So rather then getting overcome with focusing on the finish line, lets just focus on putting one foot in front of the next.
What The EPK Is For
- An EPK Is a quick and accessible means for those trying to get the information they need about you.
- An EPK is for making connections with those whom you may not have the opportunity to make connections with otherwise.
- An EPK is an invaluable tool for acquiring bookings to play live shows. Providing talent buyers with clear and precise insight to what your live performances are like. Allowing them to quickly determine if what your doing suits their needs.
- An EPK is the preferred method for announcing an upcoming release or promoting an upcoming event
Who The EPK Is Intended For
- Talent buyers
- Journalists
- Music bloggers
- Concert promoters
- Music supervisors
- Record label representatives
What The EPK Is Exactly
Whether you have representation or not, you are responsible for putting your best foot forward.
The EPK is your way of doing that. It is the modern Press Kit.
Traditionally a Press Kit was a physical envelope packaged with promotional materials about an artist. It was intended to introduce the artist to any number of industry insiders whom which the artist wanted to initiate contact. These physical Press Kits were expensive to produce and expensive to send.
Today the modern press kit has been rechristened an EPK. The E stands for electronic, and as you have already deduced it is of the digital variety.
Effectively an EPK is an Artists resume
It allows someone to quickly become informed with what it is you’re doing.
Rather then press clips, expensive promotional flyers, letterhead, cassette tapes or CD’s shoved into a beige envelope. Today everything is compressed into some digital form, which is viewable and downloadable. It makes for a more cost effective method to produce and distribute.
Maybe you should think about up-scaling the quality of your media, with that money saved.
The Music industry is very competitive and standing out may require a bigger splash.
Most important though, be sure to keep your eyes on the details, dot I-s and cross T-s, double-check everything.
What You Should Include In An EPK
- Music
- Photos
- Album Art
- Calendar
- BIO
- Videos
- Links
- Contact Information
The Music
The recordings you include in your EPK should be of good quality and well produced. It does not serve any interest to include recordings that are not. Keep in mind that this is a competitive sport. If you don’t sound first rate, work on that first.
Additionally it is important to display songs in descending order of popularity, starting with the most popular.
I recommend relying on direct feedback from your fans. You can do some quick polling on social media to see what people think. If you’re just starting out, get some feedback from your friends. That should be enough to help you consolidate around the keepers.
You can always update things later when you’ve had more time to test proof the songs in front of bigger audiences.
The Photos
The EPK should include two categories of photographs. The first should be of Live Performances, and the Second should be of staged concept photography.
The live performance photos included should depict high energy as well as and give the viewer a sense of your live show’s dynamic. These photos should demonstrate how you relate with an audience.
The staged photography should include at least a few well-taken photos. If you’re not sure which ones to choose, I recommend that you poll your fans or other creative collaborators for consensus and advice.
Be sure to have professional photography to use on your website. Be sure to include both high-resolution and low-resolution versions of the files to better accommodate the needs of those downloading for promotional purposes.
The Album Art
The Album art is a must for your EPK especially if you’re currently releasing a new single or album.
Your goal should be to promote that new album, and the Album Art is one more way to generate interest.
We recently posted a guide to releasing a single with no fans. It really is a great look at actionable steps to building a fanbase from scratch. If you are looking for some great insights. This one is for you!
The Calendar
Use your tour calendar to illustrate that you are a rising star. Do this by listing all you can about any future shows or activities you may be planning. This is a great tool for you to connect with your fans and any potential talent buyers looking to book talent on some particular date in the future.
In addition your calendar serves as a record documenting a trail of places that you have performed or appeared. That demonstrates to the talent buyer that you have a track record.
If you haven’t a track record as of yet, that’s fine. You owe it to yourself to remember that everybody starts from scratch.
The Bio
Your bio should be a truthful and accurate account of where you have come from to where you are currently. It should tell of your musical journey while staying grounded and humble. It is important to be confident but it is imperative to be confident while leaning into humility. If you haven’t the capacity to do this effectively, I encourage you to outsource the Bio creation to an objective third party, preferably a professional writer.
The Videos
The videos section should be very similar in scope to that of the photography section.
There should be well-produced live performance videos, and good quality scripted Music Videos.
If you haven’t started making your own DIY music videos; here is a guide to getting started. Good luck!
The concept Music Videos will go a long way to expressing the personality of the band while the live performance videos will demonstrate the ability of the band.
It might not be the best idea to use shaky cellphone video footage to introduce your band to industry gatekeepers.
The Links
The link section should include your official website as well as any links to your social media accounts.
This section is rather important in your EPK. It gives a potential promoter a direct view of your ever-growing base of supporters.
Additionally, some sorting tools on the different social media sites provide critical information about your band to the promoter. One example of that would be Likes.
The Contact Information
This section should include up to date contacts for bookings and otherwise.
Making The EPK As Effective As Possible
So after you have produced great content, your next objective is being sure that you present that well. That will include the over all theme and look of your EPK. Each subheading of the EPK, the Photos, Artwork, Videos, and Press Material should be consistent. It should all conform with and enhance the tonality of the presentation.
This is an exercise of systematic focus. Everything needs to be in alignment with the brand you are striving to personify.
On the other hand, if the music you create is chaotic and void of boundaries, you should not make an EPK that is chaotic. You may however use chaotic imagery and artistic representations of chaos that depict your brand in a highly organized and functional way.
The absolute goal of an effective EPK is to establish interest on your behalf by presenting what you’re doing in a professional, and polished way.
Using Your Website To House Your EPK
I recommend building your EPK into your website. It is a simple solution that should streamline things for you. If you’d rather keep the EPK private, do not link to it from your homepage. You can distribute the otherwise hidden URL as you need to. If you want to prevent the page from being indexed, search for the appropriate meta-tag to do so.
At The End Of The Day
Keep in mind that all of this revolves around relationship building. Be polite, well spoken and most importantly professional. Cultivating good relationships is an imperative for doing well in any industry. It is especially important in this one.
You do not want to have your path blocked for having been perceived as careless or self-important. Treat each hard earned contact with respect and professionalism because that hard-earned contact just may lead you to the proverbial finish line.
Now go and be great!
Good luck.