Whether you’re just starting to book gigs for yourself and your band, or you’ve already got concerts on the books, having an effective and compelling EPK is an absolute necessity. But not all EPKs are created equally. Let’s make sure you have everything you need to get it right.
Your EPK, short for “electronic press kit,” is a one-stop shop for promoters, bookers, and music journalists to know what you and your band are all about. Think of it like a business card that goes a little deeper… or maybe a really great dating app profile. Anyway, you get the idea.
A solid EPK is an essential tool for all touring musicians, because it is a clean, concise, and convenient way to promote your music to the press, media, and music industry professionals. It’s one of the most useful tools to showcase and pitch your music, image, and story to music biz folks. And most importantly, in a way that is easily accessible and shareable.
Building an EPK isn’t super complicated, but you’re going to want to put in some effort and attention to detail to make sure it does its job… so you can get back to doing yours.
Before you start putting your EPK together, you’ll need to make some hopefully-not-too-tough decisions about the assets and content you’ll include. While those specific choices are up to you, there are a few things every good EPK needs.
Tour dates: Promoters, bookers, and other music industry professionals will want to see that you’re already working and have had success in other venues and markets, so be sure to include your current and upcoming concert calendar.
Once you’ve made decisions about all the elements you’ll use for your EPK, you need to organize it in a clear and easy-to-navigate way. Create separate sections for each type of content, and make sure that each section is clearly labeled and easy to find. Here’s a tip: begin with the content that you feel is most compelling and legitimizes your music most effectively.
The design of your EPK is almost as important as what’s in it, and in fact should be thought of as an extension of the image you’re trying to present as a band or artist. Your EPK should have a professional, consistent design reflecting your music style and image. Unlike in the old days when hard copies of your press kit would be mailed out to promoters and venues, there are multiple options for working bands these days to design an interesting and convenient digital press kit online. If you’re building an EPK in PDF form to be shared via email, you can use online tools like Canva or Adobe Spark to create a visually appealing EPK. Another helpful option is building a dedicated EPK page on your website. Website design platforms like Squarespace make it easy to create an EPK that reflects the themes, colors, and fonts you already use throughout your website. But no matter how you’re designing your EPK, be sure to use high-quality images, easy-to-read fonts, and a color scheme that reflects your brand.
One of the most important things to remember is to include your contact details in your EPK. If you have a team working on your music, include contact information for your label, management, booking agency, publicist, etc. If not, just make sure to have your name, phone number, email address, website, and social media links easy to find. If you want opportunities to come your way, they’ve got to know how to find you.
You’ve made it this far, now you gotta make sure to get it out there. Once your EPK is complete, you can share it on your website, social media platforms, etc. As you book shows and opportunities, you’ll also want to know how to direct press, music supervisors, bloggers, bookers, and promoters the quickest and simplest way to take a look at what you built. Then you can get back to building what you set out to build: your growing music career.
An EPK stands for "electronic press kit," a single document or webpage for promoters, bookers, and music journalists to learn about the band or musician.
A well-made EPK is essential for all touring musicians as it is a clean, concise, and convenient way to promote their music to the press, media, and music industry professionals.
A good EPK should have music samples, promo photos, videos, links to social media profiles, a bio, and tour dates.
Organize your EPK in a clear and easy-to-navigate way, creating separate sections for each type of content and making sure that each section is clearly labeled and easy to find.
The design of your EPK is almost as important as its content because it should reflect your music style and image and convey professionalism.
It is important to include contact information in your EPK, including your name, phone number, email address, website, and social media links so that people looking to work with you can easily reach you.
Once your EPK is complete, be sure to share it on your website, social media platforms, and directly with the folks you want to work with.
C.K. Brown is the founder of Talk Palace and has spent the past fifteen years as a touring musician in addition to writing artist bios and pursuing other creative projects.
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