The 7 Items Your Electronic Artist Press Kit Needs

Is your band ready to perform for live audiences? Then you need to build an Electronic Press Kit (EPK). Just like a CV or resumé for job seekers, an EPK is your band’s resumé. It shows promoters and potential clients who you are, what you look like, and how you play. It’s a professional multimedia online business card showcasing your band. In this blog post, we’ll show you what you need to build a stunning artist press kit that helps you get more gigs.

As you put together your band’s press kit, be clear and concise. Don’t go crazy with the artsy photos, colors, and fonts. View your musician’s press kit like a promoter. He or she wants to learn about your band in the shortest amount of time. They aren’t judging your graphical creativity. 

Finding gigs for musicians and bands is much easier with an EPK ready to send.

The Ingredients of a Great EPK

If your Press kit lives on your website, you need to optimize it for search engines.  This article, SEO For Musicians and Bands, will help.

There are seven elements to a professional EPK that answer who, what, when, and where about you or your band:

1. Biography
2. Audio / Video
3. Professional Photos
4. Upcoming Gigs
5. Contact Information
6. Press Coverage and Testimonials (if any)
7. Stage Plot

Make all links clickable, so it’s easy for clients to find the information they need to hire you. 

1. Biography Section

The biography highlights the band’s artistry and history. It should include individual references to the band members as well as all the achievements of the group. You’ll also want to add any press quotes, recent shows, recordings, venues, and any endorsements. 

To make the bio section as professional as possible. Consider hiring a copywriter to write it for you to ensure accuracy and avoid any spelling errors. 

2. Link to Your Audio Tracks and Videos

Because promoters and agents will check out your sound before they do anything else, link to only your best music samples. If you have multiple locations like Spotify, Soundcloud, and YouTube, add every link. Make sure your links don’t require account signup or similar. If the person needs to create a new account, get out their credit card and confirm their email address just to hear your music, they’ll surely take a pass. Thus, one excellent option is to offer a free download. 

Use video if you have it. Linking to some high-quality video of live performances demonstrates your musical chops to promoters. Function bands can use an original promotional video, overlaid with the band’s information, to get their message out.

If you plan to send out your EPK to different venues, swap the video links to the appropriate type of venue. There is no need to add every video. 

3. Professional High-Resolution Photos

Invest in some quality pictures of your band, including headshots, the entire band, and promotional shots. Quality photos help to tell your band’s story. Try to keep with the theme of your group, whether it’s off-the-wall-crazy rock, classical, or jazz.

If you have a logo, add a PNG image so promoters can use it for event promotions. Also include any CD cover art, and liner graphics if you have those.

4. Gigs and Performance Calendar

Let everyone know where you’ll play in the upcoming weeks and months with your performance calendar. It’s an essential part of your EPK, so both fans and promoters can follow you. Keep the schedule updated and fresh. 

5. Contact Info, Website, and Social Media

Your contact info is vital to getting gigs. Make it easy for promoters and venues to reach you by providing multiple contact points. List your email, phone numbers, your website, and social network links. Designate two people as preferred points of contact, so promoters know whom to call. Have at least one back up phone number so that you don’t miss a significant lead.

Promoters are busy people, and they’re not detectives. Potential employers should be able to contact you on the first try.

6. Press Quotes and Testimonials

Positive reviews and testimonials go a long way in helping you attract more gigs. Whenever you receive a positive press review or testimonial from a client or other music industry professional, add them to your press kit. The more social proof you have, the faster you can grow your fan base.

7. Stage Plot

If your band plays festivals, or shows featuring more than one act, a stage plot saves the stage crew a lot of time and reduces performance day hassles. Be sure the stage crew and sound engineer have access to your stage plot well in advance of the gig.

Don’t have a stage plot? Use this great stage plot designer tool to create one now.

Design Your Artist Press Kit to be User Friendly

There is a lot of information and links in an EPK. Use Headings and Subheadings to make the page easy to scan and to navigate.

Coordinate the design so that there is a general sense of your brand using the same colors and fonts throughout the EPK, logo, and website. Use simple, easy to read fonts with high contrast backgrounds. You can’t go wrong with black font on a white background. 

EPK Samples 

If you’ve never put together an artist press kit, here are a few great examples.

The Phonix Dance Band – You’ll find the EPK in a dropdown menu under “Band” on the website. It’s neatly organized with clickable links to get you where you want to go.

Albannach – Their EPK has a top navigation bar with everything you want to know about the band.

Sometimes the artist’s website is their press kit, containing all the essentials listed on the site. Here are three great examples.  

1. Aaron Goodvin – Aaron’s website has an excellent portrait, high contrast, easy to read font, and a simple navigation bar at the top. You can access the information you need within seconds.
   
   
   
2. Hudson Brothers – What’s interesting about this website is that you have all the links you need above the fold. They even have a link that says “Listen” dead center where you can hear a sample tune.
   
   
   
3. Washboard Union – This website does it a little differently, although they have a navbar on top. The entire page above the fold is a link to their latest song sample. The page scrolls down to videos, the performance calendar and ends with their bio and contact info. It’s all there, just arranged differently.
   
   
   

Make your EPK Easy to Access

If you have a separate EPK, you can create a separate page on your website, or upload it to Dropbox and provide the link. Wherever you decide to keep it, make the page and links easy to share and view.

Although you can create an amazing band website with ALL or your band’s content, agents and promoters don’t have time to hunt for things. Make sure your electronic artist press kit is a dedicated page on your website where they can find everything they’ll need, all in one place.

Always keep your information fresh with news and upcoming gigs. The Back On Stage Band Software is a huge help. It’s for musicians and bandleaders who want to stay organized as they grow. The Back On Stage app is the place to organize your music audio and video. It has all the functions you need to manage a band, including email communications, repertoire, and gig details. The app keeps all your information in one place, making it easy to create and update your EPK.