Press kits are important for musicians. Anyone who is a musician who wants to put out their music for all to hear needs to prepare a press kit to send to various online media outlets (i.e. Apple Music, Spotify, Billboard, etc.).
This guide will talk about what goes into a press kit.
Press kits have evolved to keep up with the digital landscape of music. However, I feel there are still certain things to keep in mind when creating press kits:
A lot of times, the artwork for a press kit is the same piece that will appear on the artist’s social media accounts. Even though this is usually your best representation of what the actual piece is, I still suggest people also create separate images.
These are often different artwork styles of the same cover. It’s okay if you have two or three options to choose from.
It is definitely preferable if you can have a real idea of what the artwork is going to look like as opposed to creating three different versions of a piece of artwork that doesn’t match up with each other.
If you aren’t confident in the artwork that you’re creating, I recommend hiring a designer or artist to help you create the artwork that you want.
Social media is becoming a huge part of the music industry. This is especially true for up and coming artists.
By putting a link to social media platforms, you are showing the media that the artist is active and engaged with their audience on social media. On your social media pages, you can include links to where the press kit is located on your artist’s website.
This way, the media can get to your press kit by visiting your artist’s site. If you don’t have a social media page for your artist yet, there are still steps you can take to make sure you get there eventually.
You can create social media accounts for your artist on various social media platforms and post promotional material for your music. The key is to make sure your social media accounts are active and promote your music in a strategic manner.
This way, the press can find your social media accounts and hopefully discover your artist on social media, like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and so forth.
In this article, we will discuss what goes in an electronic press kit, as it relates to artists and brand professionals.
First, you might want to know what an electronic press kit is. For marketing professionals, the electronic press kit (EPK) is a file that communicates your brand and upcoming project to journalists and others. It also serves as a digital portfolio that you can share with reporters and other interested parties.
The EPK can be simple or complex, depending on how you approach it. For example, the StarMetro Edmonton EPK, designed by Sandy Youdin of Youdin.design, isn’t complex but is more personal than a more generic newsletter.
Here’s an example of how the StarMetro Edmonton EPK is presented:
If your aim is to increase your visibility and your profile among your target audience, an electronic press kit may be for you.
The official criteria for an electronic press kit is that it is:
The following assets, if included in the electronic press kit, are typical of a single page of an electronic press kit:
A printed press kit is often included with a traditional print advertising campaign, even if the campaign is completed and not yet ready to be shared.
A digital press kit (EPK) is not included in an advertising campaign, but it does provide users with the ability to view and preview all of the assets in advance, which helps to expedite the post-campaign process of assessing an investment. It also provides a consolidated view for anyone who needs to make decisions about the campaign at a later time.
When a user downloads an EPK, the files that are shared in the package are different from those used by regular Adobe Creative Cloud applications (i.e., Photoshop and Illustrator). They are in the Portable Document Format (PDF) and contain tools for making collages.
If your company does not have a digital marketing director or marketing communications director (who would create the EPK) or if the process of creating an EPK is complex, it may be easier to find someone who can create an EPK in house. If this is your situation, consider hiring someone to create an EPK on your behalf.
The first step is to gather all of the materials you would like to share in the EPK. You might decide to start with a press kit about your business and then build on this with more information, especially if you are planning to promote your project through a press campaign.
You will need to include some information about the audience you are reaching with your project, including the frequency that your company is using them. The type of reporters you are targeting is also important.
When is the specific project? This might include dates or a project description. For example, if the project is to make a game, the project description may include the dates, the developer, the release date, the developers, the design, the gameplay, etc.
Are you creating an EPK for a product or a service? If you are creating a service, the EPK might include information about your pricing and the contact information you would like to include (not all services have such information available to you). If you are creating a product, the EPK might include details about the vendor you are partnering with, the level of customization, the number of units you will be producing, etc.
What if you are not building a game or a service? For example, you are developing a new web site.
One additional tip is that you might want to make it clear that the user can download the EPK and that it is for a product or service. For example, you might offer download options (iTunes, etc.) or there might be a PDF that you want to include with the document.
With an online version of the EPK Making Tool, you can also design a press release template and enter the media information and your press release URL. This is a nice way to gather all the information that you need to create an EPK before you sit down to actually write the EPK.
