Featured videos in my EPK:
Agua De Beber
In Love In Vain
‘Jo’ recording –
EPK Commentary
The purpose of my electronic press kit is to promote myself as an upcoming jazz vocalist and musician. I aim to engage with an audience who also is interested in jazz and other sub-jazz genres and who attend live gigs as well as listening to music through online streaming platforms. My EPK includes: an artist bio, original music, video recordings, updates on live gigs I will be playing and my thoughts on the future of my music career.
The structure of my EPK is clear for any reader, and the visual appearance of my EPK gives my audience a clear idea of who I am as an artist and a person. My EPK is also suitable for my audience because it is accessible and easy to navigate when browsing.
For the visual aspect of my EPK I wanted to capture a space that I feel most creative in, nature. I looked at various types of photography online and on other people’s EPK’s to see what I liked most. I concluded that I wanted to be in a greenspace where the lighting was bright, but the space also had a sense of character to it. The location of the final photos I used in my EPK were taken at Kirkstall Abbey in Leeds.
We took other photos around the park in the same area, and eventually captured the main image which I have used in my EPK. I chose this image as I think it captures a moment which is peaceful, a quality I want my music to create. The location captures characteristics I wanted to portray such as the river and trees which resemble a likeness to my countryside village at home, representing my creative influences as an artist. I also included a picture that was taken in the Abbey ruins, which compliments the previous image and the overall visual palette of my EPK.
I wanted to use a colour palette that was calming, so I took three different shades of green and displayed them throughout my EPK. I chose a cream shade as my main background colour, so that whilst my audience are scrolling through the background blends in with the rest of the theme. I researched into which colour combinations you should not use when making a website or EPK, as I wanted to be cautious about the visual experience for my audience. To refrain from the text being too bold, I used a font which was more delicate so it wouldn’t stand out too much. I also used the shades of green in the text for the same reason, for example, a dark green text on a lighter green background.
For my artist bio, I wanted to highlight my key interests, experiences and creative skills as a musician. I began by including where I am currently based in the UK, and what I was studying. I thought this would be key for my audience to know as they can see that I’m new to the music scene, and still learning more about my whilst I am at Leeds Conservatoire. I follow by discussing my music influences and what range of jazz music I enjoy singing. My bio also includes recent gigs I’ve had. I discuss what styles of repertoire I was playing, and what I wish to play more of in the future. I mention my quintet, I think this is useful for my audience as they can then research into other band members music and build a wider listening platform if they enjoy listening to my performances or compositions.
I mention that my upcoming gig is at the same venue. I think this is important for my audience to know as I have developed massively as a performer and vocalist since the last gig I did at Sela bar in Leeds.
I discuss how Kenny Wheeler and Norma Winstone are huge influences on me musically and shaped many of the ideas I included within my original tune ‘Jo’, which is featured in my EPK. I took inspiration from Kenny Wheeler’s album ‘Music for Large and Small Ensembles’ as I loved the overall mood the album created. Kenny Wheeler’s compositions are more lenient to contemporary British jazz rather than a traditional jazz sound world and I really wanted ‘Jo’ to incorporate this. Although I am not completely happy with the recording of ‘Jo’ I have a vision for how I want the outcome to sound. I also believe that although I am not happy with this recording, it still gives my audience an idea of the type of music I am writing and will be composing more of.
I included some testimonials about ‘Jo’ which I received off some of the people I shared this first recording with. These are useful for any viewers of my EPK as they can read other people’s opinions of my work.
My electronic press kit also features videos of my quartet and I in the recording studio. This is suitable for my audience as it provides them with an insight of what goes on ‘behind the scenes’ of an artist making music. I also believe that an audience prefer videos like this to watch as they are less polished and perfect. I chose these tunes to record in the studio as they provide my intended audience with a variety of repertoire, showing how versatile I am as a vocalist. ‘Agua De Beber’ is a samba-Latin style groove, and I sing this song in Brazilian Portuguese, this not only allows my audience to see what other skills I have (such as singing in another language) but also exposes them to a sub-genre of jazz, such as Brazilian Bossa Nova styles, which they may not have listened too much. ‘In Love in Vain’ is a medium swing jazz standard, which is suitable for my audience as this is traditionally the style of jazz most of them will have listened to. These two videos with my quartet show my audience that I have many skills as a vocalist and a band leader, including the ability to arrange jazz standards in my own unique way. With ‘Jo’ also featuring this creates a wide range of styles in which I am showing to my viewers.
My electronic press kit also includes what future ambitions I have as a musician. I believe that this is important for my personal branding and my audience, as they can follow my musical journey and have an insight into what I will be doing. I discuss that I want to release ‘Jo’ as a single by the beginning of the next academic year, which I think is key for my audience and listeners to keep interacting with me as an artist. I also mention that I want to write more over the coming year, which tells my viewers that there will be new music coming soon.
Underneath a promotion photo I have inserted an ‘upcoming gigs’ section. I believe this is a valuable thing to do as an artist trying to promote themselves as it gives your audience information to where you will next be performing live.
Finally, I have included contact details for if any of my audience want to get in touch with me. I have inserted a ‘get in touch’ box at the bottom of my EPK, as well as a professional business email, and my music Instagram account and Tiktok. This is important from a marketing perspective as it means anyone who interacts with my EPK can follow me and keep up with what I am doing as an artist, through my other social media platforms. It is also important for me as an artist in case any promoters, or business opportunities want to contact me directly.
I believe that my EPK will drive revenue as it informs my audience on everything I am doing as a musician. It also shows that I have a range of skills creatively and technically which will be ideal for promoters and those who are in the music business. I have linked my social media accounts and business email address, so that they can contact me more directly if they want to offer me work.
Whilst preparing this EPK, the only cost I spent on assets was travel costs to Kirkstall Abbey for my photos. I asked a friend to take the photos for me and the recording studio was also completely free as we used the Conservatoire’s studio.
Once my original tune ‘Jo’ has been recorded more to my liking for a release, I want to make sure to copyright the song as well as sign up to PRS everyone involved can gain royalties.
For the group work for this assignment, I pitched my ideas to my peers, and this was the feedback I got
I took this feedback into consideration whilst making my EPK. My original ideas on having studio recordings included were quite vague. One of my peers was a production student and gave me the idea of having a video recording of my quartet performing in the studio and syncing the video with the recorded audio. He also mentioned that this would be suitable for my audience as they can then see what it’s like in a studio.
I showed my peers the type of images I had looked at for inspiration and they told me to narrow down my ideas of location for the images to more local areas. I originally had wanted to do my photos at home on Bamburgh beach, however this wasn’t achievable with the weather. I finally narrowed down my options to Kirkstall Abbey.
Finally, my peers suggested that it would be a good idea to have some original music on my EPK if possible, as this would be great for my professional development and my skills as a composer. I wrote ‘Jo’ for my SGS recently after this feedback, so I decided to record and arrange this for my EPK.
Bibliography:
Wheeler , K. (1990). Music for Large and Small Ensembles . [Album] Munich, Germany: ECM. Available at: https://ecmrecords.com/product/music-for-large-small-ensembles-kenny-wheeler/ [Accessed 1 Oct. 1990].
Word Count:
EPK: 417
Commentary: 1,659
Total word count: 2,076
