SHR4C007R~002 Option 2: Electronic Press Kit Template
Task 1: Electronic Press Kit
Task 2: supporting commentary
I decided to create an EPK to promote myself as an artist and performer in the music industry. In turn it will be a way for promoters and A&R teams to see what my skills and experience include. As a multi instrumentalist, it is important that I have referenced the full portfolio of my work as it will maximise my chances of being noticed by industry personnel. An EPK is a perfect way for me to display my talent as a Jazz saxophonist and multi-genre bass player, actively playing in Leeds as well as being a promising young DJ with industry connections.
The structure of my EPK includes a personal bio which quickly explains my portfolio of talents in a snappy way to keep readers interested and get a taste of where I work, the types of projects I work in and who I take influence from. It includes different photographs from a range of projects including a gig played with my old metalcore band, a picture of me practicing DJaying at Pirate Studios, a close shot of me playing saxophone for a friend’s indie project and a group photo of Chris Grabham’s pop orchestra in which I played alto and tenor saxophone. These photos feel essential to create a connection between my musical journeys and potential clients. I have got a section labelled “skillset” in my EPK as a way to go into greater detail about my projects which is directly below some of my notable playing experiences. At the bottom of my EPK I have included my Instagram handle and my Soundcloud username. These are important to have in an EPK as it allows readers to see how I choose to present myself in a different way and hear some of my mixes.
In reflection, I think elements of my presentation in my EPK can be improved from my perspective as a first year student. My initial photo in the EPK is a picture of me playing bass where I would ideally like it to be a picture of me playing saxophone. This can be resolved by me having more landscape pictures taken of me playing saxophone which would fit the aspect ratio of the required EPK format. Another reflection of my EPK is that it could be more coordinated in terms of formatting and colour. This could be achieved in future by using the help of a professional graphic designer to help better shape the layout and colour scheme of my EPK. This obviously wouldn’t come without cost which I will explain later on but is definitely something I would consider in my future years as a professional musician. In future when building an even more professional EPK I would like to imbed some songs or mixes from streaming services into my EPK. This would create ease of access to some of my work to potential clients and would make it more likely for them to look into me as an artist without having to go any further than the website. On top of this, videos would be another valuable addition as it would not only create ease of access but also make the layout more visually pleasing.
In terms of the debate of using an EPK versus using social media like Instagram for promotion, I think they are both useful in their own way and there are pros to both. Using an EPK is a very professional way to promote yourself as a musician as designing a website/press kit takes calculated design skills which shows competence but also it creates a vibe of professionalism. This is due to the fact that having an online presence in this format is almost a step above having social media pages in terms of promotion in the eyes of A&R teams. Another advantage of having an EPK is that older demographics will find it easier to research into me as they may not be on social media whilst still having access to the internet. Increasing exposure in this way is very important as a musician. On the other hand, there are advantages of using social media for self promotion. For example, as a Drum and Bass DJ I find that using Instagram is easier to appeal to my intended audience through the use of mediums like clips of me playing out. On top of this, Drum and Bass promoters are more likely to scout out talents on Instagram through their pages and connections rather than from a website due to this part of the music scene being less formal than maybe the Jazz or Rock scenes.
An EPK can be a good way to generate revenue if executed in a professional way for example in can be used to acquire gigs and tours if potential clients are interested. This process doesn’t come without costs though. In the future it would be necessary to pay for the rights to use professional photos of myself in my EPK. Copyright is very important in the music industry and using things such as watermarks of handles attached to photos you have used is a good way to show potential clients that you understand the etiquette which is essential to be a musician. It may also be useful to use an external source for the graphic design of an EPK to make it more visually pleasing and in my case this will be a necessity in future as I feel like I require improvement in this area. But again this isn’t an easy or a cheap way to do an EPK which is why it is more likely to appeal to artists with maybe a bit of funding behind them already. Another financial consideration when building an EPK is the potential to acquire your own website domain. Depending on how sought after these domains are determines their prices and it is likely that if an artist or a band has a common name, they may have to reword their domain name to make it cheaper. If cost effective, having a personalised domain is an excellent way to create an individual personality in potential clients’ eyes rather than just having a randomly generated site name.
Evidence of group work:
After completing my EPK, I used feedback from my peers to help improve it. One person said I didn’t have enough photos in my website which lead to me adding the picture of me playing saxophone at the bottom of page. I took inspiration from said person’s EPK as theirs was formatted nicely and had professional image placement. Also, after chatting to another peer from my group, I was encouraged to add testimonials to my EPK. This was a learning curve for me as I didn’t initially realise how much more professional it would make my work look but in reflection I’m glad I added it as it can give potential clients an idea of some of my personal traits. The same peer also challenged me on the length of my bio which was initially very long. In the end I shortened it to give it more of a punchy feel and make it more refreshing to read rather than a slog. I also got feedback from members of one of the bands I play with and they told me to change the font I was using in my website. Although this may seem as a negligible change, it drastically improved the look of my EPK and really made my words stand out. Little details like this in terms of presentation can really make a big difference to how people perceive the content of your writing so this was an essential change looking back on it. Another member of my band’s constructive criticism of my bio was that I didn’t have any of my creative influences in it. I added this in give potential readers an idea of how I may sound as an instrumentalist/DJ and show which specific genres of music I’m into.
In reflection after writing my EPK, I’d like to improve on my design skills as it took me longer than I expected to build the EPK itself and choose which photos to use. As well as this I think my organisation skills were tested during this project as I found it harder than others I spoke with to action my group work. By improving my time management skills I will find it easier to complete group elements in projects of this nature. On a more positive note, the group aspect of the EPK project helped me to improve my listening skills in terms of improving my piece of work. Hearing what people had to say greatly improved my project but also I feel happy with myself knowing I also helped others improve theirs. I also learnt at lot about self promotion as an artist during this project mainly in details such as adding testimonials into my website. I now feel like I have a clear understanding of how these improve the professionalism of an EPK how they play a part in maximising the potential revenue generated from a tool like this.
