I have created an Electronic Press Kit to aid my personal progression as a musician and business. An EPK is a key revenue-driving asset, especially for an emerging artist looking to secure gigs, collaborations, media coverage and label interest. I aim to primarily use my EPK as part of my marketing strategy towards booking agents, promoters, and potential collaborators, acting as a professional showcase of my talent and brand. Furthermore, an EPK will help to establish myself as a professional artist, offering a more formal presentation of my career than social media. My EPK also aims to increase public awareness of my work and promote upcoming events and projects to a wider audience.
Whilst the majority of modern marketing now seems to be focused around social media platforms such as Instagram and Tiktok, having a more professional digital space such as a website is vital. Particularly as an emerging artist, a professional EPK is essential as it allows me to present myself as a more established artist and appeal to industry professionals. Furthermore, an EPK provides a concise and informative presentation of your work, which may take longer to discover through a social media page.
A well-crafted EPK can lead directly to paid opportunities and industry exposure, making its quality and presentation a worthwhile financial investment. Developing a seamless EPK involves several financial considerations. Professional photography is essential for creating a visual impact, whilst custom graphic design can introduce visual motifs which help to establish an artist’s brand. Domain names and website hosting are also important for accessibility and establishing credibility, as industry professionals expect flawless platforms. These assets may require both upfront investment and ongoing maintenance fees.
From a legal standpoint, intellectual property (IP) is a critical consideration. All content used in my website, including photos, music, logos and videos, must be properly licensed or owned. Failing to secure IP rights could result in legal complications, such as takedown notices or financial penalties, hindering the success of my EPK. Proper management of financial and legal elements will ensure that my EPK is not only impactful but sustainable and legally sound. However, as my website is currently an unpublished prototype of what I envision for my EPK in the future, I have chosen to address such issues – such as licensing photos and purchasing a domain name – at a later point.
My EPK begins with a photo of myself accompanied by the words ‘Rosa Neather’ and ‘singer-songwriter’. This provides a simple yet impactful introduction to the website, clearly presenting to viewers my name and my role as a musician. Furthermore, the photo I have chosen is the same photo displayed on my Spotify artist profile, creating consistency between my digital media and increasing public recognition. The first section of my website is an artist bio displayed on a bold yellow background. I have written my artist bio from the perspective of an established musician, however this paragraph still provides a visualisation of what I aim for my EPK to outline. I have used adjectives which I aim to be described as and which are attractive to potential employers, such as ‘unique’ and ‘multi-talented’. I have purposefully used a block of yellow colour to highlight this section of the website and draw attention to my artist bio, as it concisely sums up my artistry to viewers. I have generally aimed to use a bold and bright colour scheme throughout my EPK to reflect the personality of my music and stand out to viewers.
Following this, I have taken the opportunity to advertise the release of my debut single. This demonstrates to viewers my continuing work as an artist and provides an easy method of accessing my profile on streaming platforms. In the future I will continue to use this area of my EPK to advertise my latest release, as this immediately connects viewers to my music and allows them to gain an understanding of my artistry.
Next, I have written an additional short paragraph providing further information about me, such as my key strengths within songwriting. This description offers a deeper insight into my musical expertise, useful to industry professionals and audiences alike. This provides an opportunity for members of the public to learn more about my background whilst also informing potential employers of the ways in which I may be of service to them. Subsequently, I have included a list of imagined client testimonials to help illustrate my EPK as if I were an established artist. I have used quotes from a range of professions to demonstrate my reach within the music industry, praising both my performance and my songwriting skills. This aims to display to viewers my success as an artist and the benefits of hiring or collaborating with me.
Following this, I have displayed my upcoming events with the dates and locations of performances clearly detailed. While these events are currently imagined, they offer a vision of the type of content I plan to promote through my website in the future. This not only helps to promote my events and reach new audiences but also demonstrates my active role as an artist in performing.
Finally, I have included a contact page with links to my social media. This allows viewers to both contact me and explore my social media with ease. This also creates opportunities to establish direct communication with potential employers, increasing the likelihood of sparking valuable industry connections. Overall, the content and layout of my EPK aims to be striking and informative, encouraging viewers to engage with my work and artist platforms.
Whilst improving my initial EPK prototype, I found market research extremely helpful to provide a clearer idea of what my website should include. I firstly identified my target audience as people of all ages, gender and background, as I strive for my music to be enjoyed by everyone. Similarly, my music crosses a number of genres, significantly jazz and pop, thus needs to be marketed to a broad range of listeners. My EPK accommodates this, being brightly coloured, concise and including both information about me and photos, which appeals to a varied audience.
Furthermore, my research into other artist websites has aided the creation of my EPK and given me inspiration for its future development. I researched artists existing in similar genres in order to discover the most important aspects to incorporate into my own website. Singer-songwriter RAYE’s website has a very simplistic layout, with the main page solely displaying a video of her latest release. The page header allows you to access separate pages for her shop, the newsletter and more videos. This layout essentially forces viewers to watch the video on the opening page, which is effective in driving engagement. However, I dislike how each part of the website is on separate pages, as this does not feel as easily accessible as simply scrolling down. The most vital takeaway from RAYE’s website was the effectiveness of having a video at the top of the webpage, which I plan to implement in my EPK once I have collected more media.
I also researched singer-songwriter Joy Crookes, who has a very simplistic website with a visual focus. Immediately when opening the website, there is a pop-up asking you to sign up to her newsletter, which I also found to be an effective tool in encouraging viewers to become more engaged with the artist. The website doesn’t have a large amount of text and mainly focuses on promotion of recent releases through photos and videos. This layout is simple but effective, however doesn’t provide much information about the artist, although this seems appropriate for a more established artist.
Along with market research, peer feedback sessions were especially valuable for gaining constructive criticism of my EPK.
My peers firstly gave feedback on the content of my artist bio and the additional information section. They recommended that I provide more clarity on the aim of my website, as it felt unclear what role/services I was marketing to the public. For example, I had originally written in my artist bio that I was a songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, however this did not state clearly enough to readers what my primary vocation is. In response to this feedback, I chose to take out mentions of being an instrumentalist and focus on the singer-songwriter aspect of my career to streamline my marketing.
They also advised that I should add more detail surrounding who has inspired me as an artist and to mention specifically what I admire about those artists. I then added a short paragraph, referencing Raye, Olivia Dean and Ella Fitzgerald and the aspects of jazz music which inspire me. They also suggested that I be more specific in my artist bio, such as naming the instruments I play rather than using the term ‘multi-instrumentalist’. Furthermore, they thought there could be a stronger indication of my musical style throughout the website. In response, I removed any vague language from my EPK and tried to be more specific about the style of my music, such as using the term ‘jazz-pop fusion’ in place of ‘diverse styles’.
With regards to the structure of my EPK, my peers suggested that the section advertising my debut single should be much nearer the start of the website, as this is a key piece of information. I previously had this section at the bottom of the page, however I changed this accordingly, as I also found during my market research that artists usually place adverts for new music at the top of their websites too. My peers also gave feedback regarding the design of my EPK, particularly advising to have a more cohesive colour scheme. In response, I removed a colour from the website and tried to keep it more simplistic with pink, yellow, black and white. They also recommended that the photos I have used should reflect my artistry more and be more personal to me, leading me to change a photo of a festival to a photo of a small jazz venue, which feels less commercial and more authentic to my brand.
In the future, I aim for my EPK to include the content which I have envisioned in this prototype. As I gain more experience working in the music industry, I will update my EPK accordingly to keep viewers engaged in my artist journey. For example, as I perform and collaborate with other musicians more, I aim to obtain real testimonials to display on my website. I also intend to collect more images and videos of future performances to add to my EPK and create a promotional video, as this is a key part of my website currently missing. A promotional video would be an excellent tool to attract new listeners and industry professionals through a direct insight into my live performances. Nevertheless, this draft has allowed me to map out a plan for my EPK, which I will continue to improve as my career progresses.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
RAYE official website – https://rayeofficial.com
Joy Crookes official website – https://www.joycrookes.com
