25101645

Reflection of content

General

My decision to write an EPK was partially due to lack of desire to write a business plan, but mainly to develop my skills in describing myself professionally, as I have not written a large amount of CVs. There was an option to create an EPK for one of the bands I am a part of, but I decided to do it as a solo musician while adding the band(s) in as an example of musical work. Unsurprisingly due to my lack of experience regularly writing in this style, it did prove a challenge at first, but after a few attempts I managed to get a relatively concise written account down. The layout of the EPK is quite simple, partially due to lack of material to write about, and also due to trying to format the writing with photos, of which I also do not have many of. I used a musician orientated website builder called Bandzoogle, which was recommended to me by my friend after I spent a while trying multiple different sites and not being able to format the photos in a way that suited me. I decided to keep the formatting quite simple, just choosing a black and white display, with the main colour being a light red, similar to my guitar seen in photos that gives it a pop of colour.

Soundbites/Recordings

In terms of an audio and visual portfolio the site comes with an embedded player, and all I had to do was go through the process of finding recordings and converting them into an accepted file type. The two songs with the artist listed as Gabriel the Toad are both demos taken from whatsapp and voice record from rehearsal sessions. The are of surprisingly good quality for their origin, but I was initially planning to record the pieces in a studio; however due to conflicts of availability and myself not organising anything quickly enough, there are no completed recordings of any form. The site does have a lot of functions for different forms of portfolio, which I could use once an official band has been established and the music is recorded. For the band Stop Talking, there were three videos recorded and edited which provided another source of media to potentially use. There is currently a piece by Stop Talking that has been recorded but is currently being mixed, so there is a good chance that it won’t be in the EPK, which is a shame, because it could count towards an official release, of which at this moment I have none.

The important forms of royalties for my career are performance, mechanical, synch and print music royalties. Print music royalties are not as important in the traditional sense of the word, as none of my music at this point in time has any form of score; lyric reproductions also count, but I do not currently write lyrics. If in the future I decide to make that a larger role within my music, it may become more important, but for now, the most important form of royalties come in the form of performance. This encompases all opportunities for music to be played, which is where the debate of what platform is best to release music on. Spotify and Apple music are the most popular in terms of listeners, but they have vastly diminishing returns for artists, as they will usually make around £0.003 – £0.005 per stream due to the split of royalties between multiple factors. The best music platform for artists is usually seen as Bandcamp, as it allows artists to price their music as they want, and it gives them a larger percentage of their earnings.

Testimonials and Reviews

I have not done any live gigs with either Gabriel the Toad (other than assessment performance) or Stop Talking, although we are working on getting gigs for the next few months and over the summer. Without any gigs we cannot get testimonials, but with gigs come promotion, both for the performance and as a result of it, so hopefully with time and performance opportunities come potential interviews and reviews.

EPK vs Instagram

Instagram and other forms of social media have become much more integral in bands gaining attention and followers. Despite an EPK being specifically made to raise awareness of musicians, it is almost exclusively directed towards industry professionals who then themselves market the artist towards the public. Instagram provides a different way for an artist to promote themselves, which is usually more personal that through an EPK and artist management. Social media can also be used to scout artists through their virality; usually if an unsigned artist has a sharp rise in views they might be ‘discovered’ by an agency. Direct links to management through an EPK can be useful as they can set up PR campaigns From then socials can be a more direct way of getting in touch with fans. So in conclusion, while EPKs are more professional and are targeted directly at the people that can directly impact the managerial domain of the artist, Instagram or other forms of social media can cultivate more of a digital presence, function as EPKs themselves if managed correctly, as well as more directly impact the artist.

Financial and Legal Elements

A professionally done EPK can cost up to £2000 when all assets are included. The site (in this instance bandzoogle if I were to continue using it) would cost a maximum of about £200 per year if I bought the most expensive version. Most website builders already have an element of graphic design built into the app, which overall can cost much less than a graphic designer. Photography can have a real range depending on the type of shoot or cost of a photographer. All of the images on my EPK were for free, generally because I was lucky enough to have friends with good cameras who were happy to take photos, but that will almost definitely not be the case in future. The photos are arguably the most important part of the EPK, joint with the music audio, because that will be the thing people looking will immediately gravitate towards, as it displays the individual’s style and therefore whether or not it is appropriate for whatever company is reviewing it.

Domain names are relatively inexpensive, costing about £10 a year, give or take a small amount depending on the type of domain (.com, .net and .org). In future I should obtain one so as to make it as easy as possible to be found online.

Group Work

When discussing the EPK in my group, the point that had the most impact was talking about how much to focus on each of my projects. As a guitarist who is in more than one band and also helps out with session or recording work, there are a few directions I could have gone in, but I decided to give a rough outline of my work as a whole, and then focus on one specific band, Stop Talking, which is the main one I work with outside of group studies or coursework. Some members of the band considered focusing completely on the band and creating an EPK specifically for it, but as mentioned, I decided not to because of other work that I am also proud of. In future if multiple projects become bigger and I become even more invested in them, in terms of performance or recording, such as Gabriel the Toad, then I can consider adding different sections for the EPK as my portfolio grows.

Another topic discussed was the structure of the EPK as a whole, deciding which aspect of my portfolio to display at the top. We looked at different forms of EPKs; the artist Mk.gee, has a website without any bio or reviews, which is entirely black, and only contains a sign up to a mailing list, a link to buy his album, and then five videos of songs from is album two star and the dream police. We concluded that this kind of portfolio is great for an established artist with a distinct sound, but does require a level of fame that isn’t necessarily attainable in first year of university, however it can be a target for the future; to have a distinct and lauded enough style that a bio is not important.

In future updates to my EPK, I would like to try and find ways to describe myself in a clearer, more concise way, hopefully finding at least one specific word to describe my style and have some word other than ‘innovative’ in the artist bio. That could extend to the entire EPK, but my main focus is acquiring more recordings and full mixes of my music, as well as videos of live performances or music videos to support songs, as I feel like that could be a personal way to put more of myself into my work.

Bibliography

“Curve News: The 4 Different Types of Music Publishing Royalties and How They Differ.” Curveroyaltysystems.com, 2025, www.curveroyaltysystems.com/news/types-music-publishing-royalties-how-differ.

DITTO Music. “How Much Does Spotify Pay per Stream in 2025.” Dittomusic.com, 6 Jan. 2025, dittomusic.com/en/blog/how-much-does-spotify-pay-per-stream.

“How Much Does a Domain Name Cost? Tips for Planning Your Budget.” IONOS Digital Guide, 25 Oct. 2022, www.ionos.co.uk/digitalguide/domains/domain-tips/how-much-does-a-domain-cost/.

EPK Screenshots below (385 words)

Audio examples

Drivers Seat(Demo) – Gabriel the Toad

Drunk Calling (Demo) – Gabriel the Toad

Pretty (Ugly Before) – Miles Billington

Embedded Videos