The following supporting commentary explains the content and aesthetic of my Electronic Press Kit (EPK) as well as my reasoning for the choices that I have made, and the intended purpose of how. My EPK has been made at an industry standard, effectively appealing to the public in addition to booking agents, promoters, journalists, A&R reps, record labels, other artists, producers, and those who may wish to collaborate. I have drawn inspiration from existing aesthetics and genres to create a polished, minimalistic, and professional-looking site whilst remaining authentic.
My site, image, and brand have been crafted to appeal to all who will further my career; those who intend to support, invest, develop, and collaborate with me. I have done this through making my site aesthetically pleasing, including live performance photography, high resolution, and professional studio images. The navigation menu at the top of the EPK is minimalistic, allowing for clarity. This makes it easy to find the desired information. The inclusion of social media links makes it easy for my audience to locate more content, and my contact details allow industry professionals to get in touch. The clean style and monochromatic colour scheme support my blues and rock sound. The visual aesthetic of my EPK draws inspiration from Arctic Monkeys during 2013-2016, with their release of AM being surrounded by polished visuals; the band transitioned from tracksuits to formal attire with black and white imagery. This influence is most notable in my cover portrait, in which I model a black shirt, sunglasses, and project a direct, confident gaze. I have chosen the bold lettering, reading my artist “Jake Badd “and sharp font to reinforce this confidence and professionalism. I have put a lot of thought into my image and branding, as “Branding in the music industry is not just about logos or packaging; it is a fusion of sound and image, where music and visual presentation are integrated to create a distinctive identity. When creating this EPK I did look at artist websites such as Billie Eilish (Eilish, 2025) and for reference however, most of them seem more focused on merchandise sales and tour dates as apposed to the content that i wanted to include in my EPK.
The EPK appeals to Journalists and Reviewers as it contains a short biography on the first page, ideal to quickly understand me as a musician without having to read the whole EPK. The testimonials and reviews section allows for easy viewing of previous reviews and press mentions and the high-quality and resolution photos give them access to content that they use if they choose to review, interview, or include me in a blog.
My artist biography and more about me sections give an insight into my skills and academic qualifications as well as my recording and live performance experience – “Artists must strike a delicate balance between establishing a marketable brand and maintaining artistic credibility”(Borg, 2020, p. 63) i understand the importance of this to industry professionals when presenting myself as an artist. I have included a section detailing my main technical (eg, professional production equipment experience, Experience with live sound, sequencing,
Understanding social media strategies and buisiness management), creative (eg: Collaborative experience, Leadership and mentoring, Ability to reflect, self-evaluate, and act on feedback), and musical skills (eg: advanced guitar performance, Experience with different performance settings and Strong stage presence and confidence live and in the studio). I state in this EPK that these skills were personally and academically obtained via my studies at LIPA and Leeds Conservatoire, further reinforcing my industry credibility.
My EPK highlights my previous live performance experience with different-sized ensembles eg : small bands and larger pit ensembles, giving promoters an idea of my past work, capabilities and potential for future work. The EPK contains a list of some of the most influential and well-known venues, such as the Cavern Club, and for worldwide events, such as the Eurovision, the Floral Pavilion (Wallasey ) and the Willy Russell Theatre (LIPA). These examples show booking agents my adaptability and that I am able to work in many different environments with different-sized teams and with a range of different event organisers. Commercially, the EPK showcases the independent and collaborative marketing strategies and tools that I have used via social media to promote my artist identity and brand. The EPK includes links to my Instagram and TikTok, in my opinion, the two biggest and most influential platforms in today’s industry amongst my target audience of younger people (16 -30) and talent scouts.“Labels, agents, and promoters increasingly use fan engagement metrics—such as social media activity and streaming data—as key indicators of an artist’s potential, often influencing signing and booking decisions.”(Mulligan, 2022, p. 21)
In concussion, i believe that my EPK contains all of the essential information and evidence to further my career and inform those who will help to do so whilst conveying my academic credibility and artistic image, skillful musicianship, practised performance ability and educated businessmanship by utilizing a balance of professionalism and creativity.
Bibliography
Borg, B. (2020) Music Marketing for the DIY Musician: Creating and Executing a Plan of Attack on a Low Budget. 2nd edn. New York: Rowman & Littlefield. [Accessed 13 May 2025].
Ditto Music (2023) How to Make an EPK: Step-by-Step Guide. [Online]. Available at: https://www.dittomusic.com [Accessed 5 May 2025].
Eilish, B. (2025) Hit Me Hard and Soft – Press Kit. [Online]. Available at: https://billieeilish.lnk.to/HITMEHARDANDSOFT_UK [Accessed 1 May 2025].
Mulligan, M. (2022) Music: The Business – A Guide to the Music Industry. 8th edn. London: Virgin Books. [Accessed 5 May 2025].
Negus, K. (1999) Music Genres and Corporate Cultures. London: Routledge. [Accessed 7 May 2025].
The Vocalist Studio (2020) How to Make an EPK (Electronic Press Kit) for Singers and Musicians. YouTube video, added by The Vocalist Studio [Online]. Available at: https://youtu.be/xaHmawZIy3M?si=lDcwA0GIwL5YW0x7 [Accessed 11 May 2025].
Group Study
To help create the best EPK that I could, I worked with other students at Leeds Conservatoire. We collectively had the goal to generate and refine ideas and discuss industry insights and commercial applications, and help each other to tailor our work to the correct audience. We aimed to have a total of 4 meetings over the course of 6 weeks .
Meeting 1
In this meeting we talked about how useful it is to have an epk in the modern music industry as it allows for the public to find out more about you as an artist and showcases your portfolio to industry professionals that may be interested in collaborating or employment, we will looked at references of artists sites such as billie eilish and docheii however we found that most public artist sites did not showcase the artists repertoire or experience but instead focused more on merchandise sales and tour sales .this is because theu have already established a public brand and portfolio so the focus is more on income streams. This helped us understand that, as we are smaller artists and therefore it is important to share more details about ourselves and our work.
Meeting 2
This meeting’s focus is on aesthetics, coulour schemes and how the design of the epk is crucial to ensure the viewer can navigate the site and find the information that they need . The images used should be high quality and professional . i am going to use images from one photo shoot to create a professional, clean look .i suggested that a monochromatic coulor scheme with a pop of coulor and professional photography would be the best aesthetic as the viewer can focus on the content rather than what surrounds it.However Daisy and Louis had another approach. They believed that coulor was important to draw the audience. They also stated that it allowed them to express their artist brand image and brand; however, i disagreed as i believe that the content and photography should be the focal point.
Meeting 3
We discussed the content that should be included in the EPK in this meeting: an artist bio, promotional photos, audio, and videos, reviews and testimonials, skills, strengths and experiences, interests and ambitions, social media handles and professional contact information. The main point of feedback I received was to make a footer at the bottom of each page, including my number and email. This would make it very easy to find as the footer is on all of the pages.
Meeting 4
Unfortunately, i could not attend meeting 4 however, this session was focused on a final review of the EPKs. Rather than doing peer feedback, I did a self-assessment and decided to add some more gig photography to my EPK . Despite not fitting with the aesthetic the photos will provide a great insight into my live performance aesthetic and image.
