Here is the link to the google drive with my compositions: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1aZe8NJtmWVDfrikLijvQPmAo-mu-K70l?usp=drive_link

Purpose:

The purpose of my EPK is to present myself as a composer, arranger and session musician. I aim to build a professional identity that reflects my current skills, interests and aspirations ideally to a potential client or employer. For example, a director or production company. It showcases my growing body of work in an accessible and easily digestible way. It also demonstrates that I take myself seriously and that I’m a professional despite my age.

Structure:

The structure of my EPK suits my intended audience well because it gives a brief breakdown of my skills right at the start which is what a director would want to read through briefly when looking for a composer. They get a sense of who I am, what others have said about my work and then an example of it. Included in who I am are my main inspirations which would have a huge influence on whether I would suit working for a specific director. 

Web Design:

I like the feel of the design of the page for this current moment in my career. I chose warm colours to represent my personality and to balance out the serious faces I make in every photo.. 

Branding:

I aim to be authentic in my brand which is why my ethos is to be accessible, reliable and emotionally resonant. Being a composer means reading and portraying emotion well. That has to be reflected in the language I use in my EPK especially when I mention the Romantic period as my main influence. I believe that comes through when I describe my job as not just making music for film but as an exploration of “the relationship between audio and visuals”. This kind of emotive language will define me as someone who thinks artistically about all of his projects.

Instagram vs EPK

While platforms like Instagram are good for gaining traction and visibility while building an audience, it is mostly a platform for sharing your personal life and personality and can lack depth. An EPK is curated specifically for professionals to gain a less surface level understanding of your brand. Not to mention the ads that pop up on Instagram being a potential distraction. However, having a combination of the two can work well together. Your Instagram can be specifically for promoting your brand while your EPK can be linked in your bio and be used for formal pitches and networking.

Plans For Growth:

Overall I would say that my EPK is okay but probably wouldn’t be up to industry standards. Having professional media and long term collaborators to mention would be ideal for industry work. I would also need a much broader amount of work in order for my EPK to be taken seriously. Ideally my EPK would be on a real website that would allow directors to click on my compositions and they would instantly play on the website instead of requiring a link to another website. The examples of my session musician playing aren’t quite extensive enough to be taken seriously by a professional. Having a showreel for my session musician work would also be beneficial to my marketing. Unfortunately I don’t have any high quality videos or headshots of myself which would be a good idea for a future EPK. I would like to make something more professional looking next time. Probably more minimalist to show professionalism but also to reflect the intimate and emotional tone to my music. I intend to increase my showreel and composition portfolio this summer by taking as many opportunities as I can to play in ensembles and compose more diverse material.

Market Research:

My EPK is in the development stages and is aimed more so at potential collaborators, session work opportunities and university peers. Film students in particular. Some composers go for very visual and full on websites. I believe that someone at my level would benefit much more from something like I’ve created especially when your potential collaborators are students with also little to no experience in the industry. My EPK is much more simple and less intimidating than a multiple page website especially when people just want a brief outline of you and your work. Websites are a popular choice among film composers. The URL is often the name of the composer which makes them very easy to find online. However, renting your own domain costs money which seems not to be worth it when an EPK would be much cheaper. 

Economic/Legal Considerations:

If in the future I want a professional EPK, I would need professional headshots which cost on average around £200 – £300 (1). I could use a free website designer like wix which gives you a free domain but the word Wix will be in the URL which significantly reduces the SEO (search engine optimization) of my website. Buying a professional EPK can cost around £10 per month (2). There are also copyright constraints to putting your music on a website. I wouldn’t be able to use clips from copyrighted film and TV without permission from the director/production company or use music that I collaborated with other artists on without their permission. After getting their permission, I would have to credit them appropriately. Not to mention any images I put on the website would have to be bought stock photos or public use images which I would probably avoid by using my own images. 

When it comes to promoting your EPK, having good SEO is a very beneficial way of making sure traffic comes to your website. Having a Google business profile, for example, will put you above the rest of the traffic on the results page after a search (3). Keyword research is also important. Discovering what your fans search and implementing those words on your website titles will bring your website more traction from like-minded people. 

Group Work

My group and I spent a lot of time discussing how a film composer could have an EPK comparable to a singer or musician. Questions came up like “Would a film composer need headshots in their EPK?” “Since we’re new to composing, where are we going to get our recommendations from?”. We did some research into film composer EPKs and discovered that they are mostly the same as bands and singers. Most EPKs we read had a strong bio listing all of the achievements of the artists. Since we are all beginners with nothing to brag about yet, I suggested to the group that we each needed a USP to not only promote our brands, but also to set us apart from the other composer’s websites and EPKs out there. Which is why I brought attention to my years of experience with string instruments.

Aidan suggested that we use our EPKs to promote ourselves to other students rather than industry professionals. That way our lack of material wouldn’t be our biggest pitfalls. Which is why I thought of using my EPK to not only promote my composition but also my work as a session musician so that if my portfolio of work doesn’t stick with someone they know that I have other musical talents and skills that could be useful to them. Josh came up with the idea that the feedback we had received on our earlier assignments this year could be used as our recommendations but that as we create a bigger library and start doing professional work we would have more feedback responses to put on our EPKs. 

This project also helped us develop personally. Talking about creating a professional EPK reminded us that in order to have a significant, professional demo reel, we would need to be composing consistently in our spare time which is why I plan to compose two new pieces every week this summer. We will also need to be sufficient at self promotion by the time we leave the conservatoire. We are entering an incredibly competitive industry and we will constantly need to put ourselves out there and stand out from the crowd in order to succeed.

Josh brought up something important towards the end of the sessions. I think that my ethos lacked an important part of composition. That being, versatility. Composers are meant to be able to create music for any mood or atmosphere and I feel as though my fixation on the Romantic period is actually limiting to my success and that my future EPK should be more broad in reference to genre.

In conclusion, this project helped me realise the significance of an EPK and how it is crucial for me to have a professional one as a means of investing in myself and my future as a musician. 

Bibliography:

(1) Wharley, Michael. “Comparing London Headshot Photographers «the Actors’ Guild of Great Britain.” Www.actorsguild.co.uk, www.actorsguild.co.uk/comparing-london-headshot-photographers/.

(2) “Music Press Kit Services.” Stampede Press, 2 Apr. 2025, www.stampedepress.co.uk/our-services/electronic-press-kits/. Accessed 16 May 2025.

(3) “How to Improve Your Local Business’s Google Visibility – 12 Things to Remember.” WebFX, 2021, www.webfx.com/local-seo/learn/google-local-business/. Accessed 16 May 2025.