link to website:

https://canva.link/xgfma90c9whdgu2

Supporting document:

I have made my electronic press kit for my solo project, Molly Walsh. I am an indie folk singer-songwriter and have made an EPK so I am able to send it to venues and promoters to book more gigs. I have also made it with the intention of publishing it as a website in the future. As an indie folk artist I have been building a very DIY brand for myself. I was inspired by the artists that I love like Mali Velasquez and Josephine Illingworth whose brands are very artsy and low budget, with them designing everything. I wanted my EPK to be a reflection of my music by making it look like it was handmade, with a focus on the aesthetic. When brainstorming how I was going to make it, I thought about who my target audience is. For me, It is myself. Young creative women. I thought about the elements of the media I consume that I enjoy. I wanted to make my page whimsical and like it was made by hand, trying to add lots of character. I want it to be obvious to someone reading my EPK that my priority is my music, not just doing any gig to make money. I started by writing an artist bio. I went through the artists I like who are a similar genre and read their bios. I realised that their bios sounded so similar to their lyrics and it was obvious that they care so much about language and poetry. I looked back at my old bios I had from previous years and found that I was focusing too much on it being formal and concise that it lacked any character and did not sound like something I would write. I rewrote it with the language being my priority and found that this version feels much more authentic to myself. I made sure to include photos of me performing however these are both old photos so I will replace them with my up to date pictures once I have them. I also included a video of me and my band performing last year, again I will update this to something that reflects the current direction of my music once I have that. I spoke about my skills and training however I feel like this paragraph is quite weak. As a solo artist I feel like my skills are not as versatile as someone like a session player or a producer. When researching I did not find any references for this section so I was unsure of what approach to take, I feel like for me I am trying to sell my music as a whole rather than my individual skills so I did not worry about this section as much. I also wrote a small paragraph about my passion for my music. I felt like this section was more successful as I was able to communicate why I make my music and what I love about it. This will allow my audience to connect with me and know me better which is my ultimate goal. I also briefly summarised my plans for this year. I included a quote I have from a gig before however I do not feel like this essential as it does not appear to be standard for the genre. When designing the website I wanted to use a neutral colour scheme, using lots of greens, blues and greys as I want to have a natural theme with references to nature and handmade ‘real’ elements. For example I made my logo using my handwriting, drawing it on paper and scanning it in to give it a more authentic feel. I decided I wanted to do a photoshoot so I had some headshots that encapsulated my aesthetic that were not of me performing. I thought it would be important to have these for things like gig listings and profile pictures. I wanted to take the pictures outside and I wanted them to not look too professional to stay inline with my DIY theme. I already had a cheap digital camera so I asked my friend to take some photos of me in the fields in my hometown. I was inspired by Adrienne Lenkers website where she has a video of her in nature so I got my friend to record a video of me and decided to use that as the cover rather than a still image as I thought it looked cooler and more arty. Because I already owned a camera and I wanted to embrace its low quality, I saved money as I did not have to pay for a professional photographer. Currently the sole purpose of my EPK is so promoters or labels can see me and book me for gigs therefore earning money from performing. However in the future when I turn it into a website I would like to sell merchandise through it too. I would like to hand-make merchandise using cyanotyping, sewing and linoprinting, all relatively cheap options in comparison to using an external company. I would also design and make everything myself which would keep costs down. I think my target audience values art and would rather merchandise that has an original, high quality design over a tshirt with a logo on. I think this would be a good way to make revenue. I would also have links to tour dates to promote ticket sales. Another thing I would add which I have seen on a few alternative/folk artists is a blog or a substack with poems and journal entries. I think this would be a great way to provide fans with more content and help turn new fans into returning customers. These combined would increase my revenue and make me more memorable.

To help me refine my ideas I shared my thoughts with my peers. At this point I was unsure on what approach to take. I had them read through my bio and we discussed what I wanted it to achieve. The original draft that I showed them was very matter of fact and we agreed that it felt like a list of things I have done without showing any of my personality or any representation of my music. Like mentioned previously, I looked at other artists of similar genre and discussed with my group how I could make mine more similar. We decided that I should make my bio more personal and poetic to compliment my music. I went away and rewrote my bio trying to incorporate this. When I next saw my group again they reread my bio. They said they thought it was an improvement and was more interesting, however they suggested that it might be slightly too dramatic and that I should simplify it slightly to reach a middle ground between this version and the previous version. I agree with this statement however It was my intention to make it feel dramatic to reflect the nature of my songs. I took a few phrases that we agreed were slightly too cliche and ‘cringe’ . For example, I had started it with a rhetorical question but decided it was too much. I also discussed the commercial application with my peers. We talked about how my EPK would earn me revenue through helping me become more well known rather than being hired for projects for example playing guitar or singing backing vocals. Therefore we were discussing how I should prioritise creating a strong specific brand rather than making myself appear versatile. Bearing this in mind, I made sure the aesthetics and creating a running theme were a priority when making my EPK. 

Overall, I am happy with the outcome of my EPK. I do not think it is perfect yet due to the fact that I do not have up to date music or photos that I believe are representative of my current musical direction or brand. I think my EPK can grow and change with me and I intend to make an effort to keep it up to date and relevant, allowing me to showcase the work I am most proud of. I am very happy with how it looks and the feeling it conveys, however I think I need to improve my knowledge on the financial and legal aspects as I feel this area is my weakest. I think I could potentially make some changes in the future to maximise potential revenue once I know more about how the financial side of music works. I also think it is important I look into the legal side to prevent any problems in the future and to protect my brand.