Press Photos and Videos

Get in contact:

25102474@leedsconservatoire.ac.uk

https://www.instagram.com/oliluke_

EPK supporting commentary: 

What is an EPK? An Electronic press kit (EPK) is an essential asset required for musicians across a large range of professions. They serve as the industry standard tool to present oneself in a good light, in some regards acting as the musicians CV. Within this supporting commentary, I plan to explore why musicians should have an EPK, before outlining the key traits found within a high quality professional EPK then finally evaluating my attempt to accomplish this within my own EPK.  

Firstly, I aim to present why as a professional musician you should have an EPK. “An EPK is your professional business card that makes it easy for music industry professionals […] to access your work.” (Apple Music for Artists, no date) An EPK serves as an assessable central hub of information for industry professionals to access. Historically these press kits have been physical congregations of media often including press photos, merch, physical audio recordings (Cassettes, CD’s, USB drives) and a written bio. These press kits would have been sent to a range of industry professionals, such as label representatives, managers or producers, to showcase their artistic credibility and potentially pitch themselves for future collaborations. With technological advancements and increased accessibility to methods of creating polished documents, these press kits have shifted to a digital format, thus EPK’s became the new industry standard. Now, due to the dominance the internet has over promotion in the music industry, it is more crucial than ever to develop a strong digital presence. An EPK now allows industry professionals immediate access to these resources either upon request or at any time if it is located on one’s website.  

The key traits of an EPK: 

At its core an EPK should be clear and concise in its presentation of the musician or ensemble in question. It should accomplish this without compromising its ability to effectively pitch one’s unique selling point along with providing relevant industry specific information to the reader. I will now list some of the contents of an EPK that is universally considered standard.  

• Biography  

This bio should be clear and concise whilst still showcasing one’s, profession, unique selling point as well as outlining relevant experiences and accomplishments. Luke Twyman (Press officer for One Beat PR) states in an interview with PRS for Music relating to the necessity of an EPK that, “it’s your opportunity to clearly mark out what you’re all about and how you wish to be framed and represented as an artist.” (Awbi, 2019). The language and framing of oneself within one’s biography is potentially the most direct way to communicate and shape how you want to be perceived by industry professionals.  

• Press materials (Photos, Videos, Recordings) 

Within an EPK there should be a diverse range of media to greater showcase one’s image, ability, and experience. These materials would typically include but are not limited to; press photos, showreel and audio snippets of relevant recordings. This would be tailored specifically for the profession, for example a session musician would want to focus on displaying versatility in technical ability and a diversity of live and studio experience through showreel and audio snippets of prior projects. These press materials work in tandem with the relevant experiences and accomplishments outlined in the biography by adding credibility to these claims through adding tangible evidence.  

• Contact information 

An EPK should clearly signpost to the reader where they can reach out for further communication with the musician(s) in question. Typically, an EPK would include links to all relevant social media platforms, or alternatively a Linktree which acts as the central point for all of these things. Along with this, it is common to provide an email address typically setup exclusively professional use.  

Evaluation of my EPK & Group Work: 

Throughout the creation of my EPK, I kept these key traits in mind in order to create something in line with professional standards. My main intention was to create an EPK focusing on the profession of session multi-instrumentalist, therefore I had tailored my approach to fit the target audience this EPK would reach, those being bands, songwriters and producers. In order to better understand what producers and songwriters look for in session musicians I went to three of my peers on the conservatoire’s production course whom I have collaborated with to gather feedback. From these conversations a few key points remained constant, those being; session musicians should be, versatile, collaborative and receptive to feedback. They also commented on how I achieve these points through being a good communicator, easy going and willing to take on constructive criticism and feedback. I wanted to exemplify these points throughout my EPK as they highlight employable traits within a session musician. To better document evidence of these employable traits, I reached out to current and past collaborators asking for testimonials. To showcase the diverse range of projects I’ve been a part of, I deliberately reached out to collaborators who’s work I contribute vastly different input to. Therefore, I could add credibility to my claims of being a multi-instrumentalist as well as my experience with both live performances and studio work.  

Looking through my EPK with my bandmate Sam Byrne, he made the valid critique of not having a diverse range of high-quality media for bass and keyboards. As I am primarily a guitarist, I found that naturally a large number of high-quality gig photos and videos are of me playing guitar. This is something I aim to change over the coming months due to having a more diverse range of gig opportunities open up to me. Reflecting upon the creation of the EPK I could have recorded placeholder clips showcasing my contributions to projects on bass and keyboards. However, in the interest of creating an EPK that, albeit with flaws, could still be used in a professional manner, I opted to solely focus on using the highest quality materials I had obtained from my brief time in the industry, thus almost exclusively guitar. 

EPK’s serve as a great way to pitch oneself to any given industry professional however, points of contact beyond the EPK are crucial to gain opportunities and build professional relationships. This is one area I am severely lacking in. When comparing my Instagram profile to the likes of more established session musicians such as Justus West (@justus.west) and Russ G (@russg100) the first thing that strikes out is their diverse range of content. They are constantly updating their social media with posts relating to current projects as well as short clips highlighting their playing ability whether it be through improvising, live gigs, covers or behind the scenes footage. This outwardly displays to industry professionals who may come across these profiles that they are actively engaging with the industry in many creative and professional ways, thus increasing their potential employability. Going forward based off these observations made when researching different session musicians, I plan to restructure the content posted on my social media to be more conscious as opposed to the occasional random cover. By this I am referring to uploading covers more consistently with the sole focus of showcasing my versatility across styles and instruments, as well as posting rehearsal clips and behind to scenes footage to my story to how current engagement with upcoming events. Naturally as I accrue more experience in these professional settings, I can begin to create posts relating to these projects I have recently become a part of.  

Conclusion:  

In summary an EPK is a document that is highly beneficial for a session musician to create, as it is the standard practice to pitch yourself to professionals across the industry. Throughout the creation of this EPK I have researched both crucial aspects required in a professional EPK and attempted to implement these within my own. Alongside this, groupwork among my peers allowed me to better evaluate what attributes creatives look for in a session musician as well as add credibility through testimonials. To conclude, the creation of this EPK and commentary has greatly improved my knowledge of professional practice as well as highlighted areas in which I need to gain greater experience and media. Whilst my EPK has many flaws as highlighted prior I came out of this assignment with a practical document that can be used professionally with a clear plan to develop my professional presence within the industry. 

Bibliography:

Apple Music for Artists (n.d.) Why an electronic press kit matters. Available at: https://artists.apple.com/support/1121-why-an-electronic-press-kit-matters
[Accessed 9 May 2026].

Improvised Music Company (n.d.) Creating an EPK for musicians. Available at: https://www.improvisedmusic.ie/supporting-musicians/resources-opportunities/creating-an-epk-for-musicians
[Accessed 11 May 2026].

Justus West (n.d.) Instagram profile. Available at: https://www.instagram.com/justus.west/
[Accessed 13 May 2026].

PRS for Music (2019) How to promote yourself as a new artist: the EPK. Available at: https://www.prsformusic.com/m-magazine/features/how-to-promote-yourself-as-a-new-artist-the-epk
[Accessed 10 May 2026].

Russ G (n.d.) Instagram profile. Available at: https://www.instagram.com/russg100/
[Accessed 13 May 2026].

Soundcharts (n.d.) Music press kit. Available at: https://soundcharts.com/en/blog/music-press-kit
[Accessed 10 May 2026].