https://roisinmccauley.bandzoogle.com/home
Password:JKTLpLNVYO
Supporting Commentary
Having an EPK (Electronic Press Kit) is a useful document used to keep your musical endeavours and experiences up to date as well as having all promotional material in one place. I would use this EPK for when I am applying for a gig or festival slot as it makes the process easier for both the recruiter and myself as it is efficient and saves time.
The structure is just as important as the content when writing an Electronic Press Kit, ‘A professional EPK should be easy to navigate’ (Water Bear, 2025). For my own, I started with a header featuring a high-quality photograph and my name, ‘Róisín McCauley’, so the viewer is aware of who they are looking at. A biography, written in third person, introducing myself as an artist is next explaining my achievements, skills, and ambitions to make the reader aware of who I am musically and professionally. Beneath this, I put two original compositions so it can be listened to whilst looking through the rest of the document. If a journalist or blogger is drafting an article about you it is important to have high-quality photographs available to download so they can promote you correctly, putting a name to a face. After this, I would have put a variety of high-quality videos available to play as I am displaying myself as a solo acoustic singer-songwriter, who occasionally plays in an alternative band setting however, as I had no professional videos uploaded on YouTube I was not able to insert any videos onto Band Zoogle, the website I have used. When updating this I will ensure to have videos that I am confident posting onto the streaming site. I then have reviews and testimonials to prove I have a high standard when performing as it supports what I have said in my artist biography. Finally, I have a link to my social media platforms and my professional contact details allowing enquiries. This structure works for my brand as I am promoting my music and performance skills and, in this layout, it is compact and easy to follow which is ideal for my target audience.
As a first year student, I am aware that not all content in my EPK is of the highest quality as I would like it to be but, as I progress as a musician I will be gaining experience and access to new opportunities which means I can update the document and make myself seem more hireable. Looking through my EPK thinking of how I should like to change it, I would like to include different professional photographs and videos that are up to date, the majority of the content is from a year or more ago and I have changed as an artist since over this time which I realised this whilst curating my Electronic Press Kit. Additionally, I would like to include released music which I am working on distributing onto streaming platforms, this way I can promote my music whilst also displaying the genre of music I would be providing if hired. When hired I would request a review after playing so I can include more testimonials which would benefit me as ‘A testimonial is an endorsement statement from a satisfied customer.’ (FestivalPro, 2023). I included the comments from my TikTok videos, made by Sam Fender and Blossoms, as a review because it was an achievement for me when they took the time to do that because they are inspirations of mine. Though not communicated in a professional manner, the meaning behind them is just as meaningful.
Social media vs EPK
Having an EPK may not be as relevant when we social media is a useful networking tool. Instagram and TikTok are in the top five most used platforms in 2026 according to Visual Capitalist shown in the table below.
Having these sites makes it easy to create a digital archive that is accessible to everyone online. However, social media is not always viewed as a professional platform which means your music could be received as a hobby rather than a career.
I personally believe that it is important to have both social media and an Electronic Press Kit because whilst you can reach a larger audience on Instagram, having the support of an EPK with all your information, links, videos, photographs and biography in one place is helpful for bookers and journalists as they can find any information they might need without having to scroll to the end of your feed to find what they need. I would say an EPK is the equivalent of a CV in the music industry, it is a pdf used to increase employability and profitability. I consider social media to be of more use to me whilst I am attempting to get noticed for my music, because there is a larger audience and unless you are looking for personal information it is not required for an instagram user to know everything.
Finance and Marketing
When making an EPK, there are financial and legal matters to consider. Such as, the cost of hiring a photographer or videographer, having to buy a subscription to be able to publish your website, and even owning a domain name and website. All these factors can add up over time and become quite expensive. Because of this I would make sure the investments I was making would be worth it as they would have to last and be up to a suitable standard. Alongside this, I would plan how I could earn the money back to reinvest in my business.
Intellectual property is also something to consider, when I made my website, I included two unreleased songs which I plan to release in the future. To stop anyone copyrighting them, I made it so they could only listen to the first minute of the songs and made them unavailable for download so they cannot be distributed without me approving or releasing them first.
My audience at this moment would mainly be local pubs looking for an acoustic artist to play occasionally which is a good starting point however as I stated previously when talking about social media, most of my bookings are through Instagram and at the level I am currently performing at an Electronic Press Kit is not completely necessary.
Group Work and Evaluation
Starting this assignment was originally difficult because I struggled to write about myself in such positive detail, it became easier when I discussed this with my classmates discovering how they were going to begin and what they were going to include. First, we collectively went through the brief finding out what needed to be included in the biography and that aided us all when we started writing. When I showed my EPK to my peers, they agreed with most of the negatives and positives I had expressed myself. Matthew Seddon suggested that when structurally organising the EPK having playable music near the top means the viewer can listen as they look through the rest of my work, he also agreed that having my song ‘fine.’ was the right choice to put first as it is the catchier of the two songs I uploaded. When I decided to promote myself in two genres and performance styles, I decided having a neutral black and white background photograph of myself was important as it doesn’t indicate I prefer one style more than the other, when asking others in my seminar they also agreed with me. Alongside this, Harriet Shepard advised that I include videos of live performances as it would improve my employability, however, I explained that I could not upload them onto the website unless released to the public, as a compromise I linked my social media accounts, both Instagram and TikTok, where I post both originals and covers available for anyone to see. Whilst the viewer can see me singing, playing guitar and performing, they can also see my following which is not huge but, they can see I can be used commercially as I can attract a very small audience, this would work in my favour when playing original and cover gigs in pubs or support slots in smaller venues. She also suggested I keep all my photographs either black and white or all colour, I decided against this as I enjoy the visuals of both.
Having other people look through my EPK allowed me to see how I came across to the reader and made me aware of how important it is to be concise and professional, so I can be of commercial use and easy to promote.
Moving forward I will seek out advice when changing my Electronic Press Kit, this way I can get a fresh view on what should or should not be included. I will organise to have professional, high-quality video shoots of original music and performances as well as a photoshoot, both in colour and black, so I can get in-action shots and have media that fits the aesthetic I would like to achieve for my brand.
References
Robertson, A. (2023) The Power of Customer Testimonials for Music Festivals. https://www.festivalpro.com/festival-management/2371/news/2023/1/5/The-Power-of-Customer-Testimonials-for-Music-Festivals.html [Accessed 10 May 2026]
Waterbear (2025) How to Create an EPK (Electronic Press Kit) for Musicians. https://waterbear.org.uk/blog/how-to-create-an-epk-electronic-press-kit-for-musicians/ [Accessed 10 May 2026]
