Electronic press kits (EPKs) can be a useful way for employers to get to know you and learn a brief summary of your experience. Most EPKs contain photos of you performing, whether that be in a band or a solo performance. As well as this they also contain information about musicians you have collaborated with over the years. I enjoyed making my EPK as it has showcased everything I have achieved as a musician. It will also, hopefully, help me to secure a better job in the future.
The intended audience for my EPK are people hiring for classical concerts as well as pit bands. I am open to challenging my playing by experimenting with other genres of music if companies/clients think I am suitable for that.
There are many things that I am happy about when looking at my EPK, a few of them being the layout, clear links to contact me and a few photos. However when looking at other EPKs I realise that there are many things I could improve.
Having a clear layout is important because it means that whoever is looking at your EPK is able to see and understand it clearly and gain as much information about you as possible. This is why, when I made mine, I chose clear text boxes as well as a clear font. The majority of the EPKs I have looked at have one big bulk of text, I personally didn’t like this as I found it hard to read and follow.
When discussing this with my peers, they mostly agreed with me and thought that my EPK was very easy to follow, giving them a lot of information about me in a short amount of time. However others felt different and thought my EPK was too chaotic and took away from its main focus.
At the top of the page I have included my email, my instagram and my phone number, this is so that when you first look at the page it is the first thing you see and shows that I am easy to contact. In addition to this, I have also included a few photos of myself so that people interested in hiring me can see my face and see examples of me playing, in addition to my instagram.
Following on from this, I feel that I could improve my EPK by getting some higher quality photos of myself. Having never had to advertise my work I have never realized how few photos I have, and the ones I do have are low quality. To achieve this I would hire a professional photographer to see if they could take some photos of me at a solo or orchestral performance. By including more high quality photos I may increase my chances of being hired as well as keeping my EPK up to date. The EPKs that inspired me the most contain some professional photos, either a solo photo or a photo with an ensemble. For example Clarice Assad has multiple head shots as well as a few of her performing, all are professional photos and additionally all are downloadable.
Looking down the page, I have tried to include a few paragraphs about me, this includes a brief summary of my experience as well some of my ambitions for the future. For some employers this may make me seem more approachable. As well as this, having a brief summary of my experience makes it easier for an employee to quickly glance at my EPK and make a quick opinion as to whether I would be right for them.
Moving on from my introduction paragraph, I went into more depth about my experience by writing a paragraph on my orchestral experience. Although I currently don’t have much experience playing for orchestras, this is something I am hoping to expand on in the future.
It might also be worth recording a few of my solo and ensemble performances. This could be done via video and audio, providing further evidence of my experience both as a solo and group artist. Having audio and videos will also help an employer work out whether I am what they are looking for, and If I fit their brief. This could lead to me getting more work in the future.
When discussing with others about what I should do to improve my EPK they all gave similar feedback. They all felt that I had a good experience overall, however, I lacked good quality photos. As well as this they felt that I could include more videos and solo performances “it would be nice to have some clips of you playing, so you can listen to how you sound and perform as a player”
Below my paragraph on my orchestral experience I have included some emails of professional links. These are references to people I have worked with in the past and allow employers to find out a bit more about me for example, who I like to work with? am I reliable and on time? Do I turn up with the correct music? As well as how I perform in a professional setting.
This links to my next point, that I haven’t got many professional links in the indistory and I feel it would be beneficial for me to gain a few more. I need to reach out to a wider range of people within the industry.
Whilst making my EPK I also found that, as well as reaching out to more people in the industry, I need to expand my experience and begin trying different things. I am looking forward to expanding my experience outside of the classical indistory, developing my jazz playing and potentially trying out some other genres of music such as pop. This would allow me to gain more experience on alto sax as well as clarinet. Even if I don’t get asked, volunteering myself is a good way to put my name forward. This may lead me to getting paid opportunities in the future.
On the second page of my EPK I go into more depth about my experience within pit bands. This paragraph is very brief and is mainly focused on what I enjoyed about the experience. Although I already have prior experience in pit bands and orchestras, I would still enjoy and find it helpful for the future to expand my experience, as well as my links in this area. This would help me develop as a player whilst getting some industry experience.
Below this I have included a few paragraphs on choral singing. This, outside of classical clarinet, is the thing I have the most experience in hence why I have been able to go into depth about my experience. Touching on my previous points, It would be nice to include a few photos and videos of me performing in services.
In addition to my opening paragraphs ‘about me’ and my ‘aspirations’, I have included a short paragraph about my interests. In this paragraph I touch briefly on what I enjoy outside of music. Personally I thought this may make me stand out from others as it could potentially make me seem more approachable. Some of my peers liked this touch and thought that it added something others may not have on their EPKs, however others thought it took away from the main focus.
For the last page of my EPK I have included a few reviews. These are taken from people who have listened to me perform as well as people I have worked with throughout my time as a classical musician. As well as showing professional links, this gives potential employers a very small insight into me as a performer.
In conclusion, I am pleased with my EPK. I feel I will use it in the future when trying to advertise myself. There are many things I am happy with however there are also many things I will look at changing or improving, including getting more professional photos taken. Outside of my EPK I will focus on uploading more videos of myself to my Instagram. These could be of me practising and playing in performances.
I feel my peers also enjoyed reading my EPK, and I mostly got back positive feedback. This makes me confident that employers would feel the same when reading it. I will take on board the negative feedback for future improvements with the hope of making my EPK better than it currently is. Hopefully a good EPK will ensure that I get the future jobs that I want.
