EPK word-count: 441

Commentary

An EPK (Electronic Press Kit) serves as a digital portfolio, designed to present artistic experience, skillset, and ethos to potential collaborators, venues, and industry professionals. The Musicians Union describes a press kit as such:

“A press kit should fully reflect the unique quality of your work and reinforce the fact that your music is extraordinary and worth listening to. The three tools that will make the difference between getting noticed and being ignored are high quality recordings, a couple of fantastic photos and a tightly-written, entertaining, one-page biography detailing your background, gig and release history plus any other interesting facts. Many celebrated musicians have embroidered their own formative experiences to come up with a press-worthy angle.”

While I am still in the early stages of my career, this project has encouraged me to reflect on how I present myself professionally as a musician. This commentary will explore the purpose and reasoning behind my EPK, the suitability of its structure for my intended audience, a reflection on my current content and future developments, the branding and aesthetic choices I’ve made, and the ongoing debate around digital presence — particularly how social media platforms like Instagram compare to an EPK.

The primary purpose of my Electronic Press Kit (EPK) is to serve as a professional and accessible introduction to my work as a musician. While I study classical piano and percussion, I also play multiple other instruments and genres. I believed this helped when writing my EPK because it is typically not a tool used by classical instrumentalists, they more often make use of websites and social media, that’s if they make use of self-promotion at all. Apart from renowned soloists, most instrumentalists have no use for self-promotion, the orchestras and ensembles that these musicians attend promote themselves. Another reason for this is the fact that classical concerts tend to be held in more established venues, such as theatres and concert halls, these venues also provide their own promotion for these concerts. An EPK is used when an artist is trying to market themselves to venues, I believe classical musicians are more often looking for work through word-of-mouth or by applying for orchestras and ensembles directly. Due to this, I tried to market myself as more of a multi-genre instrumentalist rather than solely a classical player as i found it more applicable to this form of self-promotion.

To format my EPK I used a pre-existing Microsoft Word template, there are sites specifically designed to help musicians create a professional looking EPK such as: https://epkbuilder.com/ and https://bandzoogle.com/. Although, both of these websites charge you to use their services, but this is something I would consider if i wish to improve my EPK for use in a professional setting. I also had to leave some space in it to allow for further photos as currently I only have one appropriate photo from an orchestral concert, this is something amend by ensuring more pictures are taken at my upcoming concerts and possibly even having professional headshots taken. Another thing I felt my EPK lacked in is specific examples of venues and ensembles that I have played in, this is only something that could be improved upon with time after being involved in more concerts. I also believe specific examples of notable previous repertoire would be a good addition along with any recordings, this is also something I don’t posses at the moment and will make an effort to do some recordings. I could have also had links to contact info and social media, but as of yet i do not have a music-specific email address or social media page. I believe social media is something worth utilising as it allows musicians to create a digital diary showcasing their performances and accolades. Social media also allows a more direct line of self promotion, not only to venues but straight to fans and listeners. This can create a more personal connection between audience and artist, also making promotion a much more accessible tool.

A research report released by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (2024) shows that nearly fifty percent of orchestral enthusiasts are over fifty. Meanwhile, a study conducted in 2024 shows that only thirty-eight percent of social media usage was attributed to people over the age of fifty, this disproportion demonstrates why more traditional methods of promotion are necessary within the classical genre as it primarily an older demographic. As previously mentioned EPKs are not standard for classical instrumentalist as promotion is handled by orchestras and venues due to larger ensembles. Comparatively, in more modern genres such as pop and jazz, groups are usually small or even solo artists and this is where the EPK shines. It allows artists and bands to market themselves directly to venues and record labels.

EPKs assist bands and artists to generate revenue by allowing them to market there skillset and ethos to venues, enabling them to book gigs. High quality Professional EPKs cost to produce, as they make use of professional photography, specific domain names for websites and hosting fees if displayed on a web page. Intellectual property must also be considered when marketing a band or artist, ensuring that copyrights are held for any logo’s, stage names and media.

During our WITCI seminar classes, we initially brainstormed certain buzzwords that describe us as musicians that we could include in our bios. Once we’d established a basis for our EPKs we compared and discussed what types of media should be included, a couple of students within our group showed music videos from their bands. Another time we compared courses and professional experiences as we all had very different musical backgrounds, we then discussed how EPKs might differ between genres. Through this process I’ve realised there are many things I’d like to improve on when it comes to my musical career. Things directly related my EPK would be that I lack Group experience performance experience for both solo and group, this is something I would like to do more of and will make a much more active effort to be part of performances and group performances. Another thing I found I lacked when it came to my EPK was media, specifically, photographs and recordings. If i involve myself in more performance opportunities there will be a higher likelihood of getting performance photos. I will also work on repertoire to record. I also think I will start to make more use of social media, allowing me to document performances and achievements while simultaneously building a platform that allows me to make contacts within the musical world.

In conclusion, personally I feel as a classical instrumentalist an EPK is not necessarily relevant to me currently, as it is not commonly used within the classical world. Instead I feel the use of a website and increased social media presence would be more beneficial. I would however definitely utilise an EPK if I become part of a small ensemble or band and plan on gigging. As discussed the benefits of social media used as a promotion tool are infinite, it allows musicians not only to market themselves to venues, like an EPK, but allows them to market themselves directly to potential fans. It could even be argued that with the outreach that modern social media platforms hold, that it makes an EPK obsolete. Social media is free, compared to an well-produced EPK, it also allows for a more direct and personal connection with fans, which may suit some artists images. Therefore, I believe social media not only accomplishes the same thing as an EPK but can achieve even more.

Bibliography

Musicians Union (2024) Getting Press and Making the Most Out of Your Press Kit. Available online: https://musiciansunion.org.uk/career-development/career-guides/marketing-and-promotion/getting-press [Accessed 13/05/2025]

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (2024) Embracing the future with confidence: The evolution of the orchestral audience in the digital age

Statista (2024) Share of social media users in the United States as of June 2024, by generation. Available online: https://www.statista.com/forecasts/1490499/us-social-network-users-generation [Accessed 13/05/2025]