• Instagram
• Spotify
• YouTube

Contact

Email: sambeedhammusic@gmail.com

Supporting Commentary

This electronic press kit intends to market Sam Beedham (myself, the artist) to potential music producers, recording artists, bands, and other professionals interested in hiring a session guitar player. It features relevant information on the subject of work as a session guitar player and concisely expresses multiple examples of (in written and video format) session work that has occurred in the past for any scout to be intrigued by.

Regarding structure, the electronic press kit features a large heading with the artists name in a bright font to draw attention to the subject, as the most important feature in terms of marketing for this EPK is to get the name of the artist (and what they do out into the field). Blatešić et al. (2022) discusses the importance of headlines in implying the forthcoming structure and purpose of the written piece, as in this case the headline, featuring solely the artists name, would imply that this piece of writing is intend to tell you more about the artist, more so than if the headline were to be “Sam Beedham – EPK”, which implies that there is some level of wasted attention being paid to the “EPK” factor when really the piece should solely focus on promoting the artist.

The bio in this electronic press kit is concise and attempts to cover a small amount of information on the background of the artist that is relevant to the audience as it gives context to the later announced skills and abilities of said artist. Keeping the bio concise and highlighting key and interesting contextual information ensures that audience retention is maintained, as readers are more likely to ‘skim read’ virtual media as opposed to print media, Young (2014). Furthermore, putting more relevant information at the top of the bio ensures that the reader/audience more quickly gathers an impression about the subject.

Photos and video media introduce further information about the skills and abilities of the artist in an electronic press kit. Visual information allows the audience to gain this information in a less strenuous context as opposed to long-winded paragraphs and colloquially ‘life-stories’. The media used in this EPK reflects what is written in the bio and personal information subheadings as it displays two approaches to guitar playing in different genre contexts. In reflection, it may prove useful to expand on the number of professional photographs used in this EPK and to do this I may more regularly request professional photography at gigs and in a studio setting.

In further reflection, it would prove useful to improve the number of performance and experience talking points used in this EPK and to do this I must increase my activity as a working session musician and band member. I could also aim for the introduction of reviews and testimonials in this EPK by furthering my presence as a performer. Reviews and testimonials serve, to the audience of this electronic press kit, as examples of recommendation and assurance of reliability, and provide merit to the separate examples of skills, strengths and abilities that are featured in the EPK.

Social media links are included (notice that the Spotify and YouTube links are examples and not functioning) so that the audience, a music producer or recording artists can explore other media outlets for my creative work should they need any more evidence or should they prefer visual information over written descriptions of creative ability. I have included these links just after the bio for this reason, as forcing online reading onto your audience may reduce its functionality, Young (2014), in this case diminishing the concise approach of the electronic press kit. Short bullet points of essential information are implemented in this EPK to again, enforce the readability of the text, which aims to display all necessary information is the easiest and least time-consuming way possible. The homebase, genre and inspirations (sounds like) section, intends to give a glance at the capabilities of the artist, what a producer or collaborating musician could expect if they worked with me.

The finalising bullet point section is used as a ‘frequently asked questions’ answer pool, which provides any other key details that the audience may not have picked up. In the context of session guitar work, the ‘equipment’ subheading is crucial as it allows a producer or recording artist to get an expectation of the preparedness of the artist when engaging in collaborative work and also allows them to consider logistical and technical requirements straight away, especially in the area of live performance where a band may not have access to their own spare equipment, which would require the hired session musician to fill the gap with their own equipment.

The target audience of this electronic press kit is aforementioned: music producers, recording artists, bands, and other professionals interested in hiring a session guitar player. There is an emphasis in the EPK that leans toward work with producers and live performance acts, as highlighted in the bio and bullet point sections. These professionals do not have a lot of time to scout and examine many EPK’s in a day and thus it is an important requirement to keep the EPK concise and include other media alternatives to the written information, such as social media links and video media. Standard practice in the field of session musicians, particularly in relation to job and gig hunting is to simply get your name out into the field and build your repertoire, portfolio and rapport. This EPK serves as a foundation to include future, relevant information about myself as a session musician and would become increasingly successful as a personal marketing resource, should it include additional information such as reviews, testimonials, releases and calendar information.

Consideration of cost of assets for aforementioned, professional photography:

Due to the specialized equipment and skills involved in professional photography, “Event photographers generally charge between £125–£175 per hour” (Buttrey, 2025). It may be more financially viable in the short term, to consider hiring a friend or family member to shoot photos, particularly due to the increase in smartphone camera quality in modern times. Furthermore, it usual would take the whole band or performing group to consider hiring a professional photographer, especially if being paid out of the gig revenue or merch sales revenue for more established groups. It is also important to consider what license you are given to the photography, particularly when engaging in a contract with a photographer for a larger breadth of work. This is because in the United Kingdom, copyright of an image taken is given initially to its capture and is then appealed via contract or later purchase (Trussell, 2019).

Evidence of group work:

The most crucial and informative session on electronic press kit writing for me was the initial brainstorming and introduction of bio writing and different approaches to structuring an engaging bio. Communication with peers in ideation sessions proved useful as it allowed me to refine and cut a large portion of my original bio into a more easily readable and necessary structure. Ideation was fundamental in these talks with peers as the process of communicating ideas gave some evidence into how an audience, producer and artist may react initially to my EPK.

In regard to personal and professional development, speaking in group sessions to students on alternative courses, such as folk, but also aspiring to become a working session musician, gave context to the different challenges faced within other genres of the same profession. In this case, the logistics of maintaining an acoustic setup (without an electro-acoustic guitar), such as transporting microphones and considering microphone and piezo technology, made it apparent that I should include an equipment list in my electronic press kit for any producer or artist who may be opposed to any large-scale setups. 

Reflection:

In the future, it is most important that I explore a different word processing program that allows for more freedom of creativity in producing my electronic press kit. One of the largest struggles for me in creating my EPK was making it look convincingly creative and attempting to make it stand out with different colors and fonts that express some degree of creativity (with which I heavily manipulated the block and text highlight function). In hindsight, it would have proved more effective to use a less restrained word processing program such as Canva or SquareSpace, and then to have screenshotted that work and uploaded it to Show. The majority of EPKs that I have looked at in my research are heavily dependent on design and creativity to stand out, and I believe this importance is followed by a stylized artist name/logo and then the bio for quick, at-a-glance information. 

It would also prove useful to the target audience (producer, etc.) to include performance recordings in a live setting to express performance ability and engagement with the audience as highlighted in the skills section. A live performance recording would give full reference to the points expressed in the EPK and provide the target audience with additional media to consider if wanting to collaborate. However, this media could be included in a future YouTube page as long-form content is preferred there more so than on Instagram which prefers short-form content.

Overall, I believe this EPK achieves its purpose as a foundational piece of personal marketing that would likely prove successful particularly when supported by social media links and further notoriety within the field.

Bibliography

Blatešić, A., Kovačević, B., Barčot, B., Božović, Đ., Antunović, G., Ristić, G., Lakić, I., Brajović, J., Tušek, J., Matzinger, J., Miličević Petrović, M., Simonović, M., Panić Cerovski, N., Ceković, N., Pušić, R., Dragićević, R., Srdić, S., Bilandžija, S., Polovina, V., . . . Tomović, N. (2022). BELIDA 1 Thematic Collection of Papers. In N. Panić Cerovski, B. Kovačević, & M. Dinić Marinković (Eds.), BeLiDa 1. http://belida.fil.bg.ac.rs/tematski_zbornik_BeLiDa%201.pdf#page=291 [Accessed 03/05/2026]

Buttrey, L. (2025, June 19). Event photography pricing: Rates in the UK. Eventbrite All Access. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/blog/event-photography-pricing-rates-in-the-uk-00cd/ [Accessed 04/05/2026]

Trussell, R. (2019, June 11). Copyright and UK GDPR for photographers. https://ipo.blog.gov.uk/2019/06/11/copyright-and-gdpr-for-photographers/ [Accessed 04/05/2026]

Young J (2014), “A study of print and computer-based reading to measure and compare rates of comprehension and retention”. New Library World, Vol. 115 No. 7-8 pp. 376–393, doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/NLW-05-2014-0051 [Accessed 03/05/2026]