Task 1: Electronic Press Kit

Bio

Josiah Graham is a Leeds-based producer, multi-instrumentalist and arranger. Hailing from East Sussex, he plays trumpet, piano and guitar. An experienced performer in a variety of genres, he has played with brass bands, pop bands and classical ensembles, which have all influenced and shaped his sound and musical expression. Other influences jazz, rap and trip-hop.

Working with a variety of performers, he has helped engineer several songs on Kristina Stead’s upcoming album, as well as producing, writing and recording several original songs of his own.

He also enjoys arranging/transcription, with several pieces published online.

Music

Original track “Nanjing”:

Production and engineering on Reuben Hill’s “Elena Weira”:

Remixing “I’d Rather Go Blind”:

Contacts

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/josg_music/

SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/josg_music

Email: josmgraham@gmail.com

SheetMusicPlus: https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/en/category/publishers/j/jos-graham/?srule=bestsellers

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Task 2: Supporting Commentary

The purpose of this EPK is to introduce myself as a musician to a variety of different clients and publications. It should appeal equally to those looking for a session musician, a producer or an engineer. This means it’s very wide-ranging, which increases the general appeal, but doesn’t go into that much detail, which is less helpful.

The overall length is good for a short bio but lacks detail that clients/publications may look for in a full EPK. A short bio is good because industry professional are often too busy to read lengthy biographies (ReelCrafter, 2022), but I think it lacks some detail. Often people make one bio for shorter things like Instagram, and one for more detailed information. If a publication was wanting to do a whole feature on me they might find it a bit short. This is mainly because I haven’t refined my artistic persona and vision and I’m not really ready to enter the world as a professional musician just yet.

Structurally, it uses a conventional EPK format: Bio, Music, and Contact. This guides the reader nicely through my musical identity. There are also a selection of photographs, which make it visually appealing and help it to stand out. These are what a publication or client would expect and look for when using an EPK. It is missing any reviews, or any sort of achievements. These are often found in professional EPKs, eg “80k streams on latest single” or “Josiah redefines what the trumpet can do” (Kealy, 2024). Because I’m at an early stage in my career I don’t have anything to include, but I’ve built at good template that I can add details like this to as they come along.

The music included is also not completely at the standard I’d want it to be at if I were to send this EPK to publications – as I work on more and more music this will hopefully improve. There’s also a wide range of genres on display which, while initially impressive, does mean there’s a slight lack of a cohesive vision. A publication or client is more likely to use you if they can pigeonhole you into one genre that you do well than the explain three different genres (trip-hop, folk-pop, dance-pop) presented in the tracks I’ve included. “Nanjing” as a track is also not ideal for an EPK because it takes about a minute for any vocals to come in at all. Songs that are interesting in the first 15 seconds are most likely to get a good response from EPK recipients (Bradbury, 2023). Some EPKs include videos for their songs, which are really helpful at adding visual appeal and showcasing commitment. I don’t have anything at this point, but I can imagine creating a visualiser for some of my original songs.

The photos I’ve used are of a high quality, being professionally taken at various concerts. They look really good, and convey a professional image. They also show me performing on a variety of instruments, which showcases the “multi-instrumentalist” aspect of the EPK well. However, they don’t show any aspects of my production/engineering work, which is probably the main thing that I’d like to promote. There are also no parts of my arrangement work displayed. Without reading the bio, it just looks like I’m a trumpet player who occasionally plays guitar and bass. As my career progresses and I find my musical identity more securely, I’d want to get some professionally-taken photos of me in the studio into my EPK.

I would also like to arrange more music and promote that as more of a part of my EPK – at present my only published arrangements are simple trumpet transcriptions. Arrangement is very rarely something that people can make a full career out of but is often a part of a producer’s role – George Martin and Quincy Jones made this a big part of their work alongside production. Next year I hope to improve this skill with the arrangement module I’m taking, and can update my EPK accordingly.

Overall the EPK is not very interesting to look at. This is partly a limitation of Show – if I were to release this professionally I’d probably want it either designed on a website or PDF document. Professional EPKs often have interesting and appealing graphics, with a more cohesive colour scheme and aesthetic that match the musician’s creative identity.

If I had worked on any music available on mainstream streaming services like Spotify or TIDAL, I would need to include links to them. This would also be helpful in directing people to my online presence where they can see what kind of exposure I have on streaming services. Soundcloud is also ideal for EPKs as you can download tracks from it, but do not have to. Downloads are helpful for recipients like music promoters and radio stations, but many publications will not want to download tracks straight away if they don’t have to (Mackinnon, n.d.). The credit on Kristina’s album is helpful too, and the included link shows recipients that she’s an established artist with music on streaming services. It would be better if the album was released, but I can update this part when it is.

More links to social media would be really helpful. I am, at present, only on Instagram. This is better than nothing, because most of my audience and connections will be on there, but for maximum exposure I would want to be on all major social media platforms (Facebook, X, TikTok, YouTube) and include links on my EPK. This would showcase another side of my marketing well, and give a good sense of my audience to publications seeing if I’m worth promoting.

EPKs often have tour dates and links to ticket sales on them (Bradbury, 2023). As a producer, this is not something people tend to expect unless you’re an artist in your own right. It’s worth bearing in mind and having as an option to add, though, in case I do join a touring band of some sort.

The main audience for the EPK is not that clear. As a producer – which is probably the main career path I want to go down – you want to appeal to clients mainly. Producers aren’t often standalone artists, so it’s unlikely that this would be sent to publications for press in the same way a singer/songwriter’s EPK might. If an EPK is hosted on a website with a whole artist page, it has to be suitable for clients who might want to hire you as well. Many producers will have their own websites, often with a price list or (if they’re a rap producer) beats for sale, to drive revenue straight from the site. In other genres, producers will have an extensive portfolio of other people’s work they’ve produced – I only have “Elena Weira” which is really only at demo quality.

A clear improvement would be making it clear that I am available for hire. This could be in the form of a clearer “business enquiries” section of Contacts, or creating an email template for people to get in touch specifically regarding work.

Financially, this EPK has cost me nothing, which is really good for profitability at the moment. The photos have been free from concerts in the past, the music was produced entirely by me, and as it is not hosted on any external website and is very plainly designed, the actual document does not cost anything.

Websites are the best options for EPKs, because of the various media you can embed and the ability to update it (Bradbury, 2023). However, if I were to release it properly on a website I would have to spend some money in order to get it to a level where it would be actually likely to make any money back. I would need to pay for a domain name and hosting, and would consider paying for a professional photographer for some photos of me in an actual studio. While graphic design nowadays can be done easily on a Canva template or similar, a good, professional-quality website would need a paid graphic designer. If I had original music of my own released on streaming services, I would need a distributor, which would cost money as well, but that would be part of a wider investment in my music beyond just the EPK.

All of this would a worthwhile investment, because a high-quality EPK would draw in lots of work and exposure. It would probably be relatively cheap, too.

Evidence of Group Work:

The group work sessions were really helpful in the formation of this EPK. Initially, I struggled because I don’t feel that I have a clear musical identity beyond just “musician”. Members of my group helped me see what elements of music I specifically enjoy and should present to the world in my EPK (producer, multi-instrumentalist, arranger). “Arranger” in particular was something my group helped me to see that I should include despite being a very minor part of my work. If I enjoy doing something, I should include it in my EPK. I think coming to conservatoire has really helped me see that it’s common for professional musicians (particularly my lecturers) to have a portfolio career of various roles, which I can see myself doing.

They also provided good feedback on the overall image of the EPK, the high-quality photos and included music received good feedback and people liked the main image. We discussed various formats – some people were working on actual websites and others on PDF files. While I could see the advantages of creating a website, I decided that this EPK will not actually be released because I don’t have a clear enough artistic vision at the moment. This is hopefully something that I’ll find and develop as I continue my studies at conservatoire.

Members of the group (understandably) mentioned the fact that my EPK was pretty uninteresting to look at, so I added a clear title banner with a good photo to grab people’s attention right away. It could still use some work, but I am limited by the Show format.

Bibliography

Bradbury, W. (2023) How To Make An EPK For Artists (with examples & templates). Pirate Studios. https://pirate.com/en/blog/epk-music-artists/ [Accessed 15 May 2025].

Kealey, M. (2024) How to create an EPK for your music (with examples!). Band Zoggle. https://bandzoogle.com/blog/how-to-create-an-epk-for-your-music-with-examples [Accessed 15 May 2025].

Mackinnon, D. (no date) Electronic Press Kit. New Found Sound. https://www.newfoundsound.co.uk/resources/electronic-press-kit [Accessed 15 May 2025].

ReelCrafter (2022) EPKs 101: What every artist needs in their electronic press kit. ReelCrafter. https://www.reelcrafter.com/blog/epks-101-what-every-artist-needs-in-their-electronic-press-kits [Accessed 15 May 2025].