SHR4C007R~002 Option 2: Electronic Press Kit Template
Task 1: Electronic Press Kit
Task 2: Supporting Commentary
My EPK focuses on myself as a performing artist, showing off both covers and original songs to audiences in venues, whether that would be for function gigs, or for the average venue looking for someone to perform. My aim was to promote myself and find venues or customers who wanted me to perform for them, whilst also giving me a chance to grow my own following and make myself more known around Yorkshire and Derbyshire, in the hopes that people would begin to come to me and requesting that I play for them. I believe that due to the sheer number of performing artists such as myself, it is important to have such a document ready to send out as it gives the customer a much more detailed view into who you are as a performer which could be the difference between picking you or someone else for their gig. This is because many other performers who are early into their career probably do not have something such as this to help them stand out and instead can become just another face in the crowd. Through the creation of this EPK, I have found that even though I am in the early stages of my career, I still have a lot to offer professionally and I need to work on promoting myself as such as in the near future, I will have hopefully performed in more notable venues and therefore have more to show off when promoting myself.
To create my EPK, I used powerpoint due to its versatility and ease of use when formatting the page. As a starting point, I used a preset layout to help aid me in designing the look of the page and deciding where all the information would sit in comparison to each other. This helped me decide what would work visually before starting to fully create it as deciding to change the layout later on may have caused unnecessary problems further down the line.
Generally, this EPK would be targeted towards promoters and booking agents in an attempt to convince them to put me up for some gigs, however, it would also be suitable to be aimed towards other event planners as the style of my performances would also cater towards function gigs such as weddings, parties, etc. I believe that keeping the range of viewers quite wide would be beneficial as the more people see my profile, the more people will know my name and therefore help me to grow my following and also possibly end up with me being recommended to others for the style of my music. This would all accumulate to eventually being sent to record labels and music publishers in the hopes that I would be signed.
When writing my bio, there were a few essential pieces of information that were necessary to include so that employers knew exactly what they would be getting when hiring me. The main inclusions were what I used to perform, that being a guitar and my voice, my location, so that employers know if approximately if I am too far away to work for them, and finally what type of music I would be performing. This was important to list as soon as possible so that they know exactly what kind of artist I am straight away and that they are not left guessing when reading the rest of the bio, as some employers may not even read far enough through if it is not direct and concise enough. Despite this, I found it to be very important that I did not box myself in and make it seem like I am stuck to one kind of act. Therefore, I made a point to say that I am willing to adapt to a certain extent in an attempt to widen the range of employers that may want me and to not limit my field of work. Along with this, I also made sure to emphasise the fact that I can work both as a solo artist but also in a band scenario as this both widens the scope of gigs I could receive, but also emphases my ability as a musician as working alone and working with others are two entirely separate areas of performing that can separate you from other acoustic-style artists. This also opens up the possibility of expanding who I would send this EPK to as It could be sent to promoters but also to people who are possibly looking for someone to join a band as I had previously mentioned myself as a guitarist as well. The fact that I then later mentioned my experience in working in music also gives a certain idea to what my abilities are. To further back up this idea, I found it to be a good idea to include key highlights of my career thus far by stating reputable venues that I have previously performed at and any other groups or situations I may have been involved in. This explains the need to mention both working in a band and as an acoustic duo as it shows of a wider skillset and better musicianship as I have worked in various different styles of groups. To finish the bio, I made sure to specify where I am based and operating as a performer so that employers know that I am willing to travel and how far I will go to perform. This is all so that I don’t get messages from employers hoping for me to work when they are located across the country as that would waste both their time and my own.
When choosing images, I made sure to include myself in various different capacities, including acoustic solo sessions and in band scenarios as proof of what I have said in my bio. I have positioned them in a section with a white background that is different to the rest of the page so that they stand out and are easily seen due to the difference in brightness between the colours. The same can be said about the text but in reverse as the background for the bio is darker with the text being white. The choice to keep the text and background for the pictures the same colour makes the slide look clean and easy to read as having too much going on may make it seem cluttered and therefore deter people from reading it.
When stepping back and evaluating my EPK, I found that it still did not show enough of what I could do or exactly the kind performance that I could put on. To rectify this, I decided to add a link to my Instagram and Facebook profile. This allows the reader to see what I am capable of in more detail, as well as shows them any upcoming performances I am doing, which may possibly lead them to seeing that I know others in the industry that they also recommend whilst also letting them know that I still perform gigs and am not completely new to the industry. I also included my Facebook profile as in my experience, I have found that some people prefer to use it when messaging others instead of texting or through Instagram. This could also lead to an increase in my social following if they do happen to take a look and they like what they see.
Group Work
When first creating my EPK, I wrote a bio and asked some peers to critique it. Firstly they said that I was writing about too many topics and that made it drag on, seem directionless and therefore made it difficult to aim at a specific demographic that I would send it to. This was because I had originally written about my production work and work as specifically a guitarist in bands on top of my own work as a performing artist. This ended up causing me to write too much which, according to my peers, made it difficult to read and made my range too wide, possibly making me seem inexperienced or desperate for any kind of work. Thanks to this, I narrowed down my focus to just my work as a performing artist with very brief mentions of working in bands where applicable, whilst also not making it a main writing point to keep my bio concise and easy to read. I chose this aspect of my career due to it being the most useful to me as of creating it as well as having the most experience compared to the other aspects which allows me to write in more detail and give better key moments to present myself in a more professional manner. Along with this, they also noted specific points of information that was missing which they deemed to be vital. This included contact information, where I am based and my influences so that they had a clearer idea as to the kind of music I specialise in.
When discussing the assignment with friends, I found that some of them had written a much longer bio which went into greater detail about their careers. Some had suggested to do the same but I found that those that were working in a similar segment of the industry as me had kept their bios to be relatively short. This made sense to me because when looking into other artists, you usually find their social medias full of live videos of them performing and showing off their own style of music, rather than reading about prestigious groups that they may have been part of. The art seemed to be much more of a focus rather than the text, so I decided to go with more of a “Show, don’t tell” mentality when creating this EPK, which was one of the contributing factors which led me to including my social media accounts into the slide.
