A press kit often referred to as a media kit, is a set of documents, pictures, and information about the musician and/or the band, neatly arranged in a folder. This is distributed for promotional purposes, ideally for public relations purposes, and to introduce yourself to a potential organizer, festival, venue, publication etc.
Musicians and bands require a press kit for the launch of a new album or for a performance at a particular venue. Often, an Electronic Press Kit (EPK) is used these days since most of the work is now carried digitally. An EPK is either put up on the band’s website or sent through e-mail.
Following are the steps on how to build a press kit as well as an EPK for a musician:
1. Bio
A bio for your band or about you, if you are a solo musician, is a must. Here, write about all the band members, their background in music, the band history and an overall view about your band or yourself.
2. Photos
For an EPK, make sure you have high-resolution downloadable pictures of your band which can be further used for various promotional purposes like use for an article online, on social media, to design a gig poster etc. Make sure you have both, vertical as well as horizontal and color as well as monochrome pictures which are high-resolution.
3. Band logo
This is an optional step. However, if you have a band logo, include it as PNG as well as a JPEG.
4. Business Card
This step can be skipped if you’re going for an EPK since you only need to business cards in person. However, make sure that your business card has the proper band name and the source of contact with your manager or anyone in charge.
5. Music
You should have your music available to stream on your website if you are going for EKP, at least your latest music if not everything. You can attach links to various streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, Gaana, Saavan, Amazon Prime, Youtube, etc. Preferably, include this right after your introduction writeup and give links to each of the streaming platforms your music is available at.
6. Videos
Just like music, you need to have links to the best high-resolution videos of you performing for an EPK.
7. Achievements
Make sure you mention all your previous notable achievements and all the highlights of your career which can help give a boost to your press kit. You can include awards, special shows, and performances, etc.
8. Articles
Again, for both, include all the articles which have been published in the media about you and your band. These articles could range from radio shows, interviews, reviews, personality profiles, etc. If it’s for your EPK, you can attach links to the best articles and also pull out the best quotes which would make your press kit look more impressive.
9. Contact
Add proper contact details of your manager or the person in charge so that it gets easier for the person referring to your press kits. Add links to your social media on your EPK and make sure you mention all the information and contact details about all members of the band.
Once you have all of this ready, you need to compile it in a Google Drive folder or a Dropbox folder. In this way, you can just email it to whoever you want to send the press kit to.
In spite of having and sending a press kit, due follow up is required.
