Tuesday 31 July 2018

Putting Together An EPK

If you’re reaching out to the press to try get your music featured it’s important to make your email stand out, but it’s also important to make sure it’s professional. It doesn’t matter if you’re reaching out to a small independent publication or a huge one, both should be addressed in a professional manor. You want your band to be taken seriously right? So do people who run blogs, magazines, online magazines etc. Some of these points made may seem painfully obvious, but myself any many friends on the journalism side of things could tell you some stories.

Let’s start with the negatives and get them over with.

DON’TS

Don’t message the publication via their social media pages, whether it’s Instagram, Twitter or Facebook – not only is it annoying but it looks unprofessional. Their email is guaranteed to be easily found on any platform, just look at their Facebook ‘About’ section! Not only does it make you look bad but it gives off a wiff of lack of respect – also definitely don’t message someone on their personal account asking to be featured!

Don’t write a block essay – yes it’s preferable to have more info than no info but also no one wants to read a huge email of block writing about why your band is so good.

Don’t forget to double check who you are sending your email too! If you address your email to a certain publication but then call them a different publication half way through you’re not going to be making anyone eager to check out your band.


THE BARE ESSENTIALS

  • Band Name (You’d be surprised what people forget to put in an email)

  • Location - Where you’re based as a band

  • What’s your sound? What genre would you describe yourselves as? It’s better not to say WHO you sound like, but to say WHAT you sound like. By mentioning a specific band you risk loosing the interest of someone, not everyone likes the bands you might be inspire by, but that’s not to say the same person might not like your music.


What I hate though is bands who say ‘we sound like’ like I think it’s way more original and intriguing for them to have a descriptive bio and the music to match the sound described 
Sahera Walker, Some Might Say

  • Gigs, what shows have you got coming up? Date/location/venue. If you’re supporting a bigger band, who are you supporting?

  • Press shots – tell us WHO took the photos, it saves us receiving angry emails off photographers for not having credited them because you didn’t mention who took the photo. Most of us running these publications do it in our spare time, meaning we don’t have extra time to chase up who your photographers are.

  • Links to music – Sound Cloud/Spotify are preferred, if your song or EP isn’t released yet a private Sound Cloud link is the easiest platform. If you’re sending this to a music promoter it’s even more important to include your music links. Seems obvious right? Why would you ask someone to book you without sending them your music? 

  • Links to social media – Facebook/Instagram/Twitter

  • What’s the aim of the email? So you’ve sent us your music and an introduction to yourselves as a band, are you wanting a review, an introduction piece, an interview, a gig slot? Let us know, don’t be shy! Don’t ask, don’t get!


THE NICE EXTRAS

So you’ve got your basic essential list to include. Now you want to spice up your email or press package a little bit more, how are you going to make your band stand out against hundreds of others in someone’s inbox?

If you’re sending your music because of a recent or soon to be released song/EP/album it’s nice to get a little bit of information behind the music. Here’s a couple of things you can do to form a better connection within that email:
  • A short description of what your song is about, your inspirations behind the song.
  • I personally like to read direct quotes from a band member on their music. It’s nice to include in an article to make it more personal to the readers.


PRESS PHOTOS

As a photographer myself it’s easy to forget why someone might not see the importance of photography within music. But if you’re sending your music to a publication they’re not going to want to post an article with a bad, low quality image/no image at all. It reflects badly on them, they don’t want their website to look messy. And if their feature on you is going in a printed magazine/zine, they definitely want a high quality professional image.

A bad image will be pixilated in print. There are plenty of photographers around that will charge a small amount for a handful of good quality images. It’s something that is worth investing in. Not only is it useful for EPK’s, but it looks better on your social media platforms to have good quality images. You’ll find them used over and over by publications and promoters.

In summary:


At least one clean, good quality press photo of the full band. This means an image that isn’t of the band on stage. No blurry iPhone photos.

Example of an ideal, simple, press image to send:

(Photo by me, of The Americas)

CONTACTING A GIG PROMOTER

I would say still send your full EPK to a gig promoter, however you are aiming to get a gig out of the email, not just a review, so here's a few tips from one of my favourite London gig promoters:

"From the Promotion Company point of view, if they’re looking for a gig, I think the perfect press pack should include:
  • First of all, a sample of their music. I would never book a band without giving them a listen first (I know it seems obvious but many bands don’t do it!)

  • A short description of the band stating what kind of music they play, where are they based, bands they’re influenced by, bands they’ve played with before, and any upcoming gigs (that gives you an idea of what their vibe is and which kind of line-ups they’ll fit better with)
  • And last but not least, their social media links. Instagram and twitter are less important but I always check their Facebooks to see how they relate to their followers and it’s really useful for me to target promotion later on once the bands been booked.

Other stuff like reviews, pictures, videos of them playing are all a plus but not necessary."

-Carli Ross, Live Circuit

LAYOUT 

How you decide to lay out your EPK is up to you, this is where you have a chance to come up with a creative way to market your band.

Somethings you can do, write a quick brief email with your basic information and introduction. A picture in the layout of the email to show off your pretty faces immediately. It’s much easier to draw up an immediate connection to a band when you have a face to put to the name. Then attach a word document or PDF with your full EPK on, this is where all your ‘basic essentials’ and ‘nice extras’ should be. Again add an image into your EPK, add your album artwork onto the EPK, put this near the links to your music.

In a separate attachment this is where you should send one or more press photos that are easy downloadable.

Remember, you're not the only band submitting music in someones email box. Press receive so many emails every day. And more likely than not, the publication is run in someone's spare time, we've all got work that 9-5 grind unfortunately. And running a publication is like having a second full time job. So the piece chosen for reviews are going to be the ones that catch someones attention in their inbox. So make it memorable! If someone quickly checks their inbox and thinks 'I'll come back to this later on' but you sent a dry 2 sentence email with no pictures what makes you expect a journalist to be wow'd and make a mental note to come back to it? Add pictures, use colour, capitals, bold, use your imagination! 

TONE

Before I forget - and I promise this is my last point. TONE! This isn't going to kill your EPK completely, but this is where you're showing a little respect. 
Remember in school where you learnt informal and formal writing, how to write a letter, an email, etc etc... Yeah, this is where it's actually useful in your adult life!

Here's an example of the kind of tone I get but I don't like to recieve

"Yo! Sup people at D+L, here's our new tune 'when bugs bunny dressed up as a girl rabbit' let us know what you think!" 

Yo? No. 

A standard example of what I wouldn't mind receiving: 

"Dear Denim + Leather, 

My name is Garth Algar, I'm writing to you from The Shitty Beatles, a Milwaukee based Scandinavian space punk band. We're about to release our new single "A Sphincter Says What" on 37/02/95, but we wanted to send you the song over in advance to get your thoughts on the track! I've attached the song below with our EPK and some photos. We would really appreciate it if you would consider the track for a review on Denim + Leather. 

Hope you enjoy the song, thanks for your time, look forward to hearing back from you. 

Garth Algar, The Shitty Beatles." 



So there it is, a basic guide to putting together an EPK. I hope you found it useful, if you have any thoughts or questions feel free to comment below or send us a message.

Written by Holly Beson-Tams

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