What's an EPK???

"An EPK? What is that for? Do I need one?? How do I get it??"

An EPK is an electronic press kit. It contains items like your bio, your performance resume, and tracks of your music, all stored electronically in a web-location. You then can give the link to that web adress to interested parties, so they can peruse it at their leisure (much like an online resume).

It is for promoting yourself/your band to the people who can potentially help you take off with your music.

So yes, you definitely need one.

And now I'll show you how to get it.

Obtaining An EPK

You have two options. You can buy an EPK, or you can make one yourself.

You can hire a professional to design, upload, and even maintain your EPK. However, that method is very pricey, often unnecessarily so. ReverbNation actually runs a service where they will store your EPK and allow you to reference it on your music sites for a very low rate-per-month. 

If you're like me, and you're just getting started building yourself into the music scene, you probably want to opt for the create-your-own option. This will allow you to tailor your EPK around your band's strengths and accomplishments. Hiring someone to create an EPK for your group will usually involve a pre-designed template, and if your content isn't strong enough to fill it properly, the EPK may actually make your band look worse!

So, How do I make an EPK?

It's actually very simple, you just have to make sure you take the time to ensure that your EPK really shows off the best of the best of your band(and more).

The typical EPK includes:

-Contact information for booking/interviews
-Description of genre/style
-Bios
-Tracks of your best songs
-At least one live performance video
-A music video(but only if you have a good one)
-Photos
-Discography


Here are a few great resources for building your own EPK:

Plugged-In's great article: How To Put Together A Knockout EPK

Sonicbids also has a great how-to: How to Create An EPK

Just in case you missed it the first time, here's ReverbNation's option: Electronic Press Kit

Finally, Music Think Tank has this spectacular article, including little industry-known details (like removing the shrinkwrap from your CD before submitting it with a physical press kit). The article addresses a few aspects of the press kit, both electronic and physical, and gives you more of a feel of the receivers are looking for!