electronic press kit

 

I saw an interesting chain of conversation on Michelle Galas’s MUSIC BUSINESS GROOVS. There was talk of electronic press kits and what they should involve. The electronic press kit is often abbreviated to as EPK. This article however, isn’t how an electronic press kit should be built, of how does a good EPK look. No, we are now talking about operative environments and what needs to be considered when approaching the media and other audiences in the industry. Basically, these are two things.

First, the media is busy – they get a lot of inquiries everyday. If the artist you represent or artist him- or herself is new to the market, this thing is important to note. Many things go unpublished because the electronic press kit is delivered in a format where its text cannot be edited. Not all the media wants to publish EPK as it is, but make their own comments on it. It requires an extra effort from the journalist to rewrite the whole text sent by the artist or artist’s management. In the midst of all that workload, it is easier to publish announcements from the artists they see fit. If a certain text version is submitted alongside with EPK, the probability that you will see it published will increase.

Secondly, when approaching radios or other forums where the recording can be aired, copyright implications must be taken into account. Regional differences must now be taken into account. In all countries, music cannot be played on the radio without an appropriate label copy. The label copy is an instrument that the record company makes for each release. It shows all the rights-holders of the recording. This way the radio is able to report every play correctly to the relevant copyright organisation. If you do not have a record company for this need, such a label copy can be built by your distributor. Once again, it requires an extra effort from the radios to go looking for the necessary permissions. Almost without exception, this goes unnoticed, no matter how good the song.

These are the things an artist management works every day. Here’s an image from an online session with our promotion executive, Michela Prescott. The content and the form of the electronic press kit is usually the foundation where to start. It is then created an occasional division of labor, what the artist do, what management and what the label.

UPDATE: Here are some useful information in case you are interested in knowing more.