Songcast Readers:

Arien Rozelle. Photo by Rick Wenner

Thank you for sending me your music PR related questions! It’s been interesting and fun to read your submissions. This week, I’m answering your questions about EPKs and multi-genre artists.

Question one: What is an EPK and why is it useful?

EPK stands for electronic press kit. It’s your press kit in digital (or electronic) form. A typical EPK is usually emailed or hosted on a website. It can be hosted on the artists’ website, their record label website, the public relations firms’ website or it can be hosted by another third party provider. Some EPKs also take the form of CD or DVD discs.

An EPK can include any of the following: an artist bio, audio clips, videos, photos, press clips, set lists, tech requirements, and show dates. For their ease of use, cost and friendliness to the environment (they use less paper than a standard printed press kit), EPKs are a must-have.

Many artists I work with host their EPK on a private, “for press only” portion of their website. This enables them to drive traffic to their site, while providing a writer with all the information they need in one spot. With an EPK, a writer can listen to your music, read your bio, watch your videos and check out your press shots all on one page.

If you’d like to know more about EPKs or pitching to the media, drop your question in the comment box, below!

Question two: What tips do you have for pitching multi-genre artists to media outlets?

• Consider your sound. If you’re reggae with a rock influence, pitch to reggae-centric and rock-centric blogs, magazines and websites. If you fit into multiple genres, you have more media outlets to pitch. This is a good thing.

• Consider your audience(s). What publications are your fans reading? Remember to think outside of the box – your fans may be reading publications that are not geared solely to music, but do cover music.

• When pitching your music to the media, tailor your pitch to fit each publication and be as concise and specific as possible. If you’re pitching to a rock focused publication, tweak your pitch to focus more on the rock influences of your music.

Again, if you’d like to know more or have further questions, hit up the comment box, below. I’m looking forward to seeing what other topics we can address in this blog!

Cheers,

Arien
FeelingAnxious PR

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