Music Press Kit (EPK): What to Include, a Template and an Example (2026)
What a music press kit (EPK) is, what to include for promoters, press and festivals, what a band adds, how long it should be, and a template to fill in.
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A music press kit, or EPK (electronic press kit), is one page or file that tells a promoter, journalist or festival who you are and why they should book you or write about you. Include press photos, a short and a long bio, your latest release and best songs, a live video, past and upcoming shows, press quotes if you have them, and a booking contact. Keep it to one screen as a link, or one or two pages as a PDF.
Below: what each reader looks for, what a band adds (stage plot and tech rider), how long it should be, a template you can copy, and a full example.
What is a press kit for music?
It's the material someone needs to book you or cover you without writing back to ask. A promoter deciding on a lineup, a blog writing about a release, a festival reviewing applications: each opens it, looks for what they need and moves on in about a minute.
"Press kit" and "EPK" mean the same thing today. The "electronic" is left over from when kits were printed folders; now it's a web page or a PDF. A one sheet is the shortest version: a single page about one release, often what a distributor, a label or a radio plugger asks for.
What to include in an EPK
| Section | What goes in | Who looks for it |
|---|---|---|
| Press photos | Two or three recent, high-resolution photos, horizontal and vertical, with the photographer's credit | Press, festivals, venues making posters |
| Short bio | Two sentences that can be pasted into a lineup or a poster as is | Everyone |
| Long bio | Three or four short paragraphs, third person, the most interesting fact first | Press |
| Latest release | Cover art, release date, Spotify and Apple Music links | Press, curators |
| Best songs | Three to five, strongest first | Promoters, festivals |
| Live video | One or two, ideally filmed at a show | Promoters, festivals |
| Shows | Cities and venues played, and what's coming up | Promoters, venues |
| Press quotes | One line each, with the outlet and a link; skip the section if you have none | Press, festivals |
| Contact | Booking and management email, clearly labeled | Everyone who wants to book you |
| Socials | Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, links that work | Promoters checking your audience |
Check the link in your Instagram bio too, since promoters often open your profile first (what to put in it). For the bios, write three lengths from the same facts. Our guide on how to write an artist bio has a template and a free builder that writes them for you.
What goes in a press kit for a band?
Everything above, plus what a venue needs to put you on its stage:
- Members and roles. Names and who plays what, so the sound engineer and the poster get it right.
- Stage plot. A simple drawing of where each member and instrument stands, seen from the audience.
- Tech rider. What you need from the venue: the input list (every channel the sound desk needs, from kick drum to vocals), monitors, backline you bring and backline you need, and how long you need to set up and soundcheck. Our tech rider and stage plot guide has a template and a full input list.
- Hospitality rider, only if you have real needs (a dressing room, water, meals for a long day). Keep it short when you're starting out.
Solo artists who play with a band or with tracks need the stage plot and tech rider too. A DJ's version is the equipment list: which decks and mixer you play on.
How long should an EPK be?
One screen for the essentials as a web page, with everything else a scroll away. As a PDF, one or two pages. Anyone reading it decides in the first lines whether to keep going, so put the photo, the short bio, the latest release and the contact where they're seen first.
Music press kit template
Copy this and fill in the brackets. Delete any section you can't fill honestly.
[Artist name], [genre] from [city]
[Short bio: two sentences.]
New: "[Release title]" ([single/EP/album]), out [date]. [Spotify link] · [Apple Music link]
Listen: "[Song 1]", "[Song 2]", "[Song 3]" ([links])
Live: [video link], filmed at [venue], [city], [month year]
Shows: [venue, city, month year] · [venue, city, month year] · Next: [date, venue, city]
Press: "[quote]" ([outlet], [link])
Bio: [long bio: three or four paragraphs]
Photos: [download link] (credit: [photographer])
Contact: booking [email] · management [email]
Follow: [Instagram] · [TikTok] · [YouTube]
For a band, add Members, Stage plot and Tech rider as links at the end.
Music press kit example
A fictional artist, filled in with the template, to show how short it can be:
Mara Vey, indie pop from Medellín, Colombia
Mara Vey writes on a borrowed Wurlitzer and records vocals in one take, so her songs keep the room noise in. Her debut EP, "Rent Week," comes out in March 2027.
New: "Glass Kitchen" (single), out now. Spotify · Apple Music
Live: "Glass Kitchen" live at her first headline show, Medellín, September 2026
Shows: 150-capacity headline show, Medellín, September 2026 · Next: EP release show, March 2027
Contact: booking and management, one email
Follow: Instagram · TikTok · YouTube
No press quotes yet, so there's no Press section. That's the right call: an empty heading looks worse than none.
How to write a band press kit, step by step
- Pick your three facts. The release, the show and the detail about your sound that someone would repeat. Everything else hangs from those.
- Write the bios from those facts, short first.
- Choose the photos. Recent, sharp, at least one horizontal for web headers and one vertical for posters.
- Choose the songs and the video. Your strongest, not your newest, unless they're the same.
- Make the stage plot and tech rider if you play as a band; ask your sound person to check the input list.
- Put it on one page with the contact at the top and the bottom.
- Read it as a promoter would, in one minute, on a phone. Cut whatever you skipped.
What to leave out
- Numbers you can't back up. Inflated follower counts or "millions of streams" without a source make people doubt the rest.
- A long PDF. One or two pages.
- Old material. "New single" about a song from two years ago makes you look inactive.
- Personal data. Birth date, home address or a personal phone number don't belong in a document you send around.
Link or PDF?
Send a link whenever you can: it's easy to keep current and easy to forward. Keep a PDF for applications that ask for an attachment, and make it again after every release. To send it, see how to email a venue to book a gig.
The hardest part isn't making the press kit; it's keeping the music, videos and shows current after every release. A website that updates itself covers that part (see how to make a music website), and you keep the bios, photos and riders as a link or PDF next to it.
Where does Loud fit?
Loud doesn't make press kits. It builds your website and link in bio from your music and keeps your releases, videos and shows current on its own, with your booking and management contact on the site. Send that link with your press photos and bios, and the part of your EPK that goes out of date fastest takes care of itself. If you're starting, see do musicians still need a website.
FAQ
What is an EPK in music?
An electronic press kit: one page or file with your photos, bio, music, videos, shows, press and contact, made for promoters, journalists and festivals.
What should a music press kit include?
Press photos, a short and a long bio, your latest release and three to five best songs, one or two live videos, past and upcoming shows, press quotes if you have any, a booking contact and your social links.
What goes in a press kit for a band?
The same, plus the members and their roles, a stage plot and a tech rider with your input list.
How long should an EPK be?
One screen as a web page, or one or two pages as a PDF.
What's the difference between a press kit and a one sheet?
A press kit is about you as an artist. A one sheet is a single page about one release, often asked for by distributors, labels and radio pluggers.
Do I need a press kit if I have no press yet?
Yes. Leave out the press section and lead with the music, a live video and the shows you have played. A promoter needs to know how you sound and how to reach you more than who wrote about you.
