You’ll probably do more typing for your EPK Bio than for any other section, and with good reason: Your bio is incredibly important. It shows promoters, talent buyers, A&R reps, and anyone else viewing your EPK what you’ve accomplished so far, who you are, what you do, and why you do it.

Get started by making a list of accomplishments and a list of goals, and use those as a guideline. Keep in mind that everything in the EPK should be about getting gigs, and the bio is no different. Promoters review many biographies, and they want to see the important information as soon as possible. Think of it as a résumé.

One option is to start by mentioning a project that you are currently working on. For example: (more…)

What is an Elevator Pitch? If you were riding in an elevator with a stranger, and you had 30 seconds to sell your band to that person, what would you say? There’s a reason this section is limited to 300 characters: We want you to choose your words carefully, because this is your chance to grab the reader’s attention.

The most important thing to remember is that the pitch should describe the music, because music is what the reader is looking for. One good approach is to write it as if it was a recipe: “If you mix a cup of Lenny Kravitz with a spoonful of David Bowie…” Others just go for a straight-up description of the music: “Heavy, dirty synth mixed with Shirley Manson-style vocals.” (more…)

How to upload audio to your EPK

When dropping your files to MP3s, use a decent bitrate. Going under 112 kbps will start to bring in a wavy sound to the songs, because of the severe compression of the audio file size. We find that 5 MB is usually more than enough for an average song that’s less than 5 minutes in length. If your song is closer to 3 minutes, try re-ripping the track at a lower bitrate (preferably 128 kbps) to keep the file size down. (more…)

Rarely will artists get selected for every submission of theirs, but there are some things you can to maximize the effectiveness of the ones you make:

• Start by submitting to appropriate gig listings for yourself. Check out this article for tips on selecting the right gigs to submit to. (more…)

Sonicbids helps artists connect with promoters through the many tools in their accounts. Many artists love the “Email my EPK” tool, which sends your EPK within an email (not as an attachment or separate link) to a recipient.

Keep in mind that promoters can get inundated with press kits (online and otherwise) from artists who’ve done little or no research about who they’re sending to or what the gig is. This kind of artist is a huge drain on a promoter’s time and resources, because such artists all have to be reviewed and are often totally inappropriate for the gig. Trust us: You don’t want promoters to be in that group. Make it easy for promoters to tell immediately that you’re professional and genuinely a good choice for them. (more…)