When you’re a smaller artist, representing yourself is a must. You represent everything that is your band, your music, and yourself. Your press kit should be representative of this. A press kit, if you don’t know, is what you send out with new announcements, of new music, tours, etc. So, they’re pretty important and that means you have to do it right.
Your press kit should be a professional representation of you and your music. Packaging it just right is the key to getting people to actually read it and look into your music. Throwing together something just to have one is not how you should be managing your career as an independent artist. You have to take yourself as seriously as you want others to take you. It’s important that you have all the basic elements to your press kit to make yours stand out from the rest.
Bio
This is probably one of the hardest parts of the press kit. This is how everyone learns about who you are and what you’ve done. Highlighting career achievements, past releases, and background information about yourself as a person are just a few major points a bio should highlight. Your bio becomes a chance to share something real about your project and make a connection, so be sure to do it right.
If you need help writing a bio, Indie Band Guru can help you.
Photos/Images
Downloadable, professional, and high resolution photos are almost as essential as your music. Today’s digital world is making it important to have sharable images that represent yourself as an artist and the message you want to get across. Make sure to include 2 to 3 high resolution images in your press kit that would make for great sharing material by a media outlet.
Music
Probably the most important part of your press kit. No ifs, ands, or buts. Why else would you be creating a press kit if you didn’t have great music to promote? From your latest single, announcing your next album, or a collaboration with another artist, you should craft the press kit around what you’re releasing.
Also, it’s 2017, so make sure your music is streamable in some way. This could be anything from links to Dropbox that contain your full album to a private Soundcloud upload, but in some way your music needs to be made listenable by those you’re sending your press kit to. (If you’re not ready to share it, in part or whole, with the public yet, simply say so.)
Recent Press
If you’ve had any press coverage in the last year or so that beef up the image you’re working on, include it! Make sure you have links and short quotes from the article so that, in case a recipient doesn’t read the entire thing, they get the general idea of what you’re about from other outlets.
Contact Info
Having a professional looking email is super important to the industry taking your music seriously. Having a [yourbandname]@gmail.com even is an important step to making a more professional image for your music. This also makes it easier for media outlets to contact you if they want to take more about your music or journey as a band. Make sure it’s clearly listed in the press kit.
Social Media
As we’ve talked about before, social media is an important way to promote your music. It’s also a place for media outlets to find more about you and the latest news about your music. Including your social media links so they can be embedded into a review or tweet once a review goes live is a great way to gain followers.
No matter where you’re at in your career, a press kit is one of the most important ways to get yourself out there. From your new music to an upcoming tour, a press kit will come in handy for whatever you’re announcing. Keep yours updated so it’s less hassle when new big projects come out that you want to promote.
