Artist Press Kits and Media Outreach
An electronic press kit (EPK) is the single package that makes it easy for anyone — a blog, a booker, a curator, a journalist — to quickly understand who you are and cover your music. Media outreach is how you actually get it in front of them.
What Belongs in an EPK
- A short and long bio — use the Artist Bio Generator to draft both versions.
- High-resolution photos — at least one clean portrait and one performance or candid shot, sized for both web and print use.
- Your music — a smart link (see the Smart Link Generator) so anyone can listen on their preferred platform in one click.
- Any past coverage or placements — even small blog features or local press are worth including; it signals you're not starting from zero.
- Contact information — a real email that gets checked, not a general inbox that goes unread.
- Social and streaming stats — only if they're genuinely a strength; skip this section if the numbers are still small.
Keep it to one clean page or a short PDF — a bloated ten-page kit gets skimmed at best, ignored at worst.
How Media Outreach Actually Works
Build a targeted list, not a mass list
A handful of blogs, playlisters, or writers who've actually covered similar artists before beats a hundred random contacts who never will.
Research before you pitch
Read a few of their recent posts or features. A pitch that references something specific they've covered stands out immediately from generic mass outreach.
Write a short, specific pitch
A clear subject line, two to three sentences on what makes this release worth their time, a direct listening link, and a simple ask. No lengthy backstory up front — that's what the EPK is for.
Follow up once, politely
A single, brief follow-up after a week or two is normal and expected. Repeated follow-ups tend to hurt more than help.
Track what you send and hear back
A simple log of who you contacted, when, and the response (or lack of one) helps you avoid re-pitching the same contact too soon and shows you which outlets are actually worth prioritizing next time.
What's Actually Realistic
Most outreach doesn't get a response, and that's normal rather than a sign your music or pitch is failing — press and playlist inboxes are genuinely overwhelmed. Smaller, niche, and genre-specific outlets are far more realistic starting points than major publications, and a small number of quality placements from outlets that actually fit your sound tends to do more for your career than a large number of irrelevant ones.
The same personalized, non-generic approach that works for press also applies to playlist curators — see the Playlist Pitch Assistant for a tool that builds that pitch for you.