E urope - Parent Directory

SO, WHAT’S THE SCOOP WITH ELECTRONIC
PRESS KITS?
by Panos Panay, CEO Sonic Bids
© 2009 All Rights Reserved. Used By Permission
It seems that the big buzz out there in the music word today is all about
Electronic Press Kits (EPK). Should independent musicians use an
EPK or a traditional press kit when approaching club promoters, festival
o rganizers, radio programmers or record label A&R representatives? Do
they work as well as regular press kits or should one stick with the tried
and true method of snail mail kits? Are industry insiders even using them?
Electronic press kit, why is it important?
The answer is simple: like every other major innovation over the years
ranging from the Compact Disc to the MP3, the industry was slow to
initially accept it but it’s fast becoming the ubiquitous standard that
everyone from up-and-coming independent artists to word-renown festival
directors is using to send and receive information about bands and artists
from around the globe.
An EPK is like a virtual passport that you can use again and again
to gain entry into hundreds of conferences, festivals, clubs, music
competitions, colleges, or to even get your songs played on radio or
reviewed by record companies or music producers. It contains everything
your regular press kit contains and more: music samples, high-resolution
photos, bio, press reviews, and even an up-to-date gig calendar (try that
with a regular press kit). W h a t ’s great about an EPK is that it takes
literally 20 minutes to create one online and you can put it to use and start
saving money almost immediately. For the cost of little more than sending
out two regular press kits, you can sign up for an account, create an
electronic press kit, and email it out to anyone, anywhere, at anytime. It not
only communicates all the information that is found in your average press
kit or web site, but it does so more quickly, more efficiently and far more
e ff e c t i v e l y. Think how mind-blowing it is to be able to email someone
everything they need to know about you or your band as soon as you get
o ff the phone with them (or better yet, while you are even still talking with
t h e m ) .
Cost effective solution
Think of the implications of this innovation for the average up-and-coming
artist. For the first time in history, there is no direct link between how many
people you can reach and the cost of reaching them. For example, with a
traditional press kit there is a vast cost difference between sending out 10,
100, or 1,000 of them. This means that even though today an independent
artist has access to an unprecedented amount of information, the ability to
take full advantage of this has, until now, been limited (consider the cost
involved in sending a regular press kit to every single possible contact in
this guide.)
The Electronic Press Kit has changed all this. Every day there are
artists that are sending out their EPK to say, 100, or 200 college
promoters at practically zero cost. These artists are receiving offers from
people that normally they would have had to spend way too much money
to reach (and often paying way more in reaching them than the actual fee
they receive). The cost and effort of emailing an EPK to all these
promoters is a small fraction of the corresponding investment in regular
press kits – not to mention the benefits of the fact that communication is
practically immediate (versus waiting for a week or so to get a press kit in
the mail).
C o n c l u s i o n
Does all this mean that you can go ahead and recycle all your physical kits
right after you finish reading this article? Well, my prediction is that “hard”
copy press kits are going the way of the vinyl and the cassette tape but like
any other new technology, adoption takes a while — and there are still the
technology laggards. Traditional press kits and CDs still have their place
(for now) but my advice is to save your money and send them to the
increasingly fewer people that specifically ask for them after they review
your electronic press kit. Then you at least know that these are high
prospects that are worth spending an extra $20 in trying to communicate
with them.
Panos Panay is the founder and CEO of Sonicbids, the online pioneer of
the Electronic Press Kit (EPK) platform. The service currently has over
70,000 re g i s t e red artist members and 6,000 active promoter members who
actively use EPK’s to connect and communicate with each other on a daily
b a s i s .
WRITING A BAND BIO
by Suzanne Glass, Indie-Music.com
© 2009 All Rights Reserved. Used By Permission
Having a little trouble coming up with a decent band bio? Check out these
s u g g e s t i o n s :
♦
1. D o n ’t worry about writing a book. One page or even a few paragraphs
is fine. In fact, most people don’t want to read any more than that.
2. Do emphasize your strong points while minimizing areas where you
lack. If you have played gigs with well known bands, be sure to list it.
If you haven’t played many gigs, don’t bother mentioning the fact. Go
on to your recording, or your other musical experience. Also, while
i t ’s OK to “hype” a little bit, never tell any out-and- out lies or make a
boast you might not be able to come through on. It will come back to
haunt you, and then you will lose all credibility in the reader’s eyes.
Not to mention these music people talk to each other...and HOW!
3. Do use your band’s letterhead to write it on. (You DO have a logo and
letterhead, right?) Be consistent in your entire promo package with the
image, logo, etc.
4. D o n ’t say your band’s music is “not able to be classified”. Aside from
the fact that a million other bands say the same thing, the music
industry contact reading your bio wants and NEEDS to know who
you are comparable to. For instance, if someone recommends a movie
to you, you probably need to know if it’s a horror flick, a romance or
whatever before you decide if you want to see it.
5. Do use humor or slight sarcasm if it fits your band’s image. But avoid
the temptation to go overboard. A bit of humor can make a low budget
press kit seem better. Too much is a loser. Also, some types of bands
fit into a niche that is more open to humor. Just make sure what you
say will not offend anyone.
6. D o n ’t, repeat, DO NOT say you are the coolest, best, or greatest band
around, or anything even remotely close to it. Music Industry people
want to decide for themselves if you are good or not. Avoid the
flowery adjectives.
7. Do list the band’s major musical influences. This goes along with
trying to give the person an idea of what you sound like. It can work
great to come up with a unique description of your music. For
instance, Indiana guitarist Michael Kelsey describes his music as
“Progressive, aggressive acoustic music”.
8. Unless your band has former members of Aerosmith and Van Halen in
it, it’s probably not a good idea to do one of those story bios. “John
was playing in Joe’s band until the singer quit. Then John met Steve,
who was playing with the Nobodys. They formed a band called T h e
Losers. When the drummer quit, they changed their name to The New
Losers”, etc. This is irrelevant and, well, boring. Not to mention it
shows your lack of ability to keep a band together. It is OK to use an
interesting line or two about how the band got started, or how songs
are written. It’s also OK to add any interesting facts, like maybe your
band donates all proceeds from their cassette sales to charity.
9. Of course you want to list all your major accomplishments. A n y
recordings, awards, education, or whatever.
10. A quick concise listing of each member is good. Sometimes you can
do fun things with this like a listing of each members’ favorite drink,
or other non-relevant stuff. But make sure it works. Nobody really
cares what your favorite anything is, so it has to be part of a humorous
image. If any members have played in well known bands, it’s good to
mention it here, but don’t make a big deal out of it.
11. You may use a different version of your bio depending on who will be
receiving it. For instance, a record label and a club booking agent
www.indiebible.com The Indie Bible – 10 th Edition