EPK for musicians: what to include, examples and a free template

What is an EPK?

An EPK, or electronic press kit, is your music's résumé: one page, sent as a link, that gives the people who can help you what they need to say yes. It took the place of the press kits artists used to mail on paper and CD.

Four kinds of people read it, and each looks for something different first:

• Venues and promoters want to know you can play and bring people: live video, past shows, where you've played.
• Journalists and bloggers want the story and the files: a bio they can paste, photos they can print, the new release.
• Playlist curators and radio want the music, at the top.
• Labels and managers want the music, your look, and what you've done so far.

Bandzoogle even offers separate EPK layouts for booking shows, for shows already booked, for media, for radio and curators, and for labels. You don't need five kits. Put the music first, keep every part short, and in your email point each person to the part they need.

What to include in an EPK

Music. Put your three to five best songs at the top, the strongest first: Musicians Institute notes that listeners may decide within 30 to 60 seconds. Link to the streaming services for released songs. For an unreleased song, use a private link, like a private SoundCloud track, Dropbox or DISCO. Don't attach audio files, and don't put a password on the music: busy people won't bother.

Bio. Write it in the third person, with your name in place of "I" or "we", so press and bookers can paste it as it is. Keep three lengths; the next section shows them.

Photos. Three to five professional, high-resolution photos: at least one headshot and one live shot, in both portrait and landscape. Offer a web size and a print size. Put the photographer's name next to each photo so press can credit them, and add the cover art of your latest release.

Video. One to three videos, embedded on the page. For bookers, a live video comes first. Musicians Institute says phone footage works if it shows your energy. A music video or short vertical clips of the new single help press and curators who post about you.

Press quotes. A line or two from reviews, with the outlet's name and a link to the full piece. No reviews yet? Leave the section out until you have one. A line from a radio host, a venue or a curator counts.

Highlights. A few real facts: shows, support slots, radio plays, playlists, streams. Only numbers you can show, with the month they're from ("Spotify monthly listeners, October 2026"). Bookers and labels can check your profiles, and a rounded-up number costs you more than a small true one.

Contact. One email for booking, one for press, and management if you have it, plus links to your streaming and social profiles. Test every link.

Live info. For shows: who plays what, a stage plot (where everyone stands on stage), an input list (every mic and cable the sound engineer has to connect) and a tech rider (what you bring and what you need). Bandzoogle lists these as what a venue needs once a show is booked. LiveEPK has a free stage plot maker and tech rider builder that work without an account.

Downloads. One folder with the photos, logo, cover art and all three bios, plus a PDF of the whole kit for people who want a file.

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Your bio in three lengths

Bandzoogle suggests keeping three versions:

Start all three the same way: who you are, what you sound like, where you're from. Then add what's new (the release, the tour) and two or three real highlights, at least one of them recent. The full version has room for the story behind the music. Name artists you sound like only if the comparison is fair, and skip the one every other artist in your genre uses.

EPK examples: what good ones do

You'll learn most from real ones. Bandzoogle's best electronic press kits and EPK Builder's examples, sorted by genre, are good places to browse. The good ones share the same habits:

• Music before anything else. The player is the first thing on the page.
• One look. Photos, colors and cover art that belong together, so a lot of content doesn't look messy.
• A clear title on every section, so a busy reader can scan.
• One or two videos, embedded, not a list of ten links.
• Short quotes, each with its source.
• Everything downloadable in one place, at full quality.
• Kept up to date. Musicians Institute suggests a check every three months, and sooner when there's news.

Our own press page is for two apps, not an artist, but it follows the same plan: descriptions ready to paste in two lengths, every image with its size, one zip with everything, and one email address.

EPK for bands, solo artists and DJs

The parts are the same; the weight shifts.

• Solo artist: your story carries the bio. If you play live with a band, say who's in it.
• Band: list every member and what they play, and give one contact for the whole band. The stage plot and input list matter more, because there's more on stage.
• DJ: put a recent mix where a band would put songs, and list your residencies and the events and venues you've played. In the rider, say which decks and mixer you need and how long your sets run.

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How to make an EPK

1. Gather the parts: song links, three bios, three to five photos, a video or two, quotes, highlights, contacts.
2. Choose where it lives: a page on your site, a Google Doc, or a builder (compared below).
3. Put the music first, then the rest in the order of the table above.
4. Add a download folder with the photos, logo, cover art and bios, and a PDF copy.
5. Test it like a stranger would. Open the link in a private window and on a phone. Play every song and click every link.
6. Send it as a link in a short, personal email, not as attachments.
7. Update it with every release, and every few months in between.

EPK builders compared

• Google Docs: Ari's Take notes that more artists now send a Doc that anyone with the link can open. It's plain, but it's free and quick to update.
• Your own website: the best home if you already have a site, as a page like yoursite.com/epk. Squarespace's Basic plan, for example, is $19 a month billed yearly.
• EPK Builder: the free plan holds one featured song, up to 10 photos and 5 sections. Pro adds a custom domain, more songs, videos, high-resolution downloads and page stats. Pro lists at $13 a month, and was on a half-price offer at $6.50 in October 2026.
• Bandzoogle: the EPK plan is one page with six preset layouts, a shareable link and PDF export, for $6.95 a month, or $6.37 a month billed yearly. There's a 14-day free trial.
• LiveEPK: free to build and publish, with a small LiveEPK badge on the page. $5 a month or $50 a year removes the badge and adds your own subdomain.
• Canva: there's no EPK category, but its media kit templates make a good one-page PDF (search for "musician"). Many are marked Pro.
• Linktree: fine as the link in your bio, but it's a list of links: no bio to paste and no photos to download. Paid plans are $6, $12 or $30 a month billed yearly.

Sonicbids, a booking site, also has EPKs, built for applying to gigs through it.

Our advice: start free. If you have a website, make the EPK a page on it. If you don't, a Google Doc you send today beats a designed kit you send next month. Pay for a builder when you want a designed page and don't want to run a whole site.

Free EPK template

Copy everything from here to the end of this section into a Google Doc or a page on your site. Replace each [bracket], and delete any part you don't have yet: a missing section looks better than an empty one.

[Artist name]

[Genre] from [city]. [One sentence on what you sound like.]

New: [Release title], out [date]. Listen: [streaming link]

Listen

1. [Your best song]: [link]
2. [Second song]: [link]
3. [Third song]: [link]

Bio

Short (50–100 words): [Name] is a [genre] [artist, band or DJ] from [city]. [What makes the music yours, in one sentence.] [Latest release] [is out or comes out] on [date].

Medium (150–250 words): [The short bio, plus how you started, who you work with, and two or three real highlights, one of them from this year.]

Full (300–500 words): [The medium bio, plus the story behind the new release, the shows and plans ahead, and one or two press quotes.]

Photos

• [Photo 1, landscape]: [download link]. Photo by [name].
• [Photo 2, portrait]: [download link]. Photo by [name].
• [Live photo]: [download link]. Photo by [name].
• [Cover art of the latest release]: [download link]
• Everything in one folder (photos, logo, cover art, bios, this kit as a PDF): [link]

Video

• [Live video: song, venue, year]: [link]
• [Music video, or short clips of the new single]: [link]

Press

• “[A short quote.]” [Outlet or person], [link to the full piece]

Highlights

• [A real number and the month it's from, like your Spotify monthly listeners in October 2026]
• [Notable shows, support slots, radio plays or playlists]

Shows

• [Date] · [Venue], [city]
• [Your best past show or festival]

Live

• Line-up: [who plays what]
• Set length: [minutes]
• Stage plot and input list: [link]
• Tech rider: [what you bring, and what you need from the venue]

Contact

• Booking: [name], [email]
• Press: [name], [email]
• Management: [name], [email]
• Links: [Spotify] · [Apple Music] · [Instagram] · [TikTok] · [YouTube] · [website]

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Short videos for your EPK

A live video gets you booked. For press, curators and your own posts, short vertical clips of the new single are handy too, because they can be posted as they are.

If you don't have those clips yet, Clips makes them. It's a Mac app: drop in the song, your footage or photos, and your lyrics, and it cuts a vertical lyric video for every part of the song (intro, verses, chorus, bridge), on the beat, with the words synced word by word. It exports 1080 × 1920 vertical videos or 1080 × 1080 square posts, named by song and part, ready for the EPK's download folder. It's free to try, with a small Clips tag on exports, and $99 once.

Questions