Your EPK — electronic press kit — is the page bookers look at before they decide whether to reply to your email. A clean, well-built EPK can mean the difference between a venue saying yes and never responding at all. The good news: a working EPK doesn't need to be fancy. It needs to be fast, honest, and structured for the way bookers actually read.
How bookers actually read an EPK
A booker spends thirty to ninety seconds on your EPK. They scroll once, watch ten to twenty seconds of your top live video, glance at your bio, and decide. If they have to dig for anything, they leave. That means your EPK can't be a wall of text or a maze of links — it has to deliver the most important information in the first scroll. Build it for someone half-distracted on a phone, not a journalist writing a feature.
The one live video that does most of the work
The single most important item in your EPK is one strong live performance video at the top of the page. Not a music video. Not a studio session. A real live clip — single song, clear audio, decent visuals, recent. This is the booker's only real way to answer: "Can this artist actually deliver in a room?" If you only have one good thing in your EPK, make it this. Embed the video directly so it plays without leaving the page. Don't make them click out to YouTube.
Two to three studio tracks
Below the live video, embed two to three of your strongest studio tracks — usually Spotify or Bandcamp players. Pick the songs that best represent the kind of show you want to be booked for. If you want listening room gigs, lead with your most intimate song. If you want to play bars, lead with your most energetic. Don't dump your entire discography. Bookers don't have time to triage. Curate.
A bio that says what you sound like
Your bio is not the place for poetry. It's the place to answer: who are you, what do you sound like, and where are you in your career? A good bio is two short paragraphs. First paragraph: project type, genre, one or two reference artists, and a current location. Second paragraph: traction and credibility — recent venues, press, streaming numbers, tours, or notable supports. Write in third person. Keep it under 200 words. Update it every six months. Most artist bios are full of adjectives and empty of facts; flip that ratio.
Photos that work in real-world placements
Include three to four high-resolution photos: one tight headshot, one wide live shot, one promotional/portrait shot, and ideally one horizontal landscape shot for press use. JPG is fine. Each photo should be at least 1500 pixels on the long side and credit the photographer. Bad lighting, blurry phone shots, or selfies tank your credibility instantly. If you don't have great photos, this is the highest-ROI investment you can make for under $200 in most cities.
Have a clear stats block on the page: monthly listeners on Spotify, total streams if impressive, social follower counts if they're meaningful, recent ticketed show numbers ("sold 95/120 tickets at [Venue], March 2025"), past supports for touring acts, and any press mentions. List them as bullet points. Bookers love bullet points because they can scan them in five seconds. Include a downloadable stage plot and input list if you play with a full band — this signals you're a professional act.
End the EPK with one clear contact section. Real human name, real email, and ideally a phone number. If you have separate booking and press contacts, list them separately. Do not require bookers to fill out a contact form — that's a friction point that loses you opportunities. If you're booking yourself, just say so: "For booking, contact [Your Name] directly." That's professional, not amateur.
The EPK trap is over-stuffing. Don't include: a long origin story, a list of every song you've written, your full lyrics, multiple genre tags that contradict each other, generic stock photos, every social media link you own, autoplaying music, animated GIFs, or video testimonials from your friends. Cut anything that doesn't help a booker decide "yes." Length is not the goal. Speed of decision is the goal.
You have three reasonable options: a dedicated EPK platform (Sonicbids, Bandzoogle, Music Glue), a one-page section of your own artist website, or a single Notion or Carrd page with a custom domain. Any of them work. What matters is that the link is permanent, fast-loading, mobile-friendly, and easy to update. Avoid Google Drive folders and PDF downloads — bookers won't click them.
Once your EPK is dialed in, the limiting factor stops being your materials and starts being how many of the right venues see them. That's where Estelle comes in — keeping a record of which bookers have already received your EPK, who's seen it, and when to circle back, so a sharper EPK actually translates into more confirmed dates on your calendar.