What Should Be in a Metal Band EPK?
What actually belongs in a metal band’s EPK: music, bio, photos, logo, live history, press coverage and contact details.
An EPK — electronic press kit — isn’t supposed to impress people with how many files you’ve collected.
It’s supposed to save them time.
A record label, promoter or journalist should be able to open one page or folder and quickly understand who your band is, hear the music and find the assets they need.
Put the music first
This should not require detective work.
Include:
- 1–3 representative songs
- Bandcamp/Spotify links
- relevant videos
- private unreleased material when necessary
If you’re approaching labels with an unreleased record, make the private stream obvious.
Have a short bio
Aim for roughly 100–150 words.
Tell people:
- where you’re from
- what you play
- what makes the project identifiable
- what you’re currently releasing
- one or two meaningful achievements
Avoid drowning everything in promotional adjectives.
“A devastating sonic assault combining crushing brutality with haunting atmospheric darkness...”
doesn’t tell an A&R person very much.
Include professional press photos
At minimum, have a good high-resolution image that media and labels are actually allowed to use.
Ideally include:
- horizontal image
- vertical image
- photographer credit
- high-resolution download
Use sensible filenames.
Your logo matters
Especially in metal.
Provide:
- transparent PNG
- high-resolution version
- vector file if available
Nobody wants to extract your band logo from a Facebook cover image.
Include meaningful live history
You don’t need to list every club show.
Highlight things that establish context:
- tours
- festivals
- notable support slots
- important venues
- regional activity
For example:
Recent appearances include support for X and Y, a six-date Northeast run and an appearance at Z Festival.
That’s plenty.
Should you include Spotify numbers?
If they’re useful.
There is no universal “10,000 monthly listeners” threshold.
A smaller but rapidly growing audience can be interesting. So can strong ticket sales, Bandcamp purchases or unusually active fans in one territory.
Useful metrics might include:
- monthly listeners
- streaming growth
- top territories
- Bandcamp sales
- merch sales
- mailing-list size
- live attendance
- YouTube performance
Use numbers that reveal something real.
Press coverage
Pick your strongest material.
Include:
- reviews
- interviews
- premieres
- radio
- respected blogs/publications
Three strong pieces of coverage usually communicate more than a wall containing 35 logos.
Make contact information impossible to miss
Include:
- band contact
- management if applicable
- booking contact if applicable
- location
- website/social links
Keep the EPK alive
A press kit is not something you build once and forget.
Update it after:
- new releases
- major shows
- tours
- lineup changes
- new photographs
- significant press
- major audience growth
Nothing screams “active professional band” quite like an EPK announcing:
NEW ALBUM COMING FALL 2022.