A press kit is not a document about you. It is a set of assets other people need in order to do their job quickly: a promoter building a flyer, a journalist filing before deadline, a festival filling a programme. The measure of a good one is how little they have to ask you for.
Three biographies, not one
Write your biography at three lengths and publish all three. A promoter posting to Instagram needs one sentence. A club listing needs a short paragraph. A feature needs the long version. If you publish only the long one, someone else will cut it badly and that cut becomes the one that circulates.
- One line, roughly 15 words, for listings and captions
- Short, roughly 60 words, for club and festival programmes
- Long, 200 to 300 words, for press and features
Photographs people can actually use
At least two, and at least one shot horizontally. Print needs high resolution, so publish the full size rather than a compressed web copy. A portrait crop is what most artists have and the thing every flyer designer immediately asks to replace.
Credit the photographer next to the image. It costs nothing, it is usually contractually required, and photographers notice.
A tech rider, even a short one
For a DJ set this is four lines about the mixer and the number of decks you expect. For a live set it is a stage plot and an input list. Publishing it stops a conversation that otherwise happens by email at the worst possible moment, usually the week of the show.
Music that plays without a login
A recent mix and two or three current records, embedded so they play in place. Not a Dropbox folder, not a link that has expired, not a SoundCloud track that has been taken down for a sample. Check these twice a year, because dead embeds are the most common rot on an artist site.
Dates and one contact address
Upcoming shows prove you are active. One booking address, clearly labelled, prevents an enquiry going to the wrong place. If you have an agent, that address is theirs, and yours should not appear next to it.
Host it as a page, not a PDF
A PDF is a snapshot that starts aging the moment it is sent, and the version circulating is always the one from two years ago. A page at a stable address can be updated in place, so the link a promoter saved in January is still correct in November. Keep a downloadable version for the people who insist, but the page is the source.
Common questions
- Do I need a press kit if I am not touring yet?
- Yes, and it is easier to write before you need it. The first booking enquiry usually arrives with a same-day deadline for assets.
- What resolution should press photos be?
- Publish the original from the shoot. Print asks for 300dpi at the size it will run, and there is no way to recover detail from a web-sized copy.
- Should the press kit be public or behind a password?
- Public. The point is removing friction. Anything you would not want public, such as fees or personal contact details, does not belong in a press kit anyway.