EPK (Electronic Press Kit)
An EPK is a one-page digital packet with your bio, photos, music links, and contact info, built so anyone from a journalist to a booker can learn about you fast.
Why this matters
What is it?
EPK stands for Electronic Press Kit. It is a single document, usually a PDF or a webpage, that pulls together everything someone would need to write about you, book you, or feature your music: a short bio, a few high quality photos, links to your music and social pages, past press mentions if you have any, and your contact information or your manager's.
Think of it as your resume, but for music. Just like you would not walk into a job interview without something to hand over that summarizes who you are, you should not be reaching out to blogs, playlist curators, radio, or venues without something ready to send the moment they ask. Without one, you end up scrambling to find a good photo or write a bio from scratch every single time someone asks, and the ask often comes with a tight deadline.
A good EPK is short. Nobody wants to read three pages about you before they decide whether to cover your song. The best ones fit on one scrollable page: a striking photo, a two or three sentence bio, a music player or streaming links, 3 to 5 photos, and clear contact info. If you have any real press mentions, playlist placements, or notable numbers like stream counts, include those too, but do not pad it with things nobody asked for.
A simple example
Why you should care
When you'll use it
Common mistakes
- Sending a bio that reads like a novel instead of a short, punchy paragraph.
- Using low-quality or outdated photos that do not match how you currently look or perform.
- Forgetting to include direct contact information, forcing people to hunt for how to reach you.
Keep your EPK to one page and update it the same week you get any new press mention or photo, so it is never stale when someone asks for it.
Keep reading
A unique numeric code assigned to an entire release (single, EP, or album) that identifies it across stores and streaming platforms, similar to a barcode on a physical product.
A unique identifier assigned to a specific recording of a song, used to track plays, streams, and royalties for that exact version, distinct from the song's UPC.
The set of text information attached to your release, like song title, artist name, genre, and release date, that DSPs use to display and organize your music correctly.
A promotional tool that lets fans save an upcoming release to their streaming library or playlist before it's even out, so it appears automatically on release day.
A running list of every task that needs to happen before a song can go live, used to make sure nothing gets missed.
The recurring payments you earn every time your song gets streamed, sold, played on the radio, or used somewhere else.
The royalty paid to songwriters whenever their composition is reproduced, including every stream and download.
The royalty paid to songwriters when their composition is performed publicly, including radio, live shows, and some streaming plays.
The business of owning, registering, and collecting income from the songwriting side of your music, separate from the recording.
A simple written document that records who wrote what percentage of a song, signed before disputes can happen.
The organizations, like ASCAP and BMI, that collect performance royalties on behalf of songwriters and pay them out.
The company that takes your finished song and delivers it to Spotify, Apple Music, and every other store or streaming service.
DSP stands for Digital Service Provider, the industry term for streaming platforms and download stores like Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music.
A widely used digital distributor known for its subscription-based pricing and fast turnaround from upload to release across DSPs.
One of the earliest and longest-running digital music distributors, offering artists a one-time payment model with no subscription required.
A long-established digital distributor offering distribution, publishing administration, and other artist services, historically priced per release.
The specific day (and often time) you choose for your music to go live on streaming platforms and stores, set in advance through your distributor.
The full schedule of everything that needs to happen between now and release day, and after it, laid out with dates.
Playlist pitching is the process of submitting your song to curators, whether that is Spotify itself or independent playlist owners, hoping to get added.
Editorial playlists are playlists curated by a streaming platform's own staff, like Spotify's 'New Music Friday,' rather than by an individual listener.
How and roughly how much artists actually get paid for streams, and why the amount per stream varies so much between platforms.
The number of unique people who played at least one of your songs on Spotify in the last 28 days, shown on your artist profile.
The final audio polish applied to a finished mix, making it loud, consistent, and ready for release across all platforms.
The square image that represents your song or album everywhere it's sold or streamed.
Put this into a real release plan
Diamond Release turns terms like this into dated steps for your single, EP, or album — with the full 160-article Encyclopedia inside.