An electronic press kit (EPK) is a single web page or PDF that gives a booker, journalist, playlist curator or music supervisor everything they need to say yes to you: who you are, what you sound like, proof that people care, and how to reach you. It replaces the folder of photos, bios and PDFs that used to travel by email, and it is judged in about a minute.
This page gives you the template (nine sections, with what to write in each), a downloadable copy, the mistakes that get kits closed, and a free builder that hosts the kit for you.
Who needs an EPK, and when
Anyone pitching their music to a person rather than an algorithm. The same kit does four jobs; what changes is which section the reader opens first.
| Who is reading | What they open first | When you send it |
|---|
| Venue booker or promoter | Shows, live video, booking contact | 2 to 4 months before the date you want |
| Journalist, blog, radio | Bio, press quotes, a streamable track | 4 to 6 weeks before release for premieres; 2 to 4 weeks for reviews |
| Playlist curator | Discography, listener numbers, the track itself | Before release, with the pre-release link |
| Sync (music supervisor, library) | Discography, ownership of masters and publishing, contact | Any time; sync is not release-timed |
The timing rows for press come from OnesToWatch's pitching guide, which recommends pitching premieres four to six weeks out and reviews two to four weeks out. One number worth knowing before you pitch any blog: when Stage read the feeds of 5,077 music blogs in September 2026, only 33.8% had published anything in the previous 90 days (method and genre table here). Check the date of the last post before you send the kit.
The 9 sections an EPK needs
These are the nine sections in the template below and in Stage's EPK builder. Header, bio and contact are required. The other six are optional, and an empty section should be left out of the kit rather than filled with a placeholder.
1. Header
Your artist name, a one-line tagline and your city. The tagline is genre plus one true detail, not a slogan: "Electronic · Neo-shoegaze · Berlin" works; "Redefining sound" does not. The city matters more than most artists think, because bookers route by region and journalists cover scenes.
2. Bio
Two to four sentences. Say what you make, where you are from, what you have done that a stranger can check (a release, a tour, a placement), and what is next. Write it in the third person so a journalist can paste it. Keep a longer version (150 to 250 words) in a text file for the outlets that ask, but the kit itself should carry the short one. Cut every adjective that you could not defend to a sceptical editor.
3. Stats
Monthly listeners, followers, top cities, and release count. Take them from Spotify for Artists and Apple Music for Artists, round them honestly ("214k monthly listeners", not "214,318"), and date them. Small numbers are fine; invented or stale numbers are not, because the reader can open Spotify in a second tab. If you have no streaming numbers yet, use live numbers instead: shows played, cities, a sold-out room. If your streaming dashboard is connected to Stage, the free Data Stream shows monthly listeners, followers and top cities, refreshed about once a day.
4. Press
Three quotes maximum, each attributed to the outlet and, where possible, linked. One sharp sentence beats a paragraph. A quote from a regional blog that a booker has heard of is worth more than a generic line from a site nobody can place. If you have no press yet, leave the section out; a kit with no press section reads better than a kit quoting a friend's newsletter.
5. Discography
Title, year and type (single, EP, album) for each release, newest first, with artwork. Link each one to a smart link or your preferred store rather than to one platform. For sync readers, add a line stating whether you control both the master and the publishing, because that single fact decides whether a supervisor can clear your track quickly.
6. Shows
Upcoming dates first, then a short list of notable past shows (venue, city, who you supported). Date, venue, city, ticket link. Nothing says "active act" to a booker faster than a real calendar, and nothing says "inactive" faster than a shows section whose newest entry is two years old. Remove past dates as they pass.
7. Music and video
One embedded player (Spotify or Bandcamp) and one video, preferably live. A phone-shot live clip with good audio tells a booker more than a polished lyric video. The point of this section is that the reader never has to leave the page to hear you.
8. Stage plot and tech rider
Only for live pitches, but essential there. A one-page stage plot (who stands where, inputs, monitors) and a tech rider (channel list, backline you bring, backline you need) as downloadable PDFs. Promoters forward these straight to the sound engineer; a kit that includes them saves a round of emails and marks you as easy to work with.
9. Contact
Booking email, press email (they can be the same), website, and your main social handles. Put a real name next to the booking address. This section is the one every booker scrolls to, so it goes at the bottom of the page where they expect it, and it should never be hidden behind a form.
Download the template
The template is a plain, fill-in-the-blanks version of the nine sections. Print it and fill it in, or paste its text into any builder.
The PDF follows the same sections and word limits as this page: bio 2 to 4 sentences, three press quotes, newest release first, upcoming shows first, contact last. It splits the bio into a short and a long version and gives photos their own box, so it has ten numbered boxes under the name and one-line header.
Or build it in Stage and get a hosted link
Stage's EPK builder is a free, click-to-edit version of this template. What it does, as of October 2026:
- The same nine sections: header, bio, stats, press, discography, shows, music and video, stage and rider, contact. Empty sections are hidden on the public page rather than shown as placeholders.
- 116 templates, all free to use: 15 classic designs (MUSE, MONOLITH, GHOST NOTE, SOLAR, FILM, WIRE, VELVET, ATELIER, CANVAS, EDITORIAL, FOLIO, MARQUEE, NEON, SLATE, EMBER), 21 genre templates for rock, indie, pop and rap (AMPLIFIER, HEADLINE TOUR, GIG FLYER, LETTER, SWASH, STILL LIFE, VHS, SCRAPBOOK, ERA, CONTACT SHEET, OUT NOW, CLOSE-UP, DESKTOP, VOID, HEAVYWEIGHT, SYSTEM, PORTAL, SPOTLIGHT, QUOTE WALL, BACKSTAGE, TYPEWRITER), and 80 motion templates with animated backgrounds, ten for each of eight genres: electronic, indie, hip-hop, trap, rock, jazz, pop and producer.
- A hosted share link at `stage.groovegainer.com/epk/your-name`. Free on every plan, no time limit, opens read-only in any browser, and updates automatically whenever you save. Slug rules: letters, numbers and hyphens, 3 to 60 characters.
- Embedded Spotify and YouTube, press quotes with attribution, a shows list with ticket links, and downloadable stage plot and tech rider files.
- A "what a booker sees" checklist in the publish panel: bio, a real photo, music, booking contact, and one piece of proof (a press quote, a listener count or an upcoming show). It advises and never blocks. Stock placeholder photos never publish, so the checklist asks for one real press photo.
- Autosave as you edit, and a snapshot link for one-off sends: the snapshot carries the kit as it was when you copied it, so it does not change when you edit later.
- Pro adds PDF export (print-ready), standalone HTML export you can host anywhere, and the option to hide the "Powered by Groove Gainer Stage" line. Pro is $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year, with a 14-day money-back guarantee on the first payment. Free kits always carry the Stage line.
Common mistakes
- A phone screenshot as the press photo. One landscape press photo at 2000px wide or more, with the artist's face visible, does most of the work. Bookers use it for the listing; journalists use it for the article.
- The ten-paragraph bio. Nobody reads past the second paragraph. Keep the long version in a file and send it on request.
- A PDF with no links. If the kit is a PDF, every release, video and contact must be a clickable link. A reader who has to type a URL will not.
- Stats without a date. "50k monthly listeners" means nothing without "as of September 2026". Dated numbers are trusted; undated numbers are assumed to be the peak.
- Shows from two years ago at the top. Sort upcoming first. If there are none, title the section "Selected shows" and keep it to the notable ones.
- A contact form instead of an email. Bookers forward kits to colleagues. A form cannot be forwarded.
- Logos for "as heard on" without a link. Each claim should be clickable to the article, the episode or the playlist.
- A kit that goes stale. A hosted page you edit in place beats an attached PDF that lives in a hundred inboxes with last year's numbers.
How much does an EPK cost?
Nothing, if you use a template and host it yourself or on a free builder. This page's template is free, and Stage's hosted EPK link is free on every plan with no time limit.
Paid options sit in three bands. Pre-made Canva and Google Docs templates on Etsy sell for roughly $6 to $10 per download (observed on the "epk template for musicians" results page, October 2026). Website builders charge a monthly fee for an EPK page: Bandzoogle's EPK-only plan is $6.95 a month, or $6.37 a month billed annually (checked on bandzoogle.com/pricing, 4 October 2026). A designer or publicist building a custom kit charges by project, and those rates vary too widely by country and scope to quote a useful range here; if you go that route, ask for the kit as an editable web page or document rather than a flat PDF, so you can update the stats yourself.
The expensive mistake is not the fee. It is a kit that cannot be updated, so the numbers in it quietly age.
FAQ
What should be in an EPK?
Nine sections: a header with your name, tagline and city; a bio of two to four sentences; dated streaming or live stats; up to three attributed press quotes; a discography with links; upcoming and selected past shows; one embedded track and one video; a stage plot and tech rider for live pitches; and a contact section with a real booking email. Leave out any section you cannot fill rather than padding it.
What format should an EPK be in?
A web page you can update, with a PDF as a backup for people who ask for an attachment. A hosted page can be fixed when a show is added or a number changes; a PDF in someone's inbox cannot. If you do send a PDF, keep it to one or two pages and make every title and contact a clickable link.
How do I create an EPK for free?
Download the PDF template on this page and fill in the nine sections, or build the same nine sections in a free builder that hosts the page for you. Stage's EPK builder is free on every plan with every template, and the hosted link has no time limit; only PDF and HTML export are paid.
Are EPKs still a thing in 2026?
Yes. The format changed from a zipped folder to a web page, but bookers, publicists, radio producers and music supervisors still ask for "your EPK" or "a one-sheet" because it is the fastest way to evaluate an act they do not know. Many submission forms, from festivals to sync libraries, have a field for the link.
How long should an EPK bio be?
Two to four sentences on the kit itself, around 50 to 80 words. Keep a 150-to-250-word version in a separate file for outlets that request a long bio. The short version should state what you make, where you are from, one checkable achievement and what is coming next.
Build yours
Download the template above, or open Stage, pick one of the 116 templates, fill the nine sections and publish a hosted link in the same session. Free, no card, no time limit. Start at stage.groovegainer.com. Plans and what Pro adds are on the pricing page; the step-by-step is in the Help Center. For real kits to study, read EPK examples that get booked; to point your kit at a release page, see the music smart links guide.
Corrections: info@groovegainer.com.
