The 6 Must Haves in your Digital Press Kit

There are many possible benefits of having a press kit accessible on your band’s website. It’s a section of your website that is dedicated to giving a professional snapshot full of useful information and images that people from the media can in various different ways. By putting this information together yourselves, you avoid the possibility that the media will use whatever photos or sound clips of your band that they can find online. It goes without saying that this has the potential to be very unflattering.

It’s best to take the whole situation into your own hands before this happens. Here is a list of some of the important things that you should be including in your band’s press kit:

 

Bio

Take the time to sit down together and write out a well organized biography for your band that really captures the image and purpose of your music. You should include different levels of information for those who might just need a quick bio and for those that might want to include more information. You can do this by writing a brief bio, one that is more descriptive, and then one that is your full complete biography.

 

High Quality Photos

Having photos that are professionally taken available on your band’s page is invaluable for preserving your public image. By having these available for the media to use for their blogs, events pages, and write-ups you can avoid having images put out there that are old, unprofessional, or unflattering. You should include several band photos and individual photos of each member of your band.

 

Contact Info

Make sure that you include a way for people to get in contact with your band whether that be an email that your band uses or the contact information of your booking manager. It’s important that the media can get ahold of your band in case they are interested in getting more information on a show, your band, or getting a quote for their article.

 

Links To Your Social Media Pages

Social Media is vital for bands in today’s cyberworld. It is an amazing tool for fans to stay connected with their favorite bands and stay up-to-date on tour information.It can be difficult to find your band’s page, however, especially if you have a name that doesn’t particularly stand out. Many people working in the media might not take the extra effort to try and look you up on their own, but, if you have links to all your pages on your media kit page, they will be just a quick click away.

 

Demo Music

You should include about three or four of your band’s best songs on your media press kit page for those wanting to write about your band. This is the perfect solution for those who might not be willing, or have the time, to make it out to your shows. This gives them an opportunity to hear a high quality recording of your music to get a good grasp of your sound. This also prevents them from having to resort to listening to fan recorded video on YouTube that might not be very representative.

 

News Clippings

A collection of your band’s previous interviews, reviews, and articles are a valuable asset to have on your press kit page so other writer can quote them, and get a good feel of the public opinion of your band. If your are using links from a news outlets page you should regularly check to make sure these links are still working as news outlets often take down older stories. You can avoid this by buying digital copies of interviews and stories from them for a small fee.