A press kit is the material itself: the bio, the photos, the logo, the riders and the contacts a promoter or journalist needs to announce an artist. The word comes from the printed folder a label sent to newspapers, and it survives for the same pack sent as a PDF or a zip.
Press kit and EPK
An EPK is a press kit sent electronically, and today the two words mean the same pack. Booking emails and festival forms ask for an EPK. Labels and publicists sometimes still say press kit.
What is in it
- A short bio and a long one.
- Press photos at full size, with the photographer's credit.
- A logo, as a file that scales.
- The technical rider and the hospitality rider.
- Contacts: who books, who handles press, who manages.
Why it goes stale
A press kit that travels as a file stopped changing the moment it was sent. A new photo, a new agent or a rewritten bio never reaches the people who already hold the copy, which is why old images keep turning up on posters years later.