A cultural journalist receives between twenty and fifty pitches a day from artists wanting coverage. Most are discarded in ten seconds. The fastest way to get discarded: sending the wrong document.
Confusing a press release with an EPK — or sending both at once without explaining what each is for — signals immediately that the artist doesn’t understand how professional communication works. A journalist who spots it moves on.
Two documents, two purposes
Press release
Today’s news. A short text (300–500 words) that explains one thing: a release, an award, a collaboration, an important date. It has a journalistic angle — it answers who, what, when, where and why now.
It’s sent when you have a specific piece of news. When you don’t, it’s not sent.
EPK (digital press kit)
Your permanent portfolio. A web page — or web document — with all your professional information: bio, high-res photos, videos, contact. It’s not a news item: it’s who you are.
It’s not sent proactively. It’s linked or attached as a complement to a press release, or shared when someone requests it.
The most common mistake
An artist releases an album. They write an email to a journalist explaining their background since 2015, attach three files and finish with “sending over some material in case you’d like to cover it.”
Problems:
- The journalist can’t identify the journalistic angle (the news is the album release, but it only appears at the end)
- The email is too long to be a press release and too disorganised to be a useful EPK
- The attachments may be too heavy to open
How to do it correctly
The journalist who wants more goes to the EPK. The one who doesn’t has still read the news and can decide.
To learn more about the EPK itself, read What is an EPK and why you need one.
If you want help building an EPK or writing effective press releases, tell us about your project.