How to Make an EPK (With No Budget)

You don't need a designer, a photographer, or a subscription to any software to build an EPK that works. You need a handful of assets you probably already have, arranged in the right order. Here's the whole process, step by step.

Before building anything, collect the raw materials. Most artists are surprised how much of this already exists somewhere: photos from your last few shows or studio sessions (pull originals where you can, since Instagram compresses images), your Spotify/SoundCloud/Bandcamp URLs, show history reconstructed from your calendar, DMs, or a promoter group chat, and any past bio — even an old, bad one gives you a starting point to edit rather than a blank page.

Ten minutes of gathering here saves you from stalling out later trying to remember a venue name or find a decent photo while also trying to write.

Write the 150-word version first — it's the one you'll use most and the easiest length to trim or expand later. Structure that works: sentence 1 — who you are, where you're based, what genre. Sentences 2–3 — what your sound actually does, in specifics, not adjectives like "unique" or "innovative." Sentences 4–5 — concrete credentials: releases, shows, press, or co-signs, named specifically. Last sentence — what's next, to signal you're active.

Don't write about your childhood, your influences at length, or your "passion for music." A booker skimming submissions needs to know what you sound like and what you've done, not your origin story. Once the 150-word version is solid, cut it to one sharp sentence for a 50-word version, and expand it for a 300-word version if you need one for a feature.

You need at minimum one photo that's in focus, high-resolution, and represents how you actually look performing or working. A phone photo from a real set, well-lit, beats a low-effort "professional" photo that doesn't look like you.

If you genuinely have nothing usable, ask a friend to shoot you at your next show or in a five-minute studio session with your phone. Natural or practical light works better than a flash. You're not going for a magazine cover — you're going for honest and clear.

Resist the urge to link your entire catalog. Pick your most recent release, your best-performing track if one clearly stands out, and one track that best represents what you'd actually play live or release next. Link directly to each track, not just your artist profile page — the fewer clicks between your EPK and someone actually hearing you, the better.

If you've played shows recently, list them — venue, city, and date, most recent first. If you're just starting out and don't have shows yet, it's fine to leave this section short or skip it entirely. A sparse-but-honest EPK reads better than one padded with a two-year-old date that makes you look inactive.

This is the step that actually determines whether your EPK generates a reply. Include a booking email you check regularly, your Instagram or primary social, and your streaming profile links. Skip "DM me for bookings" as your only contact method — it works fine for casual scene networking, not as the sole contact line on something you're sending to a venue or press outlet.

You have two paths here, and the right one depends on how much time you want to spend on formatting versus writing.

Manual path: put everything into a single Google Doc, Notion page, or a simple one-page PDF, in this order — photo, one-line hook, 150-word bio, music links, shows, contact block. Keep formatting plain. For the exact section-by-section layout, including a stage plot and rider template, see the full EPK template.

Automatic path: claim a handle on thewav and its free EPK builder turns the exact same inputs — bio, photos, music links, shows — into a live page. The advantage over the manual path isn't just speed: when you update your bio or add a show later, every link you've already sent stays current instead of pointing to an outdated file.

Before your EPK goes anywhere near a booker's inbox: click every link yourself, from your phone, on mobile data (not wifi) — broken or slow-loading links are the single fastest way to lose a reply. Read your bio out loud once — anything awkward to say out loud usually reads awkward too. Ask one person outside your immediate scene to skim it for 20 seconds and tell you what they understood.

An EPK is only as useful as it is accurate. Set a recurring reminder — monthly is enough — to check that your shows list is current and your bio still reflects what you're doing. If you're using a static file, this means re-editing and re-sending it periodically. If you're using a live page like a thewav EPK, this step mostly takes care of itself: update your profile once, and it's current everywhere the link has already been sent.