An electronic press kit (EPK) is a press kit

Press kit

A press kit, often referred to as a media kit in business environments, is a pre-packaged set of promotional materials of a person, company, or organization distributed to members of the media for promotional use...

 equivalent in electronic

Electronic media

Electronic media are media that use electronics or electromechanical energy for the end-user to access the content. This is in contrast to static media , which today are most often created electronically, but don't require electronics to be accessed by the end-user in the printed form...

 form. An EPK usually takes the form of a website or e-mail, though they are also known to exist in CD and DVD form.
The first known EPK, as we know it today, premiered live on the web on January 8, 1995 and was invented and given the exact name electronic press kit or EPK by Andre Gray, the inventor of online music sales certifications and winner of The Johannes Gutenberg Inventor Prize. Gray's EPK featured a bio, audio clips, videos, photos, press, set list, basic technical requirements, and a calendar and featured R&B singer and songwriter Aaron Hall as the first artist ever to have an EPK created on their behalf. Gray's template is considered the standard bearer, regardless of industry or medium.

Distribution formats

An electronic press kit can be distributed via one of the following media:

• CD
• DVD
  DVD
  A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
  
  
• Video or audio cassettes
• The Internet
  Internet
  The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
  
   (e.g. E-mail
  E-mail
  Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
  
  , WWW
  World Wide Web
  The World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet...
  
  , newsgroup
  Newsgroup
  A usenet newsgroup is a repository usually within the Usenet system, for messages posted from many users in different locations. The term may be confusing to some, because it is usually a discussion group. Newsgroups are technically distinct from, but functionally similar to, discussion forums on...
  
  s, etc.)
• USB flash drive
  USB flash drive
  A flash drive is a data storage device that consists of flash memory with an integrated Universal Serial Bus interface. flash drives are typically removable and rewritable, and physically much smaller than a floppy disk. Most weigh less than 30 g...
  
  

Press kits are also typically available on corporate websites, and offer the kit in PDF format.

Contents

Contents of an electronic press kit depend on the industry and target audience. For instance, an EPK in the music industry might contain the following:

• Biography
• Music clips
• High resolution press photos
• Tour dates
• Promotional videos
• Offline website or website links
• Press reviews and interviews
• "RIYL" or "recommended if you like" list: a listing of artists of similar styles or genres
• Contact information
• High resolution photos or images of key executives, the company logo, products, etc.