Most bookers open a web EPK first. A link loads on a phone in seconds and puts your music one tap away, with nothing to download. PDFs still have a job: some festivals, agencies and grant panels want an attachment, and some journalists like a file to save. Send a link by default and keep a short PDF ready for anyone who asks.
How bookers read your email
Picture a club promoter with 40 unread pitches on a Monday morning, reading on a phone. Your link opens in the browser with the first track one tap away. A PDF has to download, open in a viewer, then send the reader to Spotify or SoundCloud in another app before they hear a note. Every extra step loses readers.
Side by side
| Web EPK | PDF EPK | |
|---|---|---|
| Opens on a phone | Instantly, in the browser | After a download, in a viewer app |
| Music | Track links and cover art next to your bio | Links buried in the document, sometimes unclickable |
| Video | Plays on the page | Links out |
| Updates | Edit once, every link shows the new version | Send a new file each time |
| Gig dates | Stay current | Go stale the day you book a new show |
| Works offline | No | Yes |
| Printable | Poorly | Yes |
| Attachment limits | None, you send a link | Large files bounce or land in spam |
| Search engines | Indexable | Rarely found |
Where the web EPK wins
Your dates stay current. Book a show on Tuesday, add the date, and every promoter who opens your link on Wednesday sees the new date. The PDF you sent last month still lists the old calendar.
Music and video sit next to the pitch. Track links, cover art and a live video sit beside your bio and gig list, and a promoter who watches a clip on your page tends to keep reading.
Links survive forwarding. Forward your email to the head booker and the link still shows the current version. A forwarded PDF carries every outdated detail along.
People find you through search. A page under your artist name has a chance to rank when a promoter searches for you. A PDF in someone's inbox doesn't. The guide on ranking for your artist name goes further.
Where the PDF still wins
Formal submissions. Some festival applications, showcase panels and arts funding forms only take a single file upload, with no link field.
Offline reading. A programmer on a flight wants a file saved to the device.
Printing. A venue manager printing a stack of acts for a planning meeting needs pages sized for paper.
Agency rosters. Some booking agencies bundle artist one-sheets into one document for their buyers and ask for a PDF so the layout matches.
If one page covers these cases, read one-sheet vs EPK.
How to run both without double the work
Treat the web page as the source and the PDF as a snapshot.
- Build the web EPK first. Bio, music, gigs, photos and contact in one place.
- Export a short PDF from the same content. One or two pages: headline, short bio, three highlights, one photo, links to your music and web EPK, and a booking email.
- Put the web link on the PDF, large and near the top, so anyone who wants more lands on the current version.
- Date the PDF. Add the month and year to the footer and the filename, for example
artist-name-epk-2026-10.pdf, so readers know how fresh the file is. - Keep the file under 5 MB. Compress the photos. Big attachments bounce off some mail servers.
- Refresh the PDF each quarter, or after a big release or tour announcement.
What to put in the email
Paste the link in the body, never behind a button image. Add two or three sentences: who you are, why you fit this venue or night, and the date or slot you want. Attach a PDF only when someone asks for one.
The guide on how to send your EPK has templates for first contact and follow-ups.
Mistakes with either format
- A Dropbox or Google Drive folder as the EPK. The booker has to open files one by one, and permissions expire.
- A PDF with dead links. Export from a design tool with flattened text and your links turn into plain text the reader has to retype.
- Broken links on the web EPK. Check every track and video in a private browser window first.
- Two versions with different facts. If the PDF names one label and the page names another, the booker trusts neither.
Doing both with Artist Kit
Artist Kit gives you a web EPK at artistkit.co/yourname with bio, music, gigs and contact sections ready to fill. Every page includes a press kit zip, generated from your page, for bookers who want files. On Pro you upload your own designed PDF instead.
See how the press kit download works, or start your EPK on the free plan.