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Album Press Kit Checklist for Independent Artists | TAP

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Album Press Kit Checklist for Independent Artists | TAP

Album press kit and asset preparation

Updated 9 September 2026

By TAP Editorial Team

Quick answer

An album press kit needs six things: a short and a long biography, a one page summary carrying the artwork and release date, a press release, artwork at 3000 by 3000 pixels, at least three photographs you own the rights to, and a private audio link with the embargo date on it. Keep them in one folder with plain filenames, and test every link before you send anything.

A press kit is the set of things somebody needs before they can write about your album, play it or add it to a playlist. Journalists, producers and curators work from what you send and rarely come back for more, so a missing photograph or an unclear embargo date quietly costs you coverage. This is the full list, marked for what has to be there and what helps.

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Written assets

Biography, short and long
Critical
Write a 150 to 200 word version for quick use and a 400 to 600 word version with the career context, previous releases and anything recent worth knowing. Both should answer why this record matters now. Cut any word you cannot evidence, starting with edgy and genre-defying.
One page summary
Critical
A single A4 page carrying the artwork, release date, two or three quotes, three to five lines on what the album is about, and the links. Keep the body text under 150 words and make sure it reads on a phone as well as it prints.
Press release
Critical
300 to 400 words announcing the record with a clear reason it is news: a debut, a return, a collaboration, a change in direction. Write the first paragraph so it can stand alone, because editors cut from the bottom.
Track by track notes
100 to 150 words per song on where it came from, what was done in the room and the moment worth listening for. Reviewers usually listen alone, and these notes answer their questions without you writing a separate email to each one.
The idea behind the album
If the record has a thread running through it, write 200 to 300 words explaining it in your own words. It stops the album being described as something it is not, and it hands feature writers the thing they are looking for.

Photographs and artwork

Album artwork at full size
Critical
Supply 3000 by 3000 pixels RGB as both .jpg and .png, plus a 300dpi file for print. Check the artwork still reads at thumbnail size, because that is how most people will first see it.
At least three press photographs
Critical
Different settings and moods, close and full length, at 2000 by 2000 pixels or larger, uncompressed. Include a black and white version. Name the photographer in the filename so the credit survives being forwarded.
Photographs from the sessions
Ten or more images from recording or rehearsing. Pictures of the record being made get used far more often than posed shots, and they give a features desk something to build a page around.
One page on how your name is written
Approved spelling and capitalisation of your name and the album title, the logo if you have one, and the colours. It takes ten minutes and stops your name appearing three different ways across the same campaign.
Key images cropped for each shape
Square, vertical at 9:16 and wide at 16:9 versions of the artwork and main photograph. Doing it now means you are not cropping something badly at eleven at night because a station asked for a banner.

Audio and video

Private link to the full album
Critical
Put the finished record somewhere private with the embargo date and time written on the page itself. Do not send people to Spotify or Apple Music before release, because there is nothing there. Make sure the page opens on a phone without a login.
Lossless and compressed files
Critical
WAV or FLAC for anyone reviewing or broadcasting, plus 320kbps MP3s for convenience. Number and title every file so a producer knows what is playing without opening a document.
Video, if there is any
Send the video under the same embargo as the audio, with the streaming link and a downloadable file for outlets that do not embed. Say clearly which date each one lifts on.
Instrumentals or stems
If you have them, include them. Stations use instrumental beds behind trailers and podcasts use them under speech, and having them ready is sometimes the reason a producer picks your record over another.
Short clips from the record
Fifteen to thirty seconds from the moments that carry the song, labelled with the track and the timestamp. These get used in station trailers, social posts and anywhere the full song will not fit.
Metadata that matches the masters
Critical
Check the ID3 tags, embedded artwork and filenames all match the final masters. Wrong metadata means a producer sees the working title on air, and it is the sort of error that gets noticed at the worst moment.

Quotes and the facts about you

Your own statement on the album
Critical
150 to 200 words in the first person on what the record is and why you made it now. This is the paragraph most often pulled out and printed, so write it properly rather than reaching for the first thing that sounds like a quote.
Quotes from producers or collaborators
Two or three sentences from anyone whose name means something on the record, describing what they did on it. Their words carry credibility yours cannot, and they open interview angles you would not get on your own.
A label or manager line, if you have one
Two sentences from whoever is releasing the record, saying why it matters to them. Trade press uses it. If you are releasing the album yourself, say that plainly instead, because self-released is a fact and not an apology.
How to reach you
Critical
One name, one email, one phone number and your time zone, at the top of everything. Say whether you can do in person, phone or email interviews and roughly when. A journalist working to a deadline will pick whoever answers.
The factual record
Previous albums, EPs and singles with years, any nominations, and the dates of anything that gets mentioned. Writers use it to place the new record, and giving it to them is how you stop errors getting repeated for the rest of your career.

How to organise it and send it

One folder, plainly named
Critical
Use /Audio, /Photos, /Video, /Written and /Artwork, with filenames in the form artist_albumtitle_format. Add a short README listing what is in there and the embargo date. Somebody should find the high resolution photograph in ten seconds.
The embargo written down once
Critical
One page stating the date and time in UK time and in GMT, what is under embargo, which parts are not, and your email at the top. Every other document should repeat that same time exactly.
Working links, and a spare
Critical
Send a link and keep a second route ready for anyone whose employer blocks file sharing sites. Open every link yourself in a private browser window before sending. Keep them live for six weeks after release, because reviews arrive late.
A note when something changes
If you correct a biography or replace a photograph after sending, email everyone with UPDATED and the date in the subject line, and say in one line what changed. Keep a note of it so you know which version is out there.
Formats people can actually open
Describe every image in text for anyone using a screen reader, supply PDFs alongside documents, and caption video where you can. It is the right thing to do and it saves a round of emails asking what a picture shows.

The checks before you send

Read everything three times
Critical
Once for what it says, once for spelling, once for whether it sounds like you. Your name, the album title and the release date must appear identically in every document, because a mismatch is what a careful editor notices first.
Play the audio on three devices
Critical
A laptop, a phone and something else. Follow the link exactly as a stranger would, from the email, on a network you have not used before. Silent files and broken players are the most common reason a review never happens.
Check the images properly
Critical
Open them at full size rather than in a preview pane, check the file size shows they are not compressed, and look at them on more than one screen. Print publications reject low resolution files without telling you why.
One embargo time everywhere
Critical
The time in the email, in the documents and on the audio page must be identical. A few hours of difference between two documents is how a record leaks early, and the outlets that kept to the date are the ones who lose out.
Contact details and handles
Critical
Test the email address by writing to it, and open every social link. An inbox nobody watches during release week is a wasted campaign, so decide in advance who is reading it and how often.
Credits, samples and warnings
Check that samples are cleared, features are credited correctly and the explicit flag is right. Flag anything a broadcaster needs to know about before they find out on air, because that is the kind of surprise that ends a relationship.

A press kit that is complete before you start pitching saves you the week you would otherwise spend answering the same three questions. Build it once, keep it in one folder, and update it as the campaign moves rather than rebuilding it for every outlet.

Pro tips

1. Write the one page summary as though the reader has ninety seconds. If it needs explaining, the angle is buried. Lead with why the record exists, not with the track listing.

2. Never send audio without an embargo date on the page itself. One early publication pulls the whole campaign forward, and the outlets that waited are the ones you have just let down.

3. Include track by track notes even if you are doing no interviews. Reviewers listen alone, and those notes are where the specific language in a good review usually comes from.

4. Put the date in the filename, as in album_presskit_2026_03_12. When you resend a corrected version, people download the new one rather than the copy sitting in their downloads folder.

5. Add a one page PDF listing every file in the folder and what it is for. It prevents the message at five o'clock on deadline day asking where the high resolution photograph is.

Frequently asked questions

How long should the private audio link stay live?

Six weeks after release at least. Monthlies work months ahead, and some writers come back after release for a round-up or an end of year piece. Diary a check every few weeks, because file sharing services expire links quietly and you will not be told.

What resolution do print magazines need?

300dpi, and most print desks want CMYK rather than RGB. A full page needs roughly 7 by 10 inches at that resolution, so shoot and store larger than you think you need. Requirements vary between publications, so ask rather than assume when a specific page is being planned.

Is a physical press kit still worth making?

For a small number of print titles and broadcasters with real offices, yes. A printed page with the artwork and a contact card is harder to lose than a link and it stands out on a desk. For everyone else the folder and a working link is what gets used, so spend the money on the people most likely to open a parcel.

How do I stop an embargo breaking when several outlets have the album?

Use a host that logs who opened the link, put the embargo date on the page holding the audio rather than only in the email, and send one reminder the day before it lifts. Watermarked or per-recipient links make it obvious where a leak came from, which is usually enough to stop one happening.

What do I do if I find a mistake after sending the kit out?

Email everyone the same day with CORRECTED in the subject line, one sentence on what changed, and the new file. Replace the file in the folder as well so anyone arriving late gets the right version. Most writers will use the correction without comment, provided it reaches them before they file.

From the field

Proof points

Optimal pitch lead time for an album: 10 to 12 weeks before release for long-lead press, 6 to 8 for radio (Liberty campaign cadence)
Named contact reply rate vs generic inbox: 5x higher (Liberty internal data)
Best UK send window: Tuesday and Wednesday 09:00 to 10:00 UK (Across 60+ campaigns)
Album of the Day windows: Long lead (4 to 6 weeks) for BBC 6 Music style features, plays often happen with no reply (WARM monitoring)

What actually happened

Brii Elliss, WFUV: Pre-release album push, 1,790 sends, WFUV reply within 30 minutes, 39 plays before street date (2025)

Album campaigns split into two jobs. The first is finding the playable line, the one moment a producer can use on air without a setup. The second is the longer feature angle for press. I keep these on separate pitches. Mixing them turns the email into a press kit dump, which is the fastest way to be ignored by both audiences.

Chris Schofield, Radio plugger, Liberty Music PR

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