As someone who has previously worked in music marketing, one sheets are arguably one of the most important assets and tools an artist can use to promote their music. One sheets, as part of an electronic press kit (EPK for short), are a way to showcase an artist's qualitative and quantitative highlights, accompanied by a short form biography and photo.
One sheets are unique as they are tailored to the aesthetics and marketing realm of the artist, and provide people viewing the sheet a concise impression encompassing the artist’s career at that moment. All types of artists use one sheets; from the biggest global superstars at major record labels, to up-and-coming independent acts just trying to get as much marketing reach for their music as possible.
What I love about making one sheets is that you can tailor it to the artists and their career needs, no matter where they are at in their music career. The first time I made a one sheet was for a DIY music marketing class at USC, which was tailored for independent artists learning to market their music alongside music industry students learning music marketing fundamentals. Although in that class we had assignments for all parts of the music marketing process, the one sheet assignment in my opinion was the single most useful and applicable assignment in that class. I made my one sheet for an independent artist I was working with, Jane Honor, who I had recently signed as an A&R to USC’s student run record label. Jane had a release coming up at the end of that semester, so I made her a one sheet with updated statistics to pitch to press outlets. My favorite part about doing this exercise, and my favorite part about music publicity in general, was the ability to tailor my writing and graphic design to match the aesthetic and essence of the music that my artist was releasing.
The personalization of a one sheet really helps it stand out when pitching it for press, performance opportunities, and marketing activations. My one sheet for Jane Honor was more neutral and descriptive and played upon the colors of the promotional desert photo shoot she did for her single, where as a one sheet I did at one of my internships for an established rock band was more bold and highlighted the statistics of the band, including streaming and social media numbers. Although one sheets vary depending on the career highlights and qualitative data from the artist or band, here are the essential features that every one sheet should have:
A Short-form Biography
A short form bio with the artist's name, origin, genre and sonic influences, and past and upcoming releases give the reader a quick summary of what makes the artist stand out and why someone should listen. Keep this bio around 3 sentences long, as this serves as a brief introduction to the artist’s work.
A High Quality Press Photo
A clean press photo that is professional quality helps the viewer know what the artists look like, and depending on the photoshoots and photography done, can help set the visuals of the one sheet to match the aesthetics of the campaign.
Music With Streaming And/Or Chart data
For a musician, the most important thing in their career is the music! This can be done either by highlighting songs and their stream count, or highlighting key data points including monthly listeners, chart features, playlist adds, Spotify followers, and more relevant data. If an artist is critically acclaimed and has award nominations, the one sheet can also highlight that as well.
Tour And Live Performance Highlights
If an artist is either actively touring or is planning a tour as part of their release cycle, it is important to highlight that. For more established artists, they can highlight their previous tours as part of this, but for up-and-coming acts looking to book more gigs, showcase the venues that they have previously played at.
Social Media Followers And Data
In the age of social media and music streaming heavily influencing music consumption, follower and listener counts are a way to gauge artist popularity. Some of this overlaps with the streaming data for monthly listeners and Spotify followers, but highlighting social media follower count can give all types of acts a boost. The most important platforms to highlight include Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and X (formerly Twitter.)
Press Features
Publicity in which an artist is featured can help positively influence the perception of your one sheet. Showcasing press features, especially for up-and-coming artists help them gain credibility, and are helpful in gaining more press coverage for your work.
Contact Information
Lastly, but arguably one of the most important features of a one sheet, is contact information. This should include social media handles, alongside an email that the artist can receive inquiries at, whether it be themself, their manager, their publicist, their booking agent, their label contact, depending on who is sharing the one sheet. Alongside that, having social media handles on a one sheet is important for outreach.
Besides all of the important information present on a one sheet, design is also very crucial for having an impactful one sheet. A great one sheet is eye-catching yet clean and concise, and is lined aesthetically with the artist’s vision and other promotional materials for the project at hand. Finding a good one sheet template can be hard, especially with so many options out there, but I personally have used Canva for my one sheets. It’s free, simple to use, has a lot of template options, and I typically can alter their basic templates to fit all of the information on a one sheet. If you want a more intricate design, Adobe Illustrator is also great for one sheets if you have graphic design experience or experience using the Adobe Suite. Design can make or break a one sheet, and you want a solid design to make the information on it visually pop.
While one sheets are valuable tools for artists to use, music industry professionals can also use a one sheet to showcase their accolades and achievements. If you are a music industry professional interested in making your own personal one sheet, check out Part 2: The Ultimate One Sheet Guide For Music Industry Professionals.
Here is a sample one sheet - this was the first one sheet I ever made!
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