Bob Baker's The Buzz Factor

I recently received an e-mail from a reader asking for some direction on creating one sheets. After doing a little investigative digging to back up what I already knew, I was able to dish out the following advice and resources:

The tradition one sheet is created for the benefit of music distributors and retailers. On a single page it lets a potential buyer know about an artist, CD title, radio airplay, media exposure, marketing plans, the CD's UPC code, price, street date and more.

Check out this article on music distributors by Chris Knab. Scroll down to the section "What a Distributor Wants to Know About a Label's Release" and then the heading "The Distributor One Sheet" below that. This gives a great overview of distributors' needs and the purpose of a tradition one sheet.

For a cool fill-in-the-blank distributor one sheet, visit this page from Burnside Distribution. Also, the Homegrown Music Network offer this helpful page on how to craft a proper one sheet.

There's another type of one sheet worth noting. It's an idea that I'm a big fan of. And this one sheet can be used for many purposes: getting media exposure, airplay, gigs, etc. Read Meg Hansen's article "Your Story On One Page" for more details.

I agree with her. Full-blown press kits can often be overkill. Sometimes a simple one-page overview of your act is all that's needed to grab someone's attention.

Along the same lines is "Writing Better One Sheets," an article by Jett Black. And here's a basic example of an online one sheet for artist Natalie Brown.

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