Writing a Killer Bio!
You’d think that writing a bio would be easy, given that you spend half of your time writing music! But it’s just so hard… *cue sad face*!
Yet your bio is one of the most important things for you to get right. It is the way you portray your image and music to the world. Your bio will get journalists, promoters and future fans interested in you. It forms an integral part of your press profile, and it let’s people know who you are. It’s one of the essential music promotion starting points.
You need a bio for all of your social channels, as well as outreach and event applications. It is no secret that people crave the story behind the music.
How to write that bio!
Write down notes that answer all the questions you think a fan would ask about you. Top on our list would be:
- What genre of music would people expect to hear?
- How would you describe your sound?
- When did you start making music?
- What are your releases so far?
- What projects are you currently involved in?
- Is there something unique about you?
Once you’ve answered these questions (and any that you thought of!), you’ve got some content and you’re ready to start. Start by expanding your notes into fully formed sentences that explain the point. Be sure to write in third person, avoid opinion based phrases (such as “incredibly talented”) and use your friend; Spell Check!
Once you’ve done that, you’re in the editing phase. Cut half of the content (preferably the uninteresting parts). Then start structuring your sentences into one piece of content that flows. And that’s you done, right?… Nope! It’s way too long. You should probably cut it down again. Get rid of all the excess content that is a waste of the readers time, and make sure that bio is sounding interesting and most importantly, like you!
We would recommend having three versions of the music bio!
- A one-liner! This is perfect for twitter!
- A short paragraph about 150 – 200 words. This is great for sending a short overview!
- A longer version with 2-3 paragraphs, totalling a max of 400 words. This will be a great full bio!
Important notes:
Don’t over-embellish, or lie. Be proud of where you are in your career, and the stage you have got to. Lying isn’t going to change whether someone likes your music, but it could lose you fans. Don’t risk it.
Avoid name dropping. If you have performed with an idol, or had some incredible praise by an international superstar then of course you’ll want to mention it! One or two times will be fine, but be careful not to over-do it.
Don’t use other artists to describe your sound. Your sound is your sound. Saying “I’m the modern day Gwen Stefani” dampens any uniqueness you have. Describe your sound in your own words, how it sounds and what it means to you.
Don’t do a long release list. If you’ve released loads of tracks, that’s great! But you will only want to list your most recent or most popular. Encourage people to listen to that one track. Don’t drown them in track names.
Don’t list every event in your career. You really want your bio to act as more of a “highlight reel”. To do this, try listing the most impressive 3-5 achievements. As above, don’t over-embellish. Let the achievements speak for themselves.
For more music promotion support, check out our music promotion services here.
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How to kickstart and grow your twitter | Identity Music
[…] Then put a bio together that alludes to who you are as an artist. In fact, we just wrote a new blog posts about bios. So, be sure to check out how you can create a bio that appeals to your target audience here. […]