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 How
to Write
an Artist Biography:
A
Bio Made Simple
by Christopher Knab - Fourfront
Media & Music -
Updated April 2010
Back to The Academy
When you write your bio, you are NOT writing your autobiography. You
are writing a music business document. Your bio then is written FOR the
music business contacts you want to impress, deal with, and create
lasting relationships with. (because you are into this for the long
haul, aren't you?)
Before you begin to write your bio, be sure
you have taken an inventory of your background, accomplishments, goals,
and objectives as a musician, and, once again, remember who you are
writing the Bio for: A&R Reps at Record Labels, Media Contacts,
Booking Agents, and Management Contacts, Booking Agents, Promoters, etc.
These
professionals in the music business are busy individuals, who may deal
with dozens of "wanna-be's" every week, so make your bio informative,
upbeat, and filled with useful comments, descriptions, quotes, and
motivational language that can make them want to listen to your music,
and help you on your musical way.
When you are ready to write your Bio using this outline can keep you focused and organized.
Note:
The instructions and suggestions below are for traditional music
business oriented needs. Since we are in the midst of the digital music
revolution, I would ask you to do one other thing besides write a
traditional artist or band bio. Please visit www.sonicbids.com. They can help you with what are called EPKs
(Electronic Press Kits.) However, the information I am providing you
with will go along way to helping you with your EPKs, but you WILL need
both at this time.
So,
let's get going. Follow these directions and you will have the tools to
write your own bio, and essential part of any Press Kit, analog or
digital.
1st
Paragraph:
Start with an introductory sentence that clearly defines the essential
band/artist name, your specific genre of music, where you are from, and
perhaps a positive quote about your music from a contact you have made
in the music business.
2nd
Paragraph:
This section should address the immediate purpose of the Bio. What are
you doing at this time? Mention a current activity you are involved
with. If a new CD or digital release is coming out, that should be the
main topic of the first sentence of the second paragraph. In other
word, a reason why the Bio has been written should be clearly stated
early on. Hints about any promotional activities that will be occurring
to support the CD or digital release is also useful in this paragraph.
3rd and 4th
Paragraph:
At this point, information on any other band members can be introduced,
and background information on the forming of the group, past
experience, accomplishments, and recognition issues can be addressed.
If you have developed a plan for your career path, additional
paragraphs elaborating on this type of can be written, that demonstrate
how your current project is part of a larger career development plan.
Quotes from a couple of your songs can be useful to highlight your new
release.
Ending:
Remember, the bio should not waste words. For a new artist 1 page is
sufficient to get the job done. For more experienced artists, a page
and a half to two pages should be the maximum length. So, ending the
Bio in a efficient way should be the aim; use another quote from a
gatekeeper who supports the artist, or summarize the 2nd paragraph
information, reminding the reader of current activities.
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Christopher Knab is an independent music business consultant based in Seattle, Washington. He
is available for private consultations on promoting and marketing independent music, and can be reached by email at: chris@chrisknab.net
Chris Knab's new book, 'Music Is Your Business'
is available NOW from the Music Biz Academy bookstore.
Visit the FourFront Media and
Music website for more information on the business of music from
Christopher Knab.
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