Music Marketing Challenge Series #1: Step 3 - Your Bio

[john]

Hey Gang

 

Alrighty. Time to tune up your bios. Building feedback you had, or get now, from Step 2 - Assets topic, and using the info I have included below about writing your bio, draft your elevator pitch, short, mid and long bios. We can then look them over and see if we can help you improve them further.

 

Let’s keep it simple, start with your Elevator Pitch. We can go from there...

 

Your Bio

 

1. Create Multiple Versions of Your Band Bio
Create several versions of your bio so that so you are prepared with a bio suitable for a variety of purposes. Create the following versions:

 

• Elevator Pitch - The ability to describe your music in 30 seconds. This is typically only a couple of sentences.
• Short Bio - 1 paragraph
• Medium Bio- 3 paragraphs
• Long Bio - 1 full page

 

Media outlets, festivals and conferences all have different requirements. Being prepared beats writing on spec almost every time. This way you avoid sub-standard pitches.

 

2. The Facts
Include the essential items of information. Your bio serves a VERY practical purpose.

 

You should include:
 

• Artist name
• Location
• Artist contact information
• Music description
• Influences

 

3. Be Honest
Never, ever, make up things to enhance your bio. Lies will be found out, and when they are the consequences are a loss of trust, professionals who will no longer work with you, and the destruction of your personal and professional reputation.
 

4. Create A Great First Impression
The importance of first impressions really, really cannot be stressed enough. For some people, especially  members of the press, their first impressionis often your Band Bio.
 

The first paragraph of your bio is very, very important, so take your time and get it right.

It has to:
 

• Grab attention
• Hold attention
• Encourage the reader to want to know more
• To do that it has to be interesting, informative and engaging.

 
5. Avoid Ego based claims
“I am a Music God. Bow down before me.”

Don’t make unfounded claims about how amazing and fantastic you are.  It is a far better idea to tell them the facts in an interesting way and let them be impressed by that.

 

6. The Press and Media
if you can, include 1- 5 flattering, positive, press clippings in your bio. They give a useful third party perspective.

 

7. Images
Images should fit well with your band image and be of as good quality as possible. A couple of images will help to break up the text. Don't over do it.

 

8. No Typos or Spelling Errors

Your bio is supposed to be a polished piece of work, intended to show off the artist at it's best.

 

9. Background

• Make sure background info relates directly to the artist .
• Don’t give information as an chronological list of events and achievements.
• Include directly related musical history but be brief, keep it interesting.

 

10. Highlights and Achievements
Include your achievements and successes. Highlight, as a feature, the most attention grabbing, flattering story about you as an artist.

 

11. Artist News
Include some news and information about what you are up to, where you are playing.

 

12. Keep It Up To Date

That pretty well says it all.

 

 

@Patchez @Cody @geographyhorse @Danidog @Peggy @Mahesh @ALOPRODUCTIONZ

[ALOPRODUCTIONZ]

7 hours ago, john said:

• Elevator Pitch - The ability to describe your music in 30 seconds. This is typically only a couple of sentences.
• Short Bio - 1 paragraph
• Medium Bio- 3 paragraphs
• Long Bio - 1 full page

 

Long Bio - 1 full page

from an early age listening to music and jamming on my small keyboard, I discovered the magic of combining words to music. although I didn't write it down at a young age the idea left me fascinated. I began writing music in my teens at the peak of the UK genre grime, it was still in its rawest form. I loved the feeling of  performing to friends at school and friends outside of school. the surge of energy that was built was so rewarding, each new rhyme I would try and top the last.  this is where my Skippy style flow grew from. 

later in my adult hood I dabbled in a new genre being hip-hop and soon  learnt that a lot of the music was sampled from other artists and instantly fell in love with 80s music, my favourite band was the police. hearing such variety made me fall in love with music even more I soon began my journey as a producer, it was a lot more fun then playing on my small keyboard with limited sounds.

not being able to get access to the style of instrumental i wanted pushed me to learn more about production and create the type of music I like.

 

a big influence on my lyrical writing was a rapper named Canibus he is a legend of hip-hop all the greats admired him, his style reminded me of that feeling from my teens rapping grime he had a informative story telling style and his vocabulary was so high every song was like a musical class to me. this lit my fire of wanting to write more complex lyrics and top it every time. I slowly progressed and built a studio of my own .I am currently working on releasing music and have a lot of projects on hold that I'm now informed enough to complete eg mixing and quality production its been a tough journey but I'm getting there:)

I have releases in all popular music stores and plans of creating music videos. I have a lot of unreleased music I placed on hold until I improved enough, I'm now beginning to work on them and share them

 

 

 

Medium Bio- 3 paragraphs

 

I am producer/rapper I began producing my own beats after struggling to find  suitable styles to rap over . my 2 greatest influences of my style would be canibus and the streets 2 very unique artist.

I'm currently working on quality improvement right now whilst also learning the video editing sides. my main focus on improvement is clear vocals with clarity and instrumentals that sound good through any device I feel that I'm 70percent there soon I will begin making music videos. I have a good camera man who found me

and is happy to shoot videos for with no charge.

 

I have releases on my YouTube which I started as a blog of music development I vowed never to delete a video there. my main types of videos I upload are  live streams of  my beat production and then I rap over it and share the results. I record freestyles on my phone using other producers beats which I don't do as much anymore because I want to be able to later release the music and searching for my style of beat can be of putting its kills my motivation to write. I'm currently releasing  in all popular music stores both instrumental and vocal.to find a few of my releases just type in radarmc.

 

I'm passionate about music, and have been since childhood. I wish to share the feeling music gives me to others. in the future I will begin singing melodies into my songs I feel its a missing element that should be included in my music and putting out quality music videos. I'm open to collaboration with other artists.

 

 

 

 Short Bio - 1 paragraph

 

i am a UK rapper named radarmc. my style of music is a cross between grime/hip-hop. I avoid rapping about the typical things violence money sex etc, I have informative style with an array of enjoyable flows. I have releases in all major music stores.

[john]

@ALOPRODUCTIONZ just missed out your elevator pitch! Lol

 

I will have a good go through these today

[john]

Ok, so there are some things you can do to improve them.

 

For a start you missed out where you are based. City / locale is enough. You also missed out how to contact you. Often that changes depending on where you use the bio. For example, in a press kit you may have a section containing your email address or your telephone number, the url to a contact form on your website. Your bio might then reference that section. You might highlight your preferred method within your bio. Where you don't have a separate section you might add the contact method inline within your bio. You might wonder why you inclue the contact method in your bio, when it is in a dedicated section? Simply put, it is just an email/telephone number etc. However if you  place it within a paragraph you can use something called an action statement - a simple but effective inducement to use the cntact method:

 

blah@email.com or 02726538276

 

vs

 

Please call me on 02726538276 (more effective than a simple number but it is still a request)

 

vs

 

Call me on 02726538276 (Most effective as it is an instruction)

 

Your full length bio could be longer. It also makes the mistake of presenting a chronological order. It's just a very tired format and turns people off.

 

You also missed your elevator pitch

 

I will add some more later if youre-draft. I am shattered and need to sleep lol

[john]

Elevator Pitch

 

I'm an Independent Acoustic Artist based in Melbourne Australia. My music is a unique blend of Traditional Folk Music blended with Modern Hip-Hop Production. I'm a full-time artist and over the last 12 months I have performed over 60 gigs at a variety of venues - both as the headline act and as a support act. I am passionate about what I do and have a clear vision for my music, bringing together two distinct groups of music fans as one audience. I like that. You can discover more here: [INSERT URL]

 

Hey Theodore, I played with the words a bit while trying to be true to your original.
 

 

[john]

On 1st person vs 3rd person, it is a personal call, however.... when you are an artist who is very likely to be working on your own profile or even have a very small team, it can feel weird reading it in 3rd party. Likewise, if a mainstream artist, not known for their 1st person interactions, sends out a 1st person bio it can feel very false.

 

Also, where you use it can have bearing. I would, as a smaller artist, write 1st person. In a world of 1st person interactions that would feel more authentic. Creating a 3rd person version might still be worthwhile, but I would imagine it would get less mileage.

 

btw you missed highlights and achievements, and press and media clippings. If there are none, fair enough, but earmark it to come back to. Same goes for news “I am recording an album” “preparing for a tour” “creating a video for my forthcoming single” etc.and tell them a little about it such as expected Start/Release/delivery/completion date. This part of your bio should change as your projects progress

 

Short Bio

 

I’m not your typical Folkie. I play an acoustic guitar, combining Folk chord progressions with Hip-Hop percussion and FX into a blend that is uniquely Theodore Kidd. Influences include artists like Frank Sinatra, Beck, Jack Johnson, Drake, Eminem and Post Malone. Tracks like “Dear”, “Introvert” and “Awkward Time” present influences from Vintage Blues, Folk, Hip-Hop, Electronic Music, Singer-Songwriter and Rap.

Visit my website, [INSERT URL] to find out more about me, to hear more music, watch performance videos, catch up on my latest news, join my newsletter and to contact me about gigs and other events. Where it matters, I am based in Sydney, Australia. Please reach out on social media and let me know which of my songs you enjoy the most. I would love to hear from you.

 

Mid-Length Bio

 

I’m not your typical Folkie. Not by a long way. I play an acoustic guitar, but I use my loop pedal to help combine Folk chord progressions with Hip-Hop percussion into a blend that is uniquely Theodore Kidd. I find it an intriguing mix. It’s a pretty unique combination anywhere, but in Sydney, Australia, (where I am based), it is comfortable and familiar while being distinct, original, and different enough to be quietly radical.

 

Unsurprisingly, I have a broad range of influences that includes artists like Frank Sinatra, Beck, Jack Johnson, Drake, Eminem and Post Malone. Take a listen to tracks like “Dear”, “Introvert” and “Awkward Time” and you will hear the influence of Vintage Blues, Folk, Hip-Hop and Electronic Music production and character-filled vocal deliveries covering mellow Singer-Songwriter to energetic Rapper.

Visit my website, [INSERT URL] to find out more about me, to hear more music, watch performance videos, catch up on my latest news, join my newsletter and to contact me about gigs and other events. Meanwhile, if you would like to reach out on social media and let me know which of my songs you enjoy the most, I would love to hear from you.

 

I often write the mid, then cut back to short and scale up to full page.

 

 

[john]

Much better, apart from.... as Yoda might say, “attempt”, there is no attempt, do, or do not.

 

Your opening line is much more eye catching.

 

“I create a musical style that is genuinely me“ -> “I create music that has a style that is genuinely me”

 

It is less seemingly arrogant and more like a functional truth. I don’t think it triggers an negative reaction like “oh here we go”. It says the same, but you are less obviously claiming to have created a genre, even if it may be true.

 

one thing I haven’t mentioned in my first post above is using your bio to seed questions.... very useful when sending anything to press.
 

For example, as a poor example “in 2017 I was stoked to receive a songwriting award” Prompts the questions what award? Who gave the award? Did you get any knock on benefits? Etc.

 

Why? Because it lets you influence interview questions (based on your seeds), which allows you to have more effect on the interviews and prepare awesome answers  This can go beyond journos and bloggers. Say you do a live “interview” with fans using their suggested questions. Often they are suggested by fans based on your bio, press releases and recent news.

[john]

On 8/5/2020 at 10:54 PM, ALOPRODUCTIONZ said:

 

Long Bio - 1 full page

from an early age listening to music and jamming on my small keyboard, I discovered the magic of combining words to music. although I didn't write it down at a young age the idea left me fascinated. I began writing music in my teens at the peak of the UK genre grime, it was still in its rawest form. I loved the feeling of  performing to friends at school and friends outside of school. the surge of energy that was built was so rewarding, each new rhyme I would try and top the last.  this is where my Skippy style flow grew from. 

later in my adult hood I dabbled in a new genre being hip-hop and soon  learnt that a lot of the music was sampled from other artists and instantly fell in love with 80s music, my favourite band was the police. hearing such variety made me fall in love with music even more I soon began my journey as a producer, it was a lot more fun then playing on my small keyboard with limited sounds.

not being able to get access to the style of instrumental i wanted pushed me to learn more about production and create the type of music I like.

 

a big influence on my lyrical writing was a rapper named Canibus he is a legend of hip-hop all the greats admired him, his style reminded me of that feeling from my teens rapping grime he had a informative story telling style and his vocabulary was so high every song was like a musical class to me. this lit my fire of wanting to write more complex lyrics and top it every time. I slowly progressed and built a studio of my own .I am currently working on releasing music and have a lot of projects on hold that I'm now informed enough to complete eg mixing and quality production its been a tough journey but I'm getting there:)

I have releases in all popular music stores and plans of creating music videos. I have a lot of unreleased music I placed on hold until I improved enough, I'm now beginning to work on them and share them

 

 

 

Medium Bio- 3 paragraphs

 

I am producer/rapper I began producing my own beats after struggling to find  suitable styles to rap over . my 2 greatest influences of my style would be canibus and the streets 2 very unique artist.

I'm currently working on quality improvement right now whilst also learning the video editing sides. my main focus on improvement is clear vocals with clarity and instrumentals that sound good through any device I feel that I'm 70percent there soon I will begin making music videos. I have a good camera man who found me

and is happy to shoot videos for with no charge.

 

I have releases on my YouTube which I started as a blog of music development I vowed never to delete a video there. my main types of videos I upload are  live streams of  my beat production and then I rap over it and share the results. I record freestyles on my phone using other producers beats which I don't do as much anymore because I want to be able to later release the music and searching for my style of beat can be of putting its kills my motivation to write. I'm currently releasing  in all popular music stores both instrumental and vocal.to find a few of my releases just type in radarmc.

 

I'm passionate about music, and have been since childhood. I wish to share the feeling music gives me to others. in the future I will begin singing melodies into my songs I feel its a missing element that should be included in my music and putting out quality music videos. I'm open to collaboration with other artists.

 

 

 

 Short Bio - 1 paragraph

 

i am a UK rapper named radarmc. my style of music is a cross between grime/hip-hop. I avoid rapping about the typical things violence money sex etc, I have informative style with an array of enjoyable flows. I have releases in all major music stores.

Alo, you didn’t reply, and my comments were only meant to start the conversation.... are you still wanting to work on these?

 

@Mahesh, @Peggy, @Cody? Are you guys still wanting to work on the challenge?

[Cody]

@john yeah yeah! Just side-tracked as always  Next month will be a little more focused......that's the plan anyway haha

 

I have learned patience, I mean I still have some tunes I've been sitting on for roughly 20 years I've never recorded more than a sketch of  and a lot of those said recordings are lost to time hahah, the little writing challenge I'm doing now my plan was to focus on getting a lot of that stuff up to snuff even by my low standards, but have just been making more noise and quite enjoying myself, but have gotten pretty happy with my patchwork recording setup at least, so that's a plus.   I still need to do some massive editing down and pick a 30-40 minute chunk of stuff I'd even want promoted other than hey listen to this weird little thing I did 🤣

[john]

cool cool, just checking in

[Cody]

I did try to do a sketch of an actual bio.......It's gonna have to be super short, I really should write a book someday 🤣 The more people I meet the more I realize most of that crap isn't "normal misspent youthful adventures" hmmmm there's next songtitle  

[Peggy]

On 9/2/2020 at 7:13 AM, john said:

Alo, you didn’t reply, and my comments were only meant to start the conversation.... are you still wanting to work on these?

 

@Mahesh, @Peggy, @Cody? Are you guys still wanting to work on the challenge?

Yes, still working on but  offline .. guess that misses the point but all is quite helpful and will be sharing soon.  

[john]

17 hours ago, Peggy said:

Yes, still working on but  offline .. guess that misses the point but all is quite helpful and will be sharing soon.  

Do you have feedback on the bios of others?

[ALOPRODUCTIONZ]

On 9/2/2020 at 1:13 PM, john said:

Alo, you didn’t reply, and my comments were only meant to start the conversation.... are you still wanting to work on these?

 

@Mahesh, @Peggy, @Cody? Are you guys still wanting to work on the challenge?

yes im just not sure where to start with rewriting the long bio 

[john]

On 8/5/2020 at 10:54 PM, ALOPRODUCTIONZ said:

Long Bio - 1 full page

from an early age listening to music and jamming on my small keyboard, I discovered the magic of combining words to music. although I didn't write it down at a young age the idea left me fascinated. I began writing music in my teens at the peak of the UK genre grime, it was still in its rawest form. I loved the feeling of  performing to friends at school and friends outside of school. the surge of energy that was built was so rewarding, each new rhyme I would try and top the last.  this is where my Skippy style flow grew from. 

later in my adult hood I dabbled in a new genre being hip-hop and soon  learnt that a lot of the music was sampled from other artists and instantly fell in love with 80s music, my favourite band was the police. hearing such variety made me fall in love with music even more I soon began my journey as a producer, it was a lot more fun then playing on my small keyboard with limited sounds.

not being able to get access to the style of instrumental i wanted pushed me to learn more about production and create the type of music I like.

 

a big influence on my lyrical writing was a rapper named Canibus he is a legend of hip-hop all the greats admired him, his style reminded me of that feeling from my teens rapping grime he had a informative story telling style and his vocabulary was so high every song was like a musical class to me. this lit my fire of wanting to write more complex lyrics and top it every time. I slowly progressed and built a studio of my own .I am currently working on releasing music and have a lot of projects on hold that I'm now informed enough to complete eg mixing and quality production its been a tough journey but I'm getting there:)

I have releases in all popular music stores and plans of creating music videos. I have a lot of unreleased music I placed on hold until I improved enough, I'm now beginning to work on them and share them

 

Here you made the classic mistake, a more or less chronological bio.

 

Try this:

 

• Write a list of interesting musical facts about yourself
• Work through my OP in this topic.
• Think about answering the sort of questions fans and music journalists might ask
• Seed some questions of your own (useful for possible interviews as journos look at your bio to get an idea what to ask you) with interesting facts with no explanation. For example "I will be headlining one of the biggest festivals in Europe later this year" or "last year I received a major songwriting award" or "over the last year I have played some major gigs and recorded in a studio that so many classic albums have been recorded in. I wanted to record there for so many years and finally got to." The larger the statement, the bigger the draw to ask you a question about it.

 

You do have lots of useful stuff in your long bio, it just needs weeded and re-ordered.

 

Some things to include: your purpose/aim/direction/inspiration/influences/musical obsession/plans etc. Try to be positive. Avoid putting yourself down

[websiteee]

Azaming an very helpful tips to marketing your music. Without marrketing music is incompelete.

Edited September 30, 2021 by websiteee