Promotion 101:Writing a proffesional band bio
Continuing on our series of promotion articles, we would like to talk about writing a musician/band bio. Having a well written and professional musicians bio is vital. It is often the first contact that media have with your band, and it does a lot to form their impression about you. If you have an unstructured, badly written and unexciting band biography then this will significantly decrease your chances of being considered by blogs/magazines, fans, booking agents, radio, podcasts etc. Having an engaging, inspiring and well written bio which draws upon the unique “selling point” of your band will do the opposite.
The best bio´s are those which engage the reader quickly and make them genuinely curious about you. Don´t bore them down with a long introductory paragraph, keep it short, snappy and to the point. And yes, your band is unique, everyone is unique, but don’t make the mistake of saying that you don’t sound like ANY OTHER band, or that you can´t be defined by ANY genre set. This will leave the reader lost and may annoy rather the provoke curiosity. Better to grit your teeth and put in a few references so that the reader can place your music somewhere - you can also be playful with the comparisons and they need not feel derogatory. One of our favourites concerns the group “Lissi Dancefloor Disaster” and initially describes them as “an overmedicated ´the knife´ at a gaming conference”.
There are various different formats and structures for writing a band biography, here a few articles that should guide you in your efforts.
General:
- How to write an artist biography by Christopher Nab for Music Biz Academy
- How To Write a Band Bio by Heather McDonald
Do´s and Dont´s:
- Writing a band bio by Suzanne Glass for Indie-Music.com
- Dos and Don’ts for Writing Your Band’s Bio from AudioXposure
What not to write: Bands, have a proffesional write your bio from Dirtbags Delight
Tags: advice, biography, DIY, indepdendent, Promotion Advice
