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Writing a Band Bio

Until you “make it” in the music industry, most people are probably going to read about you before they actually hear you. This is especially true when it comes to managers, booking agents, A&R reps, newspaper editors, and other professionals. And what they’ll most likely read is the bio you include in your press kit.

An effective press kit contains such important items as a publicity photo and a CD, but these may have little impact if they aren’t accompanied by a wining bio. Why? If well written, a band bio makes the reader want to listen to your music rather than go on to consider the next band.

So, how do you craft a brilliant bio, the type that generates interest in your music? You can start by heeding the words of one of the all-time great composers, the 20-century Russian master Igor Stravinsky. He once observed, “Lesser artists borrow, great artists steal and conceal.”

Of course, we don't condone artistic theft. Still, Stravinsky makes a helpful point that you can certainly apply to writing your bio. Begin by gleaning ideas from professionally written bios of successful artists.

What you want to do is read a range of bios, especially about those who perform the same type of music as yours. Pay attention to the tone of the writing and its structure. What type of information is presented and how is it framed? Having a feel for these can give you an important leg up in writing about your own band.

You’ll no doubt find a lot of variety as you peruse different bios, but look more closely and you’ll also likely find a number of underlying similarities that may not be immediately obvious. Let’s take a look at some of these common traits.

Structure and Content

Many band bios mimics the “inverted pyramid” structure found in newspaper articles, with the most important points placed at the beginning. That way, the bio gets the essetianls across even if the reader only has enough time for the first paragraph. Hopefully, though, the first paragraph is so engaging that it that hooks the reader, inspiring him or her to read on to learn more about you.

What then are the most important points of your bio, the ones you want to get across in the first paragraph? More than anything, you want to establish your artistic identity and characterize your musical style. These are what most strongly attract listeners to artists and their music.

 Many musicians treat artistic identity and musical style as if they’re merely byproducts of making music. They also fear that defining these elements will pigeonhole them. They’d prefer to believe that their music is “beyond characterization” and that it “appeals to everyone.” But such descriptions describe nothing. They don’t give the reader any help in deciding if this is a band or an artist he or she might want to hear. In trying to be everything to everybody, you wind up becoming nothing to nobody.

Bottom line, establish a clear artistic identity for yourself and characterize your music style as precisely as possible. In doing so, think about what type of people are naturally attracted to you and your music. What other things attract them? What do they have in common? What sets them apart from the rest of society?

Bear in mind that you need to live up to what you write in your bio, but the skies the limit as long as you do. You can even invent a new persona for yourself, like Minnesota college student Robert Zimmerman did in becoming the rambling folkie Bob Dylan.

After establishing your identity and style at the beginning of your bio, you can dedicate the rest to other important points. The second paragraph is a great place to tailor your pitch to its particular purpose. If you’re trying to get gigs, you’ll likely be sending your bio to booking agents. So, you might want to dedicate the second paragraph to telling the reader where you’ve already played live, what size of crowds you’ve drawn, and the like. If you’re trying to generate interest in a new self-released CD, then slant the second paragraph in that direction. Give information about promotional endeavors, include a quote or two from positive reviews you’ve received, and so on.

The rest of the bio can then present a fuller picture. It might give information about individual band members, briefly quote the lyrics from one your songs that seem to capture the essence of your identity and style, and/or discussion your background. But only include information that’s relevant to your music.

This is a crucial point. For every single item you put in your bio, be sure to ask yourself, “How is this relevant to establishing my/our artistic identity or communicating my/our musical style”? If it isn’t leave it out. If you’re from Phoenix and that’s an important part of your identity or style, leave it in. If not, it’s merely trivia. Don’t risk boring readers with it.

At the end of your bio, be sure to include contact information. These days, that will likely include an email address and maybe the URL for your web presence.

Length and Style

Most professional music bios are only one page long. Frankly, if you’re just getting started, there’s usually not much more of interest to say about yourself. Once your successful, your career speaks for itself. Remember, the job of your bio is simply to establish your artistic identity and communicate your musical style so that the reader will want to listen to your music. That’s it. It’s a sales pitch, not an encyclopedia article.

Speaking of sales pitches, advertisers often say, “Don’t sell the steak. Sell the sizzle.” While your bio must contain “steak” in the form of information, that content must sizzle if it’s to have the greatest effect. In this case, “sizzle” means finding colorful, inventive ways of putting things. This is truly an art, and you’d do well to seek out a person who seems to have a knack for it. It could be someone in your band or classmate. You could even hold a contest among your fans and see who emerges. You might stumble upon a ardent fan who also winds up being your publicist-for-life.

Whatever you do, avoid overblown descriptions. Don’t say you're the best, the greatest, or anything else like that. Avoid extravagant adjectives and just about all adverbs.

One final point. While you’re bio should be about a page in length, it’d be good to also distill it into a shorter “elevator pitch,” the type you might give you found yourself on an elevator for a single minute with a music industry professional you want to interest in you and your music.

For More Info

Be sure to check out Young Guns' other Hints & Tips pages on these important subjects:

Great Songs

Hot Demos

Killer Photos