Getting your artist bio together can feel overwhelming because, let’s be honest, sometimes it feels unnatural to write about yourself! When it comes to preparing your assets though, your artist bio is one of the most important things you can have prepared and ready to go.
It doesn’t need to be an academic essay, but a statement of intent of who you are as an artist: where you’ve come from, your influences and what is driving you now. Below, you’ll find three easy tips that anyone can use to make their artist bio concise and engaging!
Know how you want to present
It sounds cliche, but nobody knows you better than yourself. Making sure your artist bio is focused on who you are as an artist is key. We don’t need to know your favourite colour or your childhood address, but we do want to know the genesis of your story as an artist.
What music or art proved influential on you early on?
What music or art is influencing your work now?
If you’re an artist who prefers to have more mystique around you, and let the music do the talking, that is fine; centre your language around your influences and descriptions of the music and overall aesthetic.
Don’t go overboard, keep it concise
Your artist bio is not a press release. Do not treat your artist bio as a selling point for your new music. Remember this is supposed to give audiences and potential editors, radio programmers, bookers etc an overview of what your music brings to the table.
If you’re a new artist, don’t feel like you need to have tonnes of material – keep your bio tight and true to your experiences and achievements to date. On the other hand, if you are an established artist who has a lot of accomplishments and talking points, isolate the most relevant and curate your bio from there.
Use your own flavour!
Remember, your artist bio is speaking to who you are. Include a couple of selected quotes that can specifically speak to your points (ie. new music, insights into your creative process) and keep the tone natural to how you would normally deliver.