How to Write a Kick Ass Musician's Bio

Last Updated on August 11, 2022 by Josh McKenzie

How do you sum up your band’s image, sound, and unique point-of-view on life into a tiny musicians bio?

Easy. You follow our instructions. Have a look below to see how to write a musicians bio.

One of the traits of a successful musician is to be able to convey your personal emotions, through relatable lyrics, over a catchy melody. By any stretch of the imagination, this task is much more difficult than writing a an artist bio.

So, if you can create beautiful music, you can create a biography. You just need a bit of assistance – and that’s why we’re here!

We know how to write, how to relay complex information into relatable content, and we know how to display your band’s personality in under two paragraphs.

So how do you write good musicians bio? You need to focus on the essentials, edit out any unnecessary details, and think of what your reader wants to know about your music. To find out more, scroll down.

Your artist bio is a chance to offer listeners a glimpse into your personality, into your world, and how you see it. But for many that can be a daunting task. For others, they read our guide and find it a walk in the park.

How Do I Start Writing Musicians Bio?

First things first, by coming to our page you have evidently searched how to write a musician’s bio – and that’s a perfect place to start! Starting is the hardest stage of creating anything, and you’ve done that so congratulate yourself!

Now, if you are searching for the answer to this question you have probably seen that there isn’t just one way to begin your bio. In our experience, the first draft of any piece of writing will not be the final draft.

Therefore, give yourself free reign to begin with and try our writing strategy below:

Take a piece of paper
Write down everything your band stands for, who is in it, and what you aim to be
Add to this piece of paper as much as you can over the space of a week
After a week, come back to the paper and weed out/remove anything that you think is irrelevant to an objective reader
From here, you’ve a structure for your bio. Now start shaping it into a short biography – normally a paragraph or two.
Repeat this process and compare the paragraphs you create.
Keep working on your biography – it should grow and change as your band does the same

What do I need to include in my music bio?

When creating a biography for your band or musical artist, there are some things that you should include. These essentials are listed below:

Your band’s name. It may seem obvious, but it can be forgotten.
Contact details. This does not have to be your own mobile number, but a signpost to point the reader in the direction of more of your work. This can be anything from a Twitter handle to a website address.
An eye catcher. This could be a music journalist’s review of your work or a rating of your previous gig. You want to give the reader something to engage with and remember about your work.
Your music. Again, another obvious but often forgotten essential. The reader needs to gain an impression of your music. Describe how it sounds, how it feels and why they should love it as much as you do.
Your personality. This comes from the style of your music, but an injection of humour (if suitable) can be the hook which gains you a new fan.

What should I exclude from my artist bio?

Just as important as what should be included in your musical bio is what should be excluded. These exclusions are listed below:

The awards you have won. Yes, if it is applicable by all means include your honours. If you won your high school talent show, that isn’t vital information to be sent to A&R executives.
Your entire discography. It is implied upon reading a musical bio that your band creates music. You may include a link to this discography, but do not include an exhaustive list of every piece of audio your band has released in a musical bio.
Your musical training. Again, if it is applicable by all means include it. But if you just want to brag that you want to a musical conservatoire, you may actually alienate more listeners than attract them in.
Who you have “shared the stage with”. Don’t lie to your audience, they know that you didn’t actually share a stage with Beyonce. If you have simply performed at the same festival as her, don’t include that in your biography.
Unnecessary words. The key to writing is good editing. If you are at all unsure if an item should be included in your musical bio, remove it. You need to present a professional, engaging biography. If anything impinges upon that, remove it.

How long should a musician’s bio be?

This depends upon the context for the biography. If it is on your own website, the biography can be as long as you want it. If it is for a music magazine, they will only want a paragraph or two.

Therefore, the rule of thumb is to have a ‘ready-to-go’ two paragraph long biography. This can be sent to any and all professional clients and edited to engage with their specific audience. This paragraph can then be slightly extended for your own website – but not too much.

Hope that was helpful!

Thanks,

Rory