How to write a music bio – 5 Top Tips
Not sure how to write an artist biography for your music profile on streaming platforms? Get started with our guide to writing a great artist bio.
Whichever streaming platform or download store your music is on, from Spotify and Tidal to YouTube Music and beyond, the bio on your artist profile is a crucial chance to tell your story.
It’s the first extra information about you that a listener comes across after discovering your music, a free promotional tool before fans head off to find you on social media.
The best artist bios combine useful facts with an engaging tone of voice that swiftly gets across the character and feel of your music. The shape your music biography takes depends on what type of artist you see yourself as – your bio can be as creative as you like.
Still not feeling keen? Read on for some inspiration, with our five pointers on how to write the perfect artist bio.
Why so serious?
When it comes to writing a musician bio there are two options. Either take the traditional route, with a simple but effective introduction to your music and your own history, or you can go a more artistic way and build a mythology around your music.
A conventional bio on a streaming service generally needs to answer who you are and where, why and how you came to make music, without boring the reader to death.
A more creative artist bio needs to entice the reader to learn more about you and your sound, not drive them away with pretentious jargon.
Either way, the artist bio should be written in third person (he/she/they) rather than first (I/we), and the most important information should go at the top of the section.
Keep your bio snappy
As an emerging artist, it might be an idea to keep your musician bio simple at first, as you gain traction and release more tracks. A very short artist bio with a hook will entice listeners to dig further and search you out on social media, keen to find out more about this secretive artist.
Another good idea is to keep consistency across all platforms – using RouteNote you can get your music on all the major streaming sites for free, and it’s vital to make sure your brand story is the same no matter where listeners find you.
You might also be uneasy at the thought of writing about yourself, but be flattered that listeners are curious enough about you to explore beyond your tracks.
Don’t be so modest
The artist bio is all about you and your creations – so writing a musician biography is your opportunity to show off a bit. What do you consider your biggest achievements? Was your first EP released to rave reviews? Do your live shows always reel in the praise?
Drop in a couple of examples – whether it’s playlist adds or blowing up on TikTok. It shows what sets you apart from your peers, and is great free advertising.
What kind of artist do you want to be?
It’s called a biography for a reason, so make sure you put in where you’ve come from – where the band formed, or where you grew up. Even if you’re trying to paint a mysterious picture, it’s good to include at least some information to legitimise yourself as a musician or producer, even if it’s simply your name and that you hail from New York City.
Listeners like to form a connection with the artist. In your music bio you can refer to your musical inspirations, to give fans an idea of what to expect from your discography.
Sum up your music sound
The artist bio is all about lifting the curtain beyond the static images on streaming platforms. What do you really want to get across to listeners that they might not hear in your tracks, and how have your life experiences affected your music?
Maybe your band has stuck together since school and perfected your sound, or you’ve travelled the world by yourself discovering new cultural inspirations.
Have a go at summing up your sound. Where is the ideal place you imagine people will be listening – dancing in a club, or reclining on a sofa? Use descriptive language that pulls the listener to a place and time.
If you’d rather let the music do the talking, a simple biographical introduction will do the trick.
The only mistakes you can make with your music bio is to mislead listeners, or to not bother with one at all and not type in a single word. Spend a little time researching other artist biographies on streaming services until you’ve got a feel for structure and content.
And don’t forget to update your artist bio regularly – there’s nothing worse than a music artist’s biography that’s five years out of date, missing lots of achievements, making it seem like they’re no longer touring or making music.