Write an effective band bio or press release.
When you feel ready to introduce your band to media, venues where you would like to perform, a music programmer at a radio station, agents, managers, or anyone else, you’ll want to have a bio.
The objective of a bio to briefly share enough about your music and your band to invite curiosity on the part of a reader who knows nothing about you. Many people reading it may still be deciding whether they are going to listen to your music or not. A good bio will nudge them towards giving your music a listen. It is not the right forum for your life story or a dissertation on creativity. In fact, ideally it will fit on one page. Two at the most.
It should also have a picture of the band or band related artwork. Put some thought into these visuals. It should appeal to them or pique their interest. For better or worse, the people receiving your information often make quick judgments. They simply get sent too much music. Remember your task: get them to want to hear your music. It should also contain factual information such as where you are from, members of the band, a comment or two on how the band came into existence, and perhaps a mention of some of your musical influences or likes. Always be sure to include contact information such as a band contact, e-mail address, phone number, website/myspace address, and mailing address.
A press release is similar to a bio but is more incident specific, with a newsworthy announcement. For instance, you are announcing your upcoming release date, or you just were picked to open for a popular headlining act.
It is very helpful to remember these general writing principles. I’ve put some band-specific comments in italics beneath each “C.”
THE FOUR C’S IN WRITING
CONCISE:
You have a clear point and you only include the information that is absolutely necessary. You are getting to the point quickly.
Keep your bio or press release length at one or two pages. Never more.
CREDIBLE:
Your writing is believable. You must offer proof (in the form of details).
For a new band, it is best to stick with the facts and not opine too much about your ambitions. It is one thing for you to espouse about how great your band is. It is another, much more powerful thing, to quote a respected third party talking about how great your band is. Example:
“Our band, the Dudes, display life-changing musical genius that will twist the fabric of time.”
- Jay Dude, lead singer, the Dudes
vs.
“The Dudes are the most incredible band of this generation.”
- The New York Times
CLEAR:
Your reader knows what points are important and how they fit together under the umbrella of your topic sentence.
keep your bio focused on the points you need to communicate and don’t stray from them.
CORRECT:
Your writing is free of spelling, grammar and punctuation errors.
Nuff said.
Below is a recent press release written for us by an excellent media company, Girlie Action Media, http://www.girlieaction.com
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
INDONESIAN INDIE POP GROUP
WHITE SHOES & THE COUPLES COMPANY CMJ AND L.A. DEBUTS
“One of the sweetest sounds in underground music today.” -TIME Magazine
Indie pop group White Shoes and the Couples Company from Jakarta, Indonesia, are bringing their mix of orchestral pieces, clap-along pop tunes, and dandelion-delicate love songs to New York and Los Angeles for the first time, and returning to San Francisco.
2008 has been a great year for White Shoes The Couples Company. The band performed at the SXSW Music Conference in Austin, Texas in March to rave press review, and sold out one of the best music venues in San Francisco. They’ve been named one of the Top 25 Bands on MySpace by Rolling Stone, featured in Time magazine, praised by Pitchfork and named “One of the Most Crush-worthy Bands” by All Music Guide
Their new EP Skenario Masa Muda will be available October 28, 2008, a follow up to their self-titled debut, released on the Chicago based Minty Fresh record label. Singing in both English and Indonesian, this sextet makes pop songs that you’d be excused for thinking had come straight off the soundtrack of Katamari Damacy, or a tender Sonny Chiba movie.
Indeed, these former art school classmates (the band met each other while attending the Art Institute of Jakarta) cite 1970s movie soundtracks as an influence. No surprise, as it’s easy to picture a bell-bottom-entangling embrace to at least a few of their sweeping tracks. Asian directors have already spotted the band’s cinematic sound, and have featured their songs in a pair of Indonesian films, Janji Joni and Berbagi Suami.
White Shoes & The Couples Company tour dates:
October 25, 10pm at Spike Hill, 184 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn, New York
October 30, 8pm, at Spaceland, 1717 Silverlake Blvd, Los Angeles
November 2, 10pm at 330 Ritch 360 Ritch, San Francisco
For complimentary tickets, to schedule an interview with the band, or more information
please contact:
Jennie, 773 665 0289; jennie@mintyfresh.com
www.myspace.com/whiteshoesandthecouplescompany www.mintyfresh.com
audio, photos, bio: www.mintyfresh.com/promo/whiteshoesandthecouplescompany
Tags: Publicity/PR
I couldn’t agree more with this post. As a publicist and music writer, I know how hard it is to pique someone’s interest and get them to actually put the CD in the player.
I equate it to HR reading resumes or a script reader um… reading scripts. An HR person will spend on average 10 seconds on a resume and a script reader will dump a script in the first couple pages if it doesn’t grab them immediately.
If you have the cash, I would recommend hiring a professional publicist or local newspaper writer (or music blogger) to write your bios and press releases. Many writers will do it for around $100 a page for a bio. Your job is to make awesome music – no one expects you to be an excellent scribe.