Marketing Yourself and Image
I've been working with some musician friends looking for media presence / exposure advice. Artists are looking for gigs, podcasts, interviews, reviews, and air play. While I'm not a super popular musician, I have managed to get reviews, interviews, features, and online radio play both on my own and with the help of a campaign manager. You can do a lot yourself, but there are times when it's best to find someone with a better network to help you. The right marketing campaign manager can get more exposure for an artist than the artist could usually get on their own. But the key to all of this, whether you are contacting bloggers yourself or handing it over to a pro, is to know how to describe your music in a concise, clear, and intriguing manner.
What do I mean? I'm talking about a short bio that you can copy and paste into any email, contact form, online profile blurb, etc. This should also be part of something you can hand off to a campaign manager so they can represent you properly. (They will likely ask you for more information.) I actually would recommend keeping a few versions of varying length and specificity in your back pocket.
I like to keep the following versions:
1. Tag line: Single sentence or phrase that can fit on one line.
2. Brief introductory bio: One or two short paragraphs.
3. Longform bio: This one can be broken into sections but goes into more description and potentially a bit of your history.
Let's focus on that brief introductory bio. I find that this is best kept to one paragraph, two at most. Consider the purpose of this blurb: to get someone interested enough to listen to your music with enough information to know what to expect from your music. I like to keep a couple of versions of this: one in the first person and one in the third person.
Name! Always keep a version that has the name of your band. Because a lot of submission forms and profile builders require your artist or band name, you may be very likely to forget to put your name directly into an email if that's the preferred contact method of a blogger. Always keep an introductory line. (Speaking from experience here.)
Location: This is important especially if you gig locally or even just want to catch more local / regional fans.
Genre: What genres and sub-genres would you be most likely to put your music? This is not necessarily an easy question, but you likely already have a pretty good idea as to what your music could be classified as.
Instrumentation: What is the core to your sound? Is it keyboards? Guitars? Percussion and vocals only? Do you feature a trombone?
Inspiration: Are you channeling 80's synth pop bands? Are you putting a new spin on Big Band era sounds? Are you pop rooted in blues chords?
Meaningful descriptors: What are some things that would describe your music? Why should someone stop and listen to you? If you are bringing something new, just what is new about it? Reviewers and blog writers will recycle those words if they are accurate descriptions of your music. You can be a little creative here, but be careful that you are not too vague or vain in your wording. I like using words that describe my sound, such as electronic nuance, ethereal, ambient washes, classical piano, etc.
Latest release or project: Keep it short, but it's perfectly acceptable to say, "... just released their 3rd studio album..." This gives people a sense of whether you're new on the scene or established and what is the most recent representation of your music.
Optional:
Who do you sound like or invoke? Be cautious about including this in your brief bio, but you do need to know well-known artists in your genre to whom you might be compared. (Be metered here; if you choose too popular of an artist, this just seems like an empty boast.) Several sites ask about this to help match you to the right fans, playlists, etc, and marketing campaigns also rely on this information to know which reviewers to contact. Article writers, reviewers, and interviewers will likely compare you to other artists as suggested by you or by their own opinions. For many of us that try to do new things, this might seem like an insult to suggest that we should "sound" like anyone specific. However, this doesn't mean you sound like you are copying their style or their sound. Think about who your inspirations are; get your friends' thoughts on this too. Even if you are forging your own path, there are very likely other artists that you invoke in spirit. I would suggest keeping 3 to 5 artists / bands in mind.
What to avoid:
Boasting: Don't choose words that are vague and pompous. Words like "epic," "mind-blowing," and "the hottest thing coming out of L.A." are not for you to be telling people. Worse, they don't give an inkling of your style or your aim. These are opinions and things you want reviewers to say about you, but you have to earn those descriptions
Long histories and (too much) personal information: Don't tell your life story. Save your individual band member bios for your website (unless your marketing folks want this information). It's fine to say that you are a homegrown blues singer out of St. Louis, but don't talk about every stage you've set foot on or every unknown band you were a part of over your decades-long career. You can go into a little more detail on your longform bio, but even there, be cautious that you don't go too in depth.
A few more tips:
1. It's okay to try out different variations and see what lands you more features.
2. Try to keep your taglines and bios up to date and similar in the way you describe your sound.
3. Catchy phrases are likely to be used in blogs & reviews. Coin your own.
4. Yes it's okay to tweak your bio for the reviewer or the purpose. I recommend this! You don't want your emails and messages to feel completely canned and impersonal. If they are asking for a brief song pitch and a link, don't send your long form bio. If you're local, mention it.
Truth-be-told, I'm still learning here too. A well-crafted pitch will only get you so far, but it can certainly be the difference between a listen and an ignore. Remember that you're walking a fine line between confidence and arrogance. And as someone who does get solicited to listen to people's music often, a note that feels thought out and humble goes much further than an email or DM blast with a lot of bragging.
Good luck and feel free to share your own experiences.
What do I mean? I'm talking about a short bio that you can copy and paste into any email, contact form, online profile blurb, etc. This should also be part of something you can hand off to a campaign manager so they can represent you properly. (They will likely ask you for more information.) I actually would recommend keeping a few versions of varying length and specificity in your back pocket.
I like to keep the following versions:
1. Tag line: Single sentence or phrase that can fit on one line.
2. Brief introductory bio: One or two short paragraphs.
3. Longform bio: This one can be broken into sections but goes into more description and potentially a bit of your history.
Let's focus on that brief introductory bio. I find that this is best kept to one paragraph, two at most. Consider the purpose of this blurb: to get someone interested enough to listen to your music with enough information to know what to expect from your music. I like to keep a couple of versions of this: one in the first person and one in the third person.
Name! Always keep a version that has the name of your band. Because a lot of submission forms and profile builders require your artist or band name, you may be very likely to forget to put your name directly into an email if that's the preferred contact method of a blogger. Always keep an introductory line. (Speaking from experience here.)
Location: This is important especially if you gig locally or even just want to catch more local / regional fans.
Genre: What genres and sub-genres would you be most likely to put your music? This is not necessarily an easy question, but you likely already have a pretty good idea as to what your music could be classified as.
Instrumentation: What is the core to your sound? Is it keyboards? Guitars? Percussion and vocals only? Do you feature a trombone?
Inspiration: Are you channeling 80's synth pop bands? Are you putting a new spin on Big Band era sounds? Are you pop rooted in blues chords?
Meaningful descriptors: What are some things that would describe your music? Why should someone stop and listen to you? If you are bringing something new, just what is new about it? Reviewers and blog writers will recycle those words if they are accurate descriptions of your music. You can be a little creative here, but be careful that you are not too vague or vain in your wording. I like using words that describe my sound, such as electronic nuance, ethereal, ambient washes, classical piano, etc.
Latest release or project: Keep it short, but it's perfectly acceptable to say, "... just released their 3rd studio album..." This gives people a sense of whether you're new on the scene or established and what is the most recent representation of your music.
Optional:
Who do you sound like or invoke? Be cautious about including this in your brief bio, but you do need to know well-known artists in your genre to whom you might be compared. (Be metered here; if you choose too popular of an artist, this just seems like an empty boast.) Several sites ask about this to help match you to the right fans, playlists, etc, and marketing campaigns also rely on this information to know which reviewers to contact. Article writers, reviewers, and interviewers will likely compare you to other artists as suggested by you or by their own opinions. For many of us that try to do new things, this might seem like an insult to suggest that we should "sound" like anyone specific. However, this doesn't mean you sound like you are copying their style or their sound. Think about who your inspirations are; get your friends' thoughts on this too. Even if you are forging your own path, there are very likely other artists that you invoke in spirit. I would suggest keeping 3 to 5 artists / bands in mind.
What to avoid:
Boasting: Don't choose words that are vague and pompous. Words like "epic," "mind-blowing," and "the hottest thing coming out of L.A." are not for you to be telling people. Worse, they don't give an inkling of your style or your aim. These are opinions and things you want reviewers to say about you, but you have to earn those descriptions
Long histories and (too much) personal information: Don't tell your life story. Save your individual band member bios for your website (unless your marketing folks want this information). It's fine to say that you are a homegrown blues singer out of St. Louis, but don't talk about every stage you've set foot on or every unknown band you were a part of over your decades-long career. You can go into a little more detail on your longform bio, but even there, be cautious that you don't go too in depth.
A few more tips:
1. It's okay to try out different variations and see what lands you more features.
2. Try to keep your taglines and bios up to date and similar in the way you describe your sound.
3. Catchy phrases are likely to be used in blogs & reviews. Coin your own.
4. Yes it's okay to tweak your bio for the reviewer or the purpose. I recommend this! You don't want your emails and messages to feel completely canned and impersonal. If they are asking for a brief song pitch and a link, don't send your long form bio. If you're local, mention it.
Truth-be-told, I'm still learning here too. A well-crafted pitch will only get you so far, but it can certainly be the difference between a listen and an ignore. Remember that you're walking a fine line between confidence and arrogance. And as someone who does get solicited to listen to people's music often, a note that feels thought out and humble goes much further than an email or DM blast with a lot of bragging.
Good luck and feel free to share your own experiences.
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