How to write an artist bio people finish reading
The short answer
Write it in the third person and put your strongest true fact first. Then say what you sound like using real comparisons, what you've done lately and what's next. Keep three lengths ready: one sentence, one paragraph and about 200 words. Cut every sentence that could describe another artist.
The formula
Open with your best fact
A result, a story or an unusual detail. Never your birthplace, unless the place is the story.
Say what it sounds like
Name two real reference points. "Unique blend of genres" tells me nothing.
Add what's recent
Releases, shows and press from the last 12 months.
End on what's next
A date gives a writer a reason to cover you now.
A bad bio, fixed
Same made-up artist on both sides. The right side uses only facts.
Jonah Reyes has had a passion for music since childhood. A genre-defying artist, Jonah blends many influences into a truly original sound, taking listeners on an unforgettable journey.
Jonah Reyes wrote a first EP on night shifts at a Fresno cold-storage plant, and it sounds like it: hushed, tired, oddly hopeful, somewhere between Bon Iver and a 3 a.m. radio station. The single "Walk-In" crossed 100,000 streams without a label. A first West Coast run starts in March.
Nothing on the left is checkable, and it fits ten thousand people. The right has a place, a job, a sound, a result and a date. A journalist could lift a line from it without making a phone call.
Keep three lengths ready
| Length | Used for | What stays in |
|---|---|---|
| One sentence | Social profiles, pitches | Who, what it sounds like, best fact |
| About 75 words | Spotify, festival forms | Add one recent result and what's next |
| About 200 words | Press kit, journalists | The full story, with one quote if you have it |
Words to delete on sight
- Passion for music, since a young age.
- Unique, genre-defying, one of a kind.
- Soulful, raw and authentic, unless you can prove it.
- Taking listeners on a journey.
- Anything your mom would say.
Read it out loud
If you'd be embarrassed saying a line to a stranger at a bar, cut it. Ask someone who doesn't know your music to tell you what you sound like after reading. If they can't, start over.
Update it every time something real happens. An old bio quietly tells people your career stopped the day you wrote it.
Questions people ask
Should an artist bio be in first or third person?
Third person for press kits, so writers can quote it. First person can work on your own social profiles.
How long should an artist bio be?
Keep three versions: one sentence, about 75 words and about 200 words. Use the shortest one that does the job.
What should I write if I'm just starting out?
Your story and your sound. Say where you're from if it matters, what you're making and what's coming. Honesty about being new beats inflated claims.
Can I use AI to write my artist bio?
It can help you get unstuck, but it tends to produce exactly the generic lines listed above. The specific details have to come from you.
Good bio. Now give it a home.
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