R.E.S.P.E.C.T. The Promotional Kit Biography -Part II

Writing a biography no matter how brief or long can be a very daunting task...especially if you're writing about yourself. It is the autobiography someone writes about their own life. Generally speaking, most people are either too modest or too egocentric to write about themselves. So my advice is to find someone you are comfortable talking with who has some writing ability, then offer them a reasonable fee to write about your career. It takes a great deal of talking, interviewing, and fact finding to write a credible bio piece that appeals to the intended reader.

And who is the intended reader? How much do they really need to know about you?

To that end ask your writer to write three versions of your bio. The first is a brief synopsis of your career that is no more than 250-300 words. A mid-size bio amounts to around 750-1000 words and gets to the essence of who you are and what you do. The full length bio spells out who you are, what you do, and how you got there. Depending on the length of your career, the full length bio can be up to 4000 words in length.

The bio answers all the pertinent questions an interested party would want to know about your career. That includes all the five W's: who, what, when, where and why. It also includes how. If you are really successful at what you do, the most important element in your bio is the how.

Too often people include every move they've ever made in the body of their biographies. The truth is no one really cares if you worked with your cousin's brother-in-law on a song that was in rotation on one radio station for six days. The focus of the bio is on you and the most significant accomplishments in your career.

Optimally the bio should read like an interesting short story beginning with a brief intro and description of what you do. The chronology should begin with the strongest element in your career and move either forward or backward. This grabs the reader's interest and encourages further reading.

Create visual images for the reader.What does a typical performance look, feel, and sound like? What does the audience amount to? Is it a full house of twenty-somethings moshing; or is it a well-heeled audience in a half-filled recital hall on a university campus?

Do not list every single performance you've ever been hired for. Nobody cares. List the top five venues of interest...but only if they are commonly recognized. If the venues won't catch the reader's attention then list the cities you've performed in.

If you have strong quotes from notable sources weave them throughout the bio to keep the reader interested.

Quotes are like fairy dust. Sprinkle them sparingly in the most beneficial parts of the bio and always credit the media outlet.

Even though the biography is about the performer, it only serves as a vehicle to reach out to an audience of consumers. Typically the bio has to pass through the capable hands of a journalist who will write about the performer, enticing the consumer to buy tickets to a performance or purchase a new release. The other type of consumer is the the person who reads your bio and books you into any number of concert performances paying you a fee to perform.

Here's an example of a long bio written about the man who created the most successful independent label of the 20th century: http://tiny.cc/XlosV

Music Is A State of Being

I've been resisting creating a blog for a long time. There's way too much to read these days. Yet, the announcement that LiveNation/Ticketmaster got approval to merge creates a monopoly on the arena experience. This coincides with a blog post Derek Sivers wrote about Seth Godin who is telling musicians they need to sell a concert experience. Radiohead, announced at Midem the entire music industry is operating on an analog music model in a digital world; and piracy is not the root of all evil.

This is nirvana for independents! The world's largest promoter and ticket agency have a monopoly that restricts them financially from promoting shows in smaller more intimate venues. Godin says creating an intimate concert experience is what indies must sell. Then Radiohead says the analogue system doesn't work in a digital world. What could be better news on a Monday in January in the music biz?

With a little imagination indies can plan taking advantage of all of today's news and put together a blueprint of interesting ways to be with your fans in any city.

Forget about clubs, cover prices, guarantees, posters, and advertising. Invite your fanbase via postcard or email to an open field for a few tunes at sundown and a potluck dinner where everyone contributes. This builds relationships between you and your audience. It builds community within your fan base.

Set up an event at a local winery with a winetasting and just a few tunes before you - the artist - hang out with your fans sipping local wines. The audience pays for the experience of hanging out with you. It builds community around you within your audience, and a relationship with the winery.

Send an un-invitation to your debut arena show. People will pay not to hassle with parking, high ticket prices, high food and beverage prices. Find a great spot indoors or out that will hold 100-200 people. Play a few tunes then mingle with the attendees over microbrews or whatever is appealing.

Find a rural dance or grange hall and invite local fans to a BYOB gig where everyone can dance. House concerts rocked all regions of the country in the late 1950s and early 1960s. There was a great sense of pride being included in the event due to the intimate setting. It was partcipation that ignited excitement. Being a spectator isn't all that unique among 10,000 to 20,000 people.

The idea of a concert performance was established hundreds of years ago, when the ONLY way to hear music was to attend a live music event. All music was acoustic...there wasn't electricity.
The only reason you need amps is so everyone can hear instruments that are plugged in. If the audience is small, you don't need amps, mics, and monitors ...you can probably hear a pin drop between the notes if you are playing really great music.

Create acoustic settings with analog technology. The digital process edits all the warmth out of music played in any setting. It's taken the digital world about 25 years to finally destroy how music has been presented to the public for centuries. And that fatal flaw has caught up to a greedy industry that doesn't know where to turn next.

Music is a state of being for the listener as well as the performer. Create unique and unforgettable experiences for your audience. When you let them participate they will tell their friends; who will tell their friends. The experience should not be an exercise in self-indulgence. Music is meant to be shared and to bring them together.

Folk legend, Pete Seeger said, "Participation will save the human race." Right now, the human race can use all the help it can get.