A short video bio about you or your band goes a long way in today’s YouTube culture. It serves as a sort-of elevator pitch to draw the interest of music biz folks and fans alike. This kind of bio can be used as a visual one-sheet to impress agents, contest judges, festival bookers, radio and TV producers and anyone else who might encounter it online, be it on your website, YouTube or part of a social networking platform. It can be more effective than an actual music video, as you can tell your story while overlaying clips of your song’s video within the video bio, so people feel like they are getting the complete picture.

Production

Now comes the hard part: scripting, filming and producing this short clip that could help change the course of your career in the best direction possible. Video is a powerful tool, especially when done right. If done in an amateurish manner, you could become a joke and go viral in the worst possible way. This is why you should hire an experienced professional with all the right audio/visual equipment to help get your message across.

Narrative Arc

Now for the really important part: the story you tell. It should have a distinct and compelling narrative arc — a plot with characters (you and the band) the viewer can relate to, a rise in the action and then a climax. This is all fleshed out in the script. And, yes, you should have a script even for a short two-minute video clip such as this.
Consider hiring a professional writer with experience in script writing to help. It’s hard to write a good bio about yourself. Most people tend to go the boring, chronological-life-story or “What I Did On My Summer Vacation” route. Yawn! A professional bio writer will interview you, figure out the compelling narrative arc and then draft your script in a way you never could.

If you’ve garnered positive press reviews in your town ask the journalist who wrote the article(s) if they would narrate, or be interviewed for, the video. Or ask some other credible music biz person who likes your tunes. It adds a lot of content value when a respected figure with an authoritative title like “music journalist” or “producer” is onscreen talking about how how great you are.

Don’t give too much info, and don’t get too complex or slick. Hit the highlights and accomplishments. If there were any major setbacks, don’t be afraid to explore them as well. It will humanize you. The bottom line is to show how you’ve grown as a person and an act through recording and performing music for people.