The answer to that question is depending on who you are intending to send it to. We, as a magazine, have seen thousands of infosheets through the years and can tell you about do’s and don’ts.
Let’s start with the don’ts:
– We really don’t need a 4 page long biography. The longer it is, the less it is likely we will read it.
– Keep the info you send us relevant. About 85% of the bands have bandmembers that started young, so really that is not something that makes you stand out. No need to tell us you started at age 5… or something. You get the point.
– Send us text with a terrible layout. Paragraphs please!
– Over the years we have had era’s in which 75% of the band told us they “sound like HIM and Paradise Lost”. If all of that was true, we would seriously have no clue anymore what kind of music these bands actually make because these statements are rarely making sense. It only triggers that journalists keep comparing you… and the chances you win it from an established band like them are simply not as high as might think.
Current hype: mentioning “Jens Bogren” (or one of the other few big-name producers) and his work on your album as if it is an accomplishment. Really.. that just tells us you paid enough money to hire him. Don’t use his name as if it is a guarantee for your sound. There is that saying: “A golden bit does not make the horse any better.” And we are judging the horse in this case.
– Use quotes of what other magazines said. Good for other marketing maybe, but we have our own opinion anyway. It may or may not be similar.
– Same goes for listing a bunch of 9 out of 10 or 10 out of 10 reviews… because we have google too. We can also find the reviews that gave you only 6 out of 10 or lower that you did not mention. And once again: we have our own opinion anyway.
– Send your release much later than the releasedate. We get over 400 promo’s per month. We like to keep our readers informed of nowadays releases, not the ones from 5 or 6 months ago (or even longer!)
Ok… now to the better part, the do’s:
– Mention the following data:
Name album (yes, some forget… try reading them Death Metal artworks then!)
Releasedate
Label or selfreleased?
Line up
Tracklist
Emailaddress where we could send you the link to
Weblinks
– Also include:
Small biography. Keep it short and relevant!
A small piece about the album: what is so special about?
Not needed but we do like:
Bandphoto(‘s)
Coverart
Now you can style this as you please but keep in mind it must be inviting to read so take a standard font. If you need to put it on size supersmall to make sure it fits on one page, your biography is probably too long! It would really be best to keep it at one page. Don’t forget to use paragraphs.
Keep in mind that these points are giving from a magazine’s point of view. Always keep in mind whom you are sending it to when making your infosheet!
Some last tips for you:
If you want our attention, be original and stand out. We have band send us everything in black envelopes, we once got an origami infosheet and we got some cool USB’s as well. It’s our best kept secret: if you capture our interest like that you are more likely to skip the line!