How to Get Artist Bios and Album Reviews on iTunes

By
March 10, 2011{ 16 Comments }

iTunesLogo How to Get Artist Bios and Album Reviews on iTunesHow to Pimp Your iTunes Page with Extra Info

Ever wonder how those official-looking artist bios and album reviews end up on iTunes artist/album pages?

There is a company called All Media Guide (All Music Guide for musicians) that manages a database of commercially available media products. As well as displaying a wealth of info about each release on their own site, they also provide bio and review information to iTunes.

The info they display on their own website includes:

  • Meta Data: Facts about an album or artist, including title, tracks, genre, label, credits, release date, and cover and artist images.
  • Descriptive Content: Deeper details that really illuminate an artist or album including styles, moods, years active, instruments, birth/death date/place, and country of origin.
  • Relational Content: Information that helps you make meaningful connections between artists and the music − such as major influencers and followers, similar artists, top artists, and top albums.
  • Editorial Content: Original and insightful writing by AMG’s staff and network of professional freelance music contributors. This content includes biographies, album and song reviews, style descriptions, composition descriptions, and AMG ratings and picks.

You can submit your work to AMG according to their guidelines HERE.

Submit Your Work and Cross Your Fingers

While they do provide the first 3 bullet-pointed bits of information for most releases on their site, they do NOT guarantee any editorial stuff (the bio or album review info that you’re looking to appear on iTunes). So, you can cross your fingers that your work will be chosen on merit alone (which I don’t recommend), or you can get extremely resourceful and find out the contact info for a few people on AMG’s editorial staff or freelance contributor team and send them a disc & one-sheet. Be polite, of course. Never be pushy, and if they tell you “no,” take it as final until you put out your next release.

Hint: One way of finding out WHO to send your music to at AMG would be to hire a qualified publicist with a deep knowledge of the music industry and the address book to prove it. They’ll generally know who is currently writing for AMG. But if that solution isn’t quite in the budget, it never hurts to send inquisitive (and polite!) emails to the official contact address listed on AMG’s site.

A word of warning: Beware the results! AMG does not promise to review every artist or album favorably. If you’re lucky enough to get a bio or review posted on their site (and on iTunes), it may reflect poorly on your work. Of course, it could also say you’re the greatest thing since sliced bread, but I figured I’d just mention the disclaimer before you submit your music. As my good friend EJ would say about most things, “There ain’t no guarentees!”

-Chris R. at CD Baby

Sell your music on iTunes, Amazon, CD Baby, Rhapsody, Napster, Spotify, and more!

Chris Robley's Author Bio

  • http://www.lloissnead@myspace.com oonki2

    Why is it so hard for some artists even though they try the same methods with just as much or better talent than some,don`t get the breaks ?

    • Chris R. at CD Baby

      Talent, luck, smarts, connections, charisma, endurance, perseverance, passion, uniqueness, and more luck. Take any 3 of these, put em in a bag, blow on it for more luck, shake it up, and throw it all on the table to see what happens. Did I mention luck? And endurance?

  • Pingback: The Morning Tabs March 11 — We All Make Music

  • http://starfiremusic.com/en/index.php Dairenn Lombard

    It just goes to prove, it’s not what you do or how you do it, but who you know.

  • http://www.facebook.com/trancefury Trance Fury

    Already got in contact twice with someone inside through Discmakers (your parent company now). They told me they are extremely selective and I have yet to get a bio or review written even though my tracks have been high profile the last year.

  • http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/leehall Jordan Lee

    You sucessfully connect like this:

    A – Brag about Refusing to persue a major label and stick with it.

    B – Start your official career at 50 after a chance meeting with Derek Sivers

    C – Be among the first Indies to go nationwide on iTunes because The major labels were too good for that new internet dot com stuff.

    D – Write and record what sounds pro because you’ve been doing that all along

    E – When Universal Studios asks you to sign, have some fun by giving them a really hard time and just before they’ve had enough of you go ahead and sign their contract.

    F – Be happy enough with what you do so that in case the above doesn’t happen it wouldn’t matter anyway.

  • http://www.liveunsigned.com Live Unsigned

    Really useful post, its always been tough to work out how that text content is delivered to iTunes.

    Most of building an audience is doing lots of little things to get things going, working really hard, learning about the latest technology, being really good and getting that little bit luck that that makes things happen. Its very difficult, but it can be done if you look after the fans, have great music and put the time in.

  • http://www.intimateaudio.com Dale Turner

    This is also the route to go (AMG is owned by ROVI, I think?) to get biographical information to show up on places like PANDORA. Great post!!!

  • http://www.communitylvmc.org ian bruce

    most pr doesn’t matter.
    never hire anyone, let them ask you if they may work for you.

    what works is truly great songs with amazing performances, everything else is just another blade of grass on a very level lawn.

    when your music makes people vibrate, dance, feel like orgasms & talk about how they love you then you got a real pr company.

    otherwise your just pouring money into the whirlpool known as the “music industry”.

    i love the music biz where anyone with a genius imagination can become a music wiz.

  • Rich Martinez

    The process is the goal!
    Do all the things you must do, to the best of your ability. Do them consistently. Do them relentlessly.
    Don’t expect immediate results. You have to work the process for a while before the first results begin to come in. When they do, increase your efforts, don’t relax.
    If you relentlessly work the process, you will get results. They will never come when you want them, why you want them, how you want them, but they will come.
    A good basketball shooter knows the mechanics of shooting. They know they won’t make every shot, but they maintain the proper mechanics at all times. If they miss a few, they don’t alter their mechanics. In fact, they reassess their efforts to assure they are properly executing the mechanics of shooting.
    There will be peaks and valleys. Don’t relax if you have something of a peak, and don’t wait to step on the gas until you are in a valley.
    Success breeds success, failure breeds failure. When you have momentum step on the gas to keep it going and take advantage of it, try to increase it. Maximize it! That is easier to do when you already have momentum.
    If you wait until momentum has slowed, when you are in a valley, it is too late. Once you have lost momentum, it is much more difficult to regain it.

  • http://www.theiconoclast.ca james mcrae

    while i like the encouraging tone of this article and it sheds light on something i was unaware of, i still find myself being challenged to find contact info for any of the reviewers that might be appropriate to send my cd to for a possible review… do i send it to allmusic in ann arbor with attention so and so on the envelope, or do i some how magically find out if the person i think would be most likely to write a review is still working their first?? for the record i have sent an e mail to them asking this..

    i find there are a lot of folks and industry built up around the music who want to profit from the place in between the music and the general public where they might or might not be of any help to the musicians/artists who need to connect with a larger audience… that seems fair enough, but dang it seems like nothing is for free even if one wants to work hard at getting something happening on the marketing end of it all..

    for one of the posters up above.. their is a big difference between marketing and making music.. there is a reason many musicians aren’t great at marketing their music – they are more interested in making music then marketing.. marketing is a full time job.. hiring someone is a good idea, but most independent artists i know are either struggling financially, or they have family backgrounds helpful to the continuity of their chosen career.. good luck folks…

  • Carlos A. Boyce Jr.

    Well , the music business is 95% business and 5 % talent, it is not to say that talent is not important. It is to say that when the business is straight , then the talent regardless of how long and how hard it takes to get there .
    Then the masses will respect you , especially when your business plan is flowing the way that your end shared goals are being met.
    This business is team work and as many specialist on the team that it takes to make the artist shine is what will land as successful to some degree, it will allow the artist creativity and self autonomy!
    Stay Humble also , because it only last as long as your goals and plans are directed!

  • http://cdbaby.com Jimmi RITZ Reitzler

    I Think Jorden Lee had a rough Idea of What to do…But It doesn’t really work unless your ready to give up SOME THING. I turned down signing with a BIG Company back in the early stage of my Career.It was late 70′s early 80′s and the company wanted to sign my band TAROT after reading about us in Rock Scene (a NYC Magazine)(By the way we were from Atlantic City New Jersey).They wanted Publishing and part of Copywriting-I wanted all Copywrites (I did write and sing the songs)and part of the Publishing.The Company said That’s not HOW the Music Business WORKS and was shown the Door.The Band Threw me out of the Band on the way home.I moved on and started my next band a few weeks later (NO BRAKES)And went DIY… But it’s FUNNY I found out years later that the company offered the same contract to another band at about the same time Van Halen…So Did I win by owning my music or was I a F**k UP.Jimmi RITZ Reitzler

  • http://www.meldavians.com Dave Fox

    Good information

    I think the best approach to things like this is to try it, and don’t worry about what critics say, cause you’re an artist right? you believe in yourself, right? And, you’re doing this because you feel you have to, right?

    It doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks.

    Unless they write a really, really great review, in which case you should post it everywhere for folks to see!

    Even if that happens, though, you still end up with you, yourself, and your artist-self. After all, it’s not about money or fame.

    (It’s about the girls!)

  • http://www.Lthrboots.com Lthrboots

    Great info. I always wondered how to get that set up in iTunes. THANKS!!!!!

  • http://www.youtube.com/natalac74 Natalac Records

    http://www.natalac.com thanks you even tho alot of fans and etc. think i’m signed to label i’m not my label IS “Natalac Records”. Thanks for another tool to do what the majors do…so my bank account can be major too..