AMG calls itself “the most comprehensive music reference source on the planet.”

How 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

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