How to Write an Artist Bio: Template, Examples and Limits (2026)

Write your artist bio in the third person, lead with your name, genre and city, then add one concrete fact about your music and what's coming next. Write three lengths from the same facts: one line for social profiles, about 400 characters for Bandcamp, and up to 1,500 characters for Spotify and your website.

Below: the character limit on each platform, a fill-in template, examples for a new artist, and a free builder that writes the three lengths from your answers.

Artist bio character limits by platform#

Checked October 30, 2026.

Two things follow from the table. You need at least three versions (80 to 150 characters, around 400, and up to 1,500), and Apple Music is the one place where you don't write the main bio yourself.

What goes in an artist bio#

Every useful bio answers the same five questions, in this order:

1. Who: your artist name, and band members if it's a band.
2. What it sounds like: genre plus one specific detail (an instrument, a tempo, a production habit). "Indie pop" alone fits thousands of artists.
3. Where: your city or where you're from. Spotify's own pitch form asks for your hometown because editors look for local scenes, so it's worth repeating in the bio (Spotify for Artists, Playlisting).
4. Proof: one or two facts someone could check. A release, a show, a collaborator, a sync, a radio play. If you're new, the fact can be about how the music was made.
5. What's next: the upcoming release, tour or video, so the bio gives a reason to follow.

Write it in the third person ("Mara Vey is…"). Blogs, promoters and playlist curators who quote you can then copy it without rewriting it, and it reads the same on every platform.

Bandcamp's artist guide puts the length rule plainly: don't paste your Wikipedia entry, because the bio is there to say quickly who you are, and anything beyond 400 characters gets cut off (Bandcamp). That applies to every short version.

Artist bio template#

Fill in the brackets once and cut it down for each platform.

Long version (website and Spotify, up to 1,500 characters)

[Artist name] is a [genre] [artist/band/producer] from [city]. [One sentence on the sound: the instrument, tempo, production habit or influence that makes it specific]. [How it started, in one or two sentences: where they began making music and what changed]. [Proof: the last release and one checkable fact about it, such as a show, a collaborator, a sync or a playlist]. [Second proof, if there is one]. [What's next: the upcoming release or show, with a month]. [Optional: one line in the artist's own words, in quotes].

Medium version (Bandcamp, around 400 characters)

[Artist name] is a [genre] [artist] from [city] who [one specific detail about the sound]. [One proof fact]. [What's next].

Short version (Instagram 150, TikTok 80)

[Genre] from [city]. [What's next or one proof fact].

For the short version, the link in your profile does the rest. See how to set up the link in your Instagram bio and add your Spotify link to Instagram.

Artist bio examples#

These are fictional artists, written to show the format.

Long (new artist, no numbers to show yet)

Mara Vey is an indie pop artist from Medellín, Colombia. She writes on a borrowed Wurlitzer and records vocals in one take, so her songs keep the room noise in. She started posting voice memos of unfinished choruses in 2024, and the first finished one became her debut single "Glass Kitchen," recorded in a living room in one weekend. In September 2026 she played her first headline show at a 150-capacity room in Medellín. Her debut EP, "Rent Week," comes out in March 2027, with a live video for each song. "I want the songs to sound like the apartment they were written in," she says.

Medium (Bandcamp)

Mara Vey is an indie pop artist from Medellín who records on a borrowed Wurlitzer and keeps the room noise in. Her debut single "Glass Kitchen" was made in one weekend in a living room. Her debut EP "Rent Week" comes out in March 2027.

Short (Instagram)

Indie pop from Medellín. Debut EP "Rent Week" out March 2027.

Short (TikTok, rap artist)

Houston rap. New EP "Overtime" out this month.

How to write an artist bio with no experience#

If you have no releases, shows or press yet, the proof slot doesn't stay empty. Use facts about the work instead of facts about results:

• How and where the music is made ("records everything on a phone in a parked car").
• What you've finished ("has written 40 songs and is releasing the first five").
• Who you work with, if the collaborator is real and agrees to be named.
• The first release date. A date is a fact, and it gives readers a reason to come back.

Leave out claims nobody can check ("one of the most exciting new voices"), lists of famous influences longer than two names, and praise for your own music. Update the bio every time a proof fact changes; the "what's next" line goes stale fastest.

Free tool: artist bio builder#

Answer the five questions and the builder writes the long, Bandcamp, Instagram and TikTok versions from your words, with a character count against each platform's limit. It uses the templates above, not AI: a blank answer leaves no sentence, and nothing is invented. It flags the words that tell a reader nothing, warns when the "what's next" month has passed, and runs in your browser without storing anything.

Where your bio should live#

Platform bios are short and you don't control how they're shown. Your website's About page is the only place with no limit, where the long version, photos, links and upcoming dates sit together. If you don't have a site yet, start with how to make a music website, and remember that Spotify for Artists has no field for a website link (Spotify for Artists website link). If you're about to release, reuse the same story in your Spotify playlist pitch: the pitch is about the song, the bio is about you.

Where does Loud fit?#

Loud's sites don't carry an About page: they show your music, videos, shows and a sign-up for your fan list, and the bio stays where people already read it, on Spotify and your social profiles. We make Loud, which builds your website and link in bio from your Spotify and keeps them up to date with every release, so the short bio on Instagram or TikTok can send people to one link that has everything else.

FAQ#

How long should an artist bio be?

Write three lengths: up to 1,500 characters for Spotify and your website, around 400 for Bandcamp (it cuts off longer text), and 150 or less for Instagram and 80 or less for TikTok.

Should an artist bio be in first or third person?

Third person is the common choice because others can quote it without rewriting. First person works for social bios and an optional quote inside the long version.

What is the character limit for a Spotify artist bio?

1,500 characters. You edit it in Spotify for Artists under Profile, then About, and you can @tag artists, albums, playlists and tracks.

Can I write my own Apple Music bio?

Not directly. Apple sources biographies from Xperi, and changes requested through Xperi aren't guaranteed. You can fill in the Q&A in Apple Music for Artists, which displays on your artist page.

What should I put in my bio if I have no releases?

Facts about the work: how and where you make the music, what you've finished, real collaborators and your first release date.

How often should I update my artist bio?

Every time a proof fact or the "what's next" line changes, usually with each release.