Writing Your Songwriting Resume

Just as in any job search, it is essential that you have some sort of resume on file so you have all of your music references and accomplishments organized in some readable form. This way, when you do find a potential employer, co-writer or publisher you want to pitch yourself to, or get interviewed by some periodical, you have something to show them without needing a day or two to scrounge through boxes of photos and press clippings to find bio information on yourself to show them. Write this up in a simple story form, and you also have a nice bio for your press kit. Here are a few ideas for gathering and organizing this information to show to others.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Where can people reach you? Is that information current? If you travel around a lot, or are on the move all day, you really need to have some way people can reach you. Pagers are inexpensive, especially if they don’t have a voicemail feature, and you should keep a fresh battery in yours so you don’t lose important calls, and make sure you include this number on any bio information you hand out (voicemail is cheap, though, and many prefer this to leaving a number, so consider spending the extra for this feature). The same applies to celphone numbers, if you are fortunate enough to have one of these devices. I am online a lot, so make sure and mention my email addresses, and the fact that voice chat is available free for the downloading with Yahoo as well as MSN Messenger, so potential employers and fellow musicians can avoid the high cost of long-distance phoning to contact you. AOL and ICQ also have free chat and instant messenger services, so look these up and sign up for them if you can. I have all four loaded on my computer, and have found them invaluable to get in touch with faraway fellow musicians even on my tight budget. In your contact information, you might also include any MP3.com files, other music websites where people can listen to your music, or web pages that include bios, resumes or where people can buy or otherwise obtain info or music from you. Phone numbers and addresses are fine, but one manager I spoke to recommended that you get a post office box and use a pager, since all too many nasty people are out there that just love to stalk folks in the music industry and target them for theft and abuse, so you should think carefully before including actual physical addresses or home phone numbers to put out in a public document like a resume or website, for your own safety and peace of mind. The important thing here is to make sure people can get in touch with you, though, and quickly, since many contracts have been won and lost because someone could or couldn’t be reached first or before some important deadline. This, unfortunately, is a very impulsive industry, so you need to be able to be contacted at a moment’s notice. Find some way that people can keep in touch.

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