I don't think a single one of us likes to be summed up in four words or less but eventually we need to **** it up and just do it. Yes, I'm talking to you Mr "there are no words to describe what I do with my guitar." Time to bust out a pad and pen and change that Myspace description to something that actually makes sense.

Now I bet you're wondering "Why should I sell the artist in me 'short' and categorize myself?" Well think of it this way- you find a new band that you absolutely love. You run off and tell your friends about how the drummer blows your mind and the lead singer made you see the world though a new set of eyes (just roll with it). What's always the first thing that comes out of your friends mouth afterwords? Who do they sound like? There we go! They want names, not "they sound like a gentle creek in the middle of a hurricane on mars" (I've seen it before). By spending a little time analyzing and comparing your sound to other musicians and acts you're able to define yourself and tell others what to say about you as well. The more well know the act, the better off you are. If you say you sound like "Your mom and the booze brothers" from down the street, no one is going to know what you're talking about. Pick three or four acts and roll with it.

Now here's the tough one. Genre. I absolutely **** this one. We all want to be rock stars, but not all of our music is technically "rock & roll" so we need to find another way to describe it. This next bit of information is going to be one of the most important things I could possibly ever pass onto you- don't ever, EVER describe your act by saying "we do a variety of music" That will have your press kit either deleted or thrown in the trash. Unfortunately the industry likes categories so eventually you do have to pick one BUT thanks to the way the market is going you would be amazed at what is considered rock and what is considered pop now.

Look at itunes or stop by a music store and you'd see what I mean. The first category you choose should be broad like "pop." Next you need to pick a second word, possibly a third that pinpoints your genre a little better but no more than three categories! A radio DJ doesn't want to say " and this is the new one from acoustic/pop/folk/rock/jazz/blues/singer/songwriter/guitarist alpha male" Yuck! I don't even want to hear that let alone read it! So how do you pick a second and third category? First, if you're a singer/songwriter that's your third category which limits your options but a trick I was told was to go through my songs and keep a tally of genres and whichever ones you had the most of were my styles. Here's an example of what mine is- pop/blues singer/songwriter. By hearing that you know I sing, right, have a bit more of a pop sound but that I redeem myself with a bit of blues (and blues also incorporates rock people) and please trust me when I tell you I **** 99.9% of general pop music and when my professor told me I'd be really successful in the pop market I kind of wanted to hit him. I didn't but I wanted to. The important thing is that whatever genre you choose that's your genre for the time being and that just because you choose "pop" as your main genre format it doesn't mean that you and Ms. Spears are in the same category.

So in summary, keep it short and sweet (unlike my blog entrys) while still getting your point across. It will take some time an experimenting but it will be well worth it in the long run.

Jennifer Cadence is a singer/songwriter, president and founder of anything but major records and founder of "how the hell do i get there" a website dedicated to providing free help and support to musicians

http://howthehelldoigetthere.weebly.com

http://myspace.com/jennifercadencemusic

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