Let me save you the time and tell you YES, right off the bat.

Artist profiles are an important element in establishing an online personality, and in developing a brand – they are what should greet us when we access your work. As well, they give your work a kind of chronology which contextualizes your Artworks to a new audience. I’ll be the first to admit that I dragged writing up a thoughtful artist profile for myself – I used to scrape through a few lines attempting to sell NdufromtheClan as a creative artist and listen, the first few tries were not my best job. It took realizing the importance of establishing a founding narrative surrounding my work and that a profile would also allow me to book ideal gigs. So on this piece, let’s look at the advantages that come with creating a solid artist profile or bio as most y’all would know it.

COVERS THE WHO

Your profile tells us who you are. Ours is a content creating and information sharing generation and the competition in the creative industry is wild – it’s important to define yourself as soon as possible, and then refine you “image” over time. Also, when you know who you are as an artist –it gives you a better chance of booking ideal gigs with growth opportunities. What I’ve noticed is that the industry is exploitative, judgmental, dismissive and impatient with inexperienced artists – it’s like the industry only opens up for artists’ whose minds appear to be made up – artists who appear to have direction. So the onus is on us to do the work. Creating an artist profile for yourself gives your work a face.

COVERS THE WHAT

Your profile also tells us what you do. The creative industry is broad, vast and intertwined – you have to be particular about what your work is, what your contribution is. This can be tricky sometimes because by virtue of being in the creative industry, you rarely perform one task – you’re forced to learn complimenting trades. For instance I found it difficult merging my journalism, music and event organizing capabilities in one profile – so I prioritized my music, journalism became a passive and accompanying element and my events appear on platforms associated with NdufromtheClan but not under my profile as a musician. So a profile helps focus your favored offering, so that people hire you specifically for it. Also, this relieves you off a lot of pressure to be too many things at once.

LOOKS ATTRACTIVE

Majority artists and upcoming brands have official social media pages for work, why? These are our profiles. This is how we get work. The work of an artist is finding stability through freelance opportunities, so here first impressions really do count. They show at which level we see ourselves. When promoters and event organizers are scouting for new talent – they’re looking at profiles. Attracting work also comes with the responsibility of creating attractive profiles which represent us. When you cannot speak for yourself, make sure your work rises to the occasion.