When you say you are a musician, people ask you what instrument you play. When you say you write your own songs, people ask you what style they are. How can you be unique and still describe your songs with fewer than 10 words?

When asked about their style, most songwriters explain that it’s impossible to describe their music. According to them, they have invented a style so unique that you would need to invent a new word for it. Sounds familiar?

Being unable to describe your music accurately means that you are missing out on opportunities to promote yourself.

It’s human nature to want to know what style(s) a songwriter writes in. In the same way, you usually have a pretty good idea of the genre of a book before reading it. Without knowing this, you would probably not be reading it.

You might be scared of being “put in a box” but your neighbour is only trying to figure out whether there is a good chance he would like your music. See, he mosly likes r’n'b and funk music, and he really doesn’t care much about music with loud guitars.

By describing your music with “you can’t describe it”, you are closing all the doors. The indie pop fan, the funk music fan, the soul music fan, the heavy metal fan and the jazz music fan all think that your music isn’t for them.

Why? Because they can describe the type or types of music they like. If they hear Miles Davis, they can describe his music. If they hear the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, they can describe their music. They can describe the music and they know if they like it or not.

Well, this is all good, but how do you know how to describe your music? How can you describe it, when you really have no clue?

If you really don’t know where to start, you can try these: 

Ask your friends and family how they would describe it.

Write down a list of bands and artists that have influenced you, as well as the genre(s) of music they are mostly associated with.

Ask yourself how you want your audience to react to your music. Do you want them to grab a chair and break it, do you want them to feel all energised, do you want them to forget about their life, do you want them to fall asleep? Various music genres are associated with various moods.

Make a list of current bands you like and note how they music is described.

If you have had any review of your music or gigs, check how they described your music.

Artists don’t like labels and boxes, but our brain likes references.

Being able to describe your music will open many doors for you. Sure, the description might turn some people off but it will also excite other people. You cannot please everybody but connecting with some people is better than connecting with nobody