In a perfect world, musicians would be ranked solely on talent and the highest paid artists would be the most talented. Well our world is not perfect in this regard (take Justin Bieber for example). Image has been involved for a long time with music. Even classical composers were expected to look a certain way when they performed or conducted. Humans are visual creatures and a well-developed image helps fans to feel a stronger connection to the artist. Creating the right image that properly reflects who you are and the music you are playing is crucial nowadays. If Dave Matthews came on stage dressed like KISS and performed his music, it would severely limit the audience’s connection to the performance and his music.
Start By Focusing On The Significant Things and Not The Little Things
Before you begin nitpicking about every little detail of your image, take a moment to think about the most substantial elements. Do you feel you already have a good look as far as wardrobe and personal looks go? Maybe you feel that is where you could stand some improvement. Figure out first what you think you need most and will be most effective, and then you work on developing that. Once you are satisfied with that progress, then you move down the list on to smaller details.
Video Your Rehearsals and Performances For Later Review
This is great when you feel you need to work on your “live” image. Maybe you feel that your shows aren’t interesting enough because you aren’t drawing the big crowds you want. Perhaps you feel your latest performance was sloppy or made it seem like you were stumbling along. By videoing your personal and band rehearsal time you can see what mistakes you are making that you don’t notice while you are playing. Video your shows to get a better understanding of what songs are working better and which aren’t, see where your show seems to start losing energy or the crowds starts to lose interest, etc…. Even if you can’t video your rehearsals and shows, then at least find a way to record audio so you can hear mistakes and problems.
Develop Your “Rehearsed” Show and Then Vamp On It
Performing artists should have their show “rehearsed.” This means that they have worked through the show as far as song order, where they are going to mention their website and social media, when they need to mention the new shirts, etc…. The show should be treated similar to a stage play and rehearsed accordingly. Then once you have rehearsed and developed your show to that extent, you can afford to loosen up and improvise a bit around it.
For more ideas on developing your live show read my previous post Have Your Live Shows Gotten Stale?.
Be Active On Social Media
This is something that gets said time and time again. Get out there and do stuff on the social media sites. You don’t have to use them all. In fact, it’s better if you don’t. Pick two or three at most to focus on and stick with that. In this regard I mean pick out of the major networks like Facebook, Twitter, Google+, etc…. Don’t lump smaller services like Instagram into this since in the end those can be tied into the bigger networks. Pick your main ones then see what smaller networks can be incorporated into them. Just remember not to spread yourself too thin. Once you have your picks, start making it a point to post regularly, even if it’s just a rant about something or a mention of something that just happened to you. Be yourself and create an “image” with your social profiles.
Find A Good Stylist
Depending on the style you are going for, you may not need a fancy stylist. It still doesn’t hurt to have one though. The main aspect of finding a good stylist is that you don’t just want someone who can do a variety of styles but someone who can also lend their own personal opinion to how a style might suit you.
Create An Image and Stick To It
Bouncing from one defined image to another can be a quick way to hurt or ruin your career. Only a few artists have been truly successful at changing their overall image, and generally only did so when they changed genres. If you aren’t changing your musical genre, then you shouldn’t need to completely change your look. Find a centralized image and modify around that as needed. Maybe some new trend comes about and you want to incorporate it. Great, do that! Just don’t do a 180° on your image every time a fad goes away.
Get Some Great Pictures Done By A Professional Photographer
Unless your family member or friend taking your promo pics is a professional photographer, then you need to disregard those pics and hire a professional. “Wait my cousin IS a professional,” you say? Well unless they treat photography as a serious effort, then they don’t qualify as a professional. You want to find a photographer with quality equipment, a thorough understanding of their equipment and photography techniques, and have the right perspective to give you the type of photos you want.
From my past experiences, what I’ve found to work best is to learn some about photography yourself. There are plenty of resources online that will help you learn about the settings and functions of cameras and how those affect the pictures. Learn about proper flash usage and diffusers, etc…. The more you know, the more readily you will know when a photographer is trying to BS you. When you do get to work with a quality photographer, be sure to take note of how they act, how they handle equipment setups, how they tell you to pose, etc…. Each time I worked with a true “professional” photographer I learned something new about how a photo shoot should work. In the end, it made it easy to tell the difference between an experienced professional and the inexperienced hobbyist.