Grindstop

New repositionable vinyl stickers offer bands some excellent new promotional tools.

Promoting your band with vinyl stickers is a new way to get people talking. Vinyl stickers may be custom made with your band logo or life size photos of your band in action and of the band members.

What’s this new vinyl sticker material called? FotoSticks. Repositionable and reusable vinyl stickers that won’t harm walls. You can stick them up just about anywhere and then take them down and move them somewhere else. Assuming that they get dirty, just was h them off with warm water.

You might give away free and inexpensive smaller vinyl stickers while selling life size stickers to create a promotion that funds itself.

Here are several promotional ideas:

• Give away small vinyl stickers of your band’s logo at the door

• Sell life size wall stickers of your band in action and the members along with very large stickers of your band logo.

• Locate out where agents live and plaster their neighborhood bulletin boards and store windows (with permission, of course)

• Place them in jewel cases

• Put them on fan’s cars during a gig

Here are some more detailed promo ideas…

The band Brew

Thanks to Mike Larrabee for this idea, it’s great. Do you have a Regional micro-brewery? See about getting a few cases of beer in the absence of front labels. Then create your own label and order the design as a FotoStick. You may put them on the bottles and your fans may buy a beer and get a free promotional sticker that may be re-stuck anywhere they like.

Steal This Sticker

Put your band stickers on bulletin boards, windows and anywhere else you dare. people may simply peel them off and use them again anywhere they want. They won’t harm walls or windows.

Artist Co-Promotion

Locate a good performer or two and have a monthly promotion that includes a limited run of only a specified amount of stickers featuring a certain artist. When they are gone, that is it, they are no longer available. Do this each month and you might promote collecting performer memorabilia and create some buzz.

Bar Graffiti

Put your performer stickers all over the bar or club you are playing in and let the listeners know that they may peel them off and keep them.

Photos of fans with performer Members

At each performance have one of the roadies take pictures of your fans with their favorite performer members. Collect their addresses and then send them some FotoSticks several weeks later to remind them of the night. You may be sure that they will show their friends and family. Since they are repositionable, they might put them on their notebooks or laptops to show around and then put them on their wall once they are done bragging.

Summary

Repositionable vinyl stickers are new and they get people talking. Not only are they a way to get your band image known, they establish a buzz just because they’re novel. So,do not hesitate, be the 1st band to show this new promotional tool to your fans. It is an inexpensive way to get the word out. Plus, if you sell the larger six and seven foot wall size stickers it can pay for itself and you can even profit from it in more ways than one.

FotoStick is a 5 mil vinyl material that has a sticky back that may be moved and removed in the absence of harming the surface they’re placed upon. Un prefer static cling, traditional stickers and custom magnets, FotoSticks are tough, durable and more versatile. They are prefer stickers but they may be used and re-used over and over again. They are prefer magnets except that they stick on al the majority any smooth surface. They are inexpensive and you could produce one custom sticker to one hundred thousand affordably. Stay up to date with new trends by reading the FotoStick Blog

You’ve brought together three or four of the optimum musicians in town, and they’re jamming to your tunes. You’ve spent days and evenings writing and rewriting lyrics, and you’ve been working hard to optimum your sound. Lastly, after a lot of months of practice, you are ready to reap the advantages of your hard work. But how do you begin?

As a new band, the idea of booking your 1st gig might prove to be a daunting task. Still, it does not have to be. By following these simple steps, you might turn a externally overwhelming process into a productive one.

Making sure that the members of the band are all on the same page is an essential 1st step in the booking process. Agree on a number of gigs per month that anybody at all will play. Put together a set of your best tunes and make a demo. Your demo ought to not include full-length tunes ; a few short snippets of your strongest material will showcase your band’s strengths and will sell your band to potential Venues with little or no resolution. With your demo, include a photo of the band, a short statement about the music or type of that the band plays, and your contact information, including the band’s web site. Decide what Venues you’re interested in playing and how much you’ll charge them for playing, if anything. Getting these details out of the way early will produce wonderful communication among the band members, thus avoiding misunderstandings in the future.

Next, do your research. Scope out the Local scene; find out who your competition is, which performers performance where, what Clubs cater to your specific sound, and who your target listeners is. Talk to seasoned Local acts; a number of times times, your fellow musicians will be your perfect sources of information. Getting to know your competition, your listeners and your Local scene will prove to be an indispensable tool when you are selling yourself to venue owners and booking agents. furthermore, be open to anything. Limiting yourself to clubs and bars will hinder your chances of booking your band. Find out about open-mic nights in your area, offer to open for other performers for free and find out about Local fairs and festivals where your band might get some exposure.

When you’re out and about checking out potential Clubs, ask for the names of the people responsible for booking artists at that location. Get their contact information and keep track. Use all of your contacts and, when calling them, be brief and to the point. Ask them If they have time to talk, and if not, when it would be a good time to contact them. Ask for permission before submitting your demo. Be persistent, but not pushy, and realize that it will take some time to get that job. Once you do get the gig, be sure to discuss payment, if any, as well as what you’ll need to bring as opposed to what the Club will provide. Be professional and be honest.

With determination, a little know-how, and some clever self-promotion, you could land that first show and be on your way to success in no time.

No wonder we all seek to express ourselves in some way. To achieve success in music we need a band, as a solo career is no longer popular. And now you are amidst decisions how to choose the performer members to share you dazzling ups.

Well, there are two ways out:

1.To involve professional performers into the project and to divide obligations in advance. The only thing acquired is your own professional skills.

2.To surround yourself with deer companions and start following the path of studying altogether.

No matter which way you’ll go, just don’t haste. It can happen the guitarist will tear a strip off or the drummer will misfit a drum performance. It’s no use shouting on them. we all make mistakes every now and then.

first of all try studying few simple songs, prefer My Girl by Nirvana. But do not jump into mastering jazz or grind core, as the Suicidal Tendencies, the Red Hot Chili Peppers or the Slipknot represent.

For joint work to be fruitful enough, you should organize rehearsals into two parts, the way, one will be devoted to revising already studied tunes and the other one will be used for improvisation, which is of a excellent value, as the performer members study to predict every next step of each other. Its’ you feeling every sense of music in the result. You could feel it is aliveness by letting it through your mind. But the central thing is not to feel down in case everything is not as excellent as you have imagined. It’s much worse to loose pleasure in playing and creating music.

What concerns recommendations of experienced musicians, they are value listen to, however, keep it in mind, it’s up to you, which of them to choose to follow.

I hear a lot of people complain that their band can’t really get anywhere because there’s not much of a scene where they live. However I don’t see a lot of people doing anything about it. If there’s going to be a scene, someone needs to have the vision and initiative to start it. So if you don’t have a booming scene where you live – start your own! Here’s how:

The first thing that you need to do is to scout out at least one good venue. What you want to look for are venues that are:

a) inexpensive
b) fun
c) willing to give you the freedom to set up your own shows

The other important factor is bringing in other bands to play with you. You’ll know you’re on the right track when you start putting together shows that you’re genuinely excited about. If you’re excited about the shows you put together then that excitement will translate to your fans. When you consistently put together fun and exciting shows you’ll see the beginnings of a new scene. Other bands will want to be a part of it and you won’t have to beg people to come to your shows. You’ll just need to tell them when they are.

When you put on shows with bands who know each other and who have fun together then people will actually stay for more than one band! They’ll leave happy without having spent too much and the bands can actually make some money too. It’s a win, win for everyone if you do it right.

If you’ve got total freedom over the shows you put on then you can do some things that are outside the box. You can have a comedian or a magician open for you. Be creative. I saw a band once who had made a big wheel that they would spin that would prompt them to do all kinds of entertaining stunts in between songs depending on where the wheel landed. It’s your show. Have fun with it!

Before I moved to Los Angeles I played in a band in Rhode Island where there wasn’t any kind of established scene. There were a couple of no-name venues where we regularly played. One was at a restaurant/bar at the beach and another was a tiny bar in the suburbs. Neither one had bands playing there until we proposed the idea. We brought in bands that we wanted to play with and we played what we wanted to play.

Both of these places that we played at gave us 100% of the door and 100% of merch. One of them even gave us the door plus $100 and free drinks! The bar was a tiny unknown hole in the wall, yet we made more money per show there than when I played in a band that sold out the Viper Room. Those shows were some of the best times of my life. We weren’t trying to reach for something beyond us, we were just putting on the shows we wanted to play and that we thought would be the most fun for everyone. We booked the bands we liked to watch and that we liked to hang out with, so naturally our fans would enjoy the show as well. People would come back to see us again and they would bring more friends and tell more people, to the point that many of them would be turned away at the door.

The idea is to bring people together in a way that’s a win win for everyone. If everybody wins then everybody will want to be a part of your shows in the future. If you want to create a scene, forget about the big expensive venues that don’t care about you, book 6 unrelated bands a night, don’t pay you and that your fans can only afford to go to on special occasions. Instead, find a fun place that’s receptive to the idea of letting you come in and put on your own inexpensive shows. It’s an opportunity for everyone – the venue owner wants more customers, you’ve got fans and you know other bands who have fans (you just need a willing venue), and the fans have a few hours and a reasonable amount of money to spend, and they want good entertainment.

Bring it all together and you’re the hero. So don’t be one of the countless complainers. Be a doer. Amazing things can happen when you’ve got the vision to bring people together.

Everybody wants to know the easy, proven steps to music success. Therefore, most experts offers tips and strategies to help you reach your goals in a positive light — including me.

Well, it’s time to shake things up and serve a new audience — which explains why this post takes a tongue-in-cheek look at the dark side: How to destroy your music career in seven easy steps …

1) Give Away Your Personal Power

The first step to destroying your music career is to realize that your destiny is in the hands of other people and circumstances beyond your control. Fully embrace the fact that you need to be in the right place at the right time to get your “lucky break” and be “discovered.”

Know that industry people and music critics must deem you worthy of success for you to have value as a musician. Also, cling to the belief that all the answers are “out there” somewhere and out of your control and you will be incredibly successful at failure.

2) Turn Marketing, Promotion and Sales Into a Huge Burden

Do you really wanna fall flat fast? Then start referring to marketing as a “necessary evil” right away. Realize that you don’t have what it takes to “sell yourself” and reach more fans. In fact, there’s probably a biological reason you hate promotion: you were born without the critical marketing gene that all those “gift of gab” people have. Therefore, you are destined to live a lifetime of hardship as you struggle with having to engage in the ugly chore of self-promotion.

3) Be Fearful of Being Perceived as a Greedy, Capitalist Pig

Paranoia will go a long way to helping you fall short of a thriving music career — especially when it comes to earning money. Just know that every one of your fans is watching you and waiting to jump ship the second they smell any scent of capitalism. Therefore, if you make any sales pitches at all, they better be so low key as to be barely perceptible.

In fact, it would be best not to even make people aware that you have things for sale. Just wait till they come to you. If they’re interested, they’ll ask. And if you want to score extra points, when they do ask, tell them you left all your CDs and T-shirts at home.

4) Use a Lack of Time, Money and Connections as Your Biggest Excuse

Here’s a surefire way to go down in flames. Have convenient scapegoats based on scarcity. Tell anyone who asks (as well as a lot of people who don’t ask or care) how lousy your career is because of all the lack in your life. Frequently use phrases such as “There aren’t enough hours in the day,” “If I had that kind of money, I’d be a rock star too,” and “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.” To spice things up, every now and then throw in an angry reference to “The man.”

5) Market Yourself to the Faceless Masses Using Traditional Big Media

Why spend all that time dealing one on one with fans, when someday someone could just throw a bunch of money (you know, the funds you don’t have enough of now) into a massive marketing campaign? Realize that it takes big bucks spent on radio promotion, retail placement, billboards, and paid display ads in national magazines to succeed. This mass media mindset is your ticket to success … at hitting the fast track to failure.

Bonus tip: Never answer your email from fans, and rarely — if ever — log into your Facebook, MySpace or Twitter accounts. Better yet, don’t even start these accounts, since they are time-wasting fads.

6) Promote Yourself Sporadically and Only When It’s Urgent

If you have a mailing list (and with piss-poor email delivery and open rates these days, why bother?), be sure the fans on your list don’t hear from you very often. One of the best “road to ruin” marketing tactics is blasting your fans with urgent “come to my show” or “buy my new album now” messages when they haven’t heard from you in months. Your ultimate goal is have fans read your promotions and go, “Who is this band again?”

7) Know That Everyone Owes You Something Simply Because You Exist

I’ve saved the best way to destroy your music career for last. Simply know that everyone will care as much about you and your music as you do. Understand that complete strangers will indeed listen to every note of your 70-minute concept album and read every word of your 10-page bio. Be sure to send long, in-depth emails and leave lengthy, rambling voice mail messages for the imbeciles who don’t recognize your greatness. Also, be sure to insult anyone who doesn’t get back to you within 10 minutes.

So you have a show and you want to promote it. Many artists take this pretty simply. They post on their website, announce it on Myspace, share it on Facebook, sometimes list it on Craigslist and then maybe send it to a local music magazine. There is this idea that people will just make the effort to find out about you. Now in some cases that can be true, but with each gig and show it is much more effective to pull those that already know you, reach out to those that might be some what familiar with you and connect with people that have never heard of you before.

When you take the approach of announcing a gig where you are reaching out to every one possible for that show but also keeping in mind you are continuing to work on your overall promotion for other shows to come as well as your awareness in that given town or city, you are taking the most effective path. So use the three-way effect when you announce a gig. Make that announcement, work for your existing fans, then the ones that might have heard your name and the people that have never heard of you before. Ads, posters, fliers or what ever that are designed that way are designed for the optimal effect.

Who, What, When Where, Why, How (much) Detail = good

Give people the information they need to see you. Do not assume you are that well known, even if you are. You can always attract new fans, new customers and a bigger audience. Make sure in the release about the show or the event posting you cover the who, what, when, where why and how much scenario. Give them all the information they need so they will come to see you. Too many people go too simple. Remember the economy is bad, people are going out less or they are going out to see their favorites. What can you add to your listing, announcement or release to inspire a new fan to check you out?

Don’t just list the venue, give the address, give a phone number and a website and add the bands site as well. Draw them in with information. In an over saturated world of music right now, the more information you can deliver, the better results you will have at some one looking at you as not just being another band in the blur of the hundreds of bands playing every night.

This goes for the poster too.

Make sure your poster is easy to read, clear with your logo, your tag line, the date, the venue, the address and all the other pertinent information so that the potential person walking by that has never seen you might take a second look and then maybe even show up. Put some more effort in to the posters and use them to attract those that know you but also those that might have heard of you and especially those that have no idea who you are.

Web, Magazines, Radio, TV, Newspapers

With your announcement that has all the information one would need to have a basic idea of what you are about as well as where they can find out more, the show, the location and the rest of the basics, you need to get it out to for the best most productive effect.

Remember, when you are posting online or sending out a release or announcement, it is about that show of course but it is also about bringing attention to your group, your music and why you are interesting as a whole. The more the word is out about you and what you are up to, the more chance some of these sites might look to doing a story, a feature or a review on you. Yes, you want people to come to the show, but if you are advertising the show, while building your marketing, your name recognition and your promotion, then you are getting the most opportunities out of a single action.

Where to post

Of course post to your websites and your networking sites but shoot for other places too. Set up a database of contacts of websites, magazines, radio stations, newspapers and TV stations. Collect emails and information so that each gig you have, it can be easier. Make sure to individualize the email and send to the right people. Do not spam or you will set up a bad reputation for your name. Give a good subject header and address the email to the right person.

This can include colleges and local show reviewers. Entertainment bloggers and any one else that has a pulse on the music industry in that given area just reach out and make that list. Now this is a list you are not going to want to over abuse if you have the weekly gig. Personally, I think an artist should not be playing in a given area too often but if you are going to, then choose the best show every six to 8 weeks and do the full scale send outs for that. Do not overly hit the list too much or you become the option to maybe go see instead of the must see. Again, I don’t think you should play a given 25 mile radius more than once every six to eight weeks and spend the time working to play elsewhere instead of over saturating a scene, then in turn build up the excitement for the show.

When to post

By starting to send out four weeks or so early, you are also adding to the chances about getting a story or some build up in one of the papers, magazines or websites to have an interview, feature or some kind of additional review for your coming show. It also clears all deadlines for getting posted in as many places as possible.

This does not need to be done all in one day either. The most effective way to promote is to do the large announcement and then once a day, continue to work that list you build up. Just spend five minutes a day sending to reviewers, bloggers, writers, editors, posting websites, event listing sites. This will build more possible listings as well as more contacts and more optimization across the scene, city or area you are playing in.

As you build up the list, find out when the best times are to send information and how they prefer it formatted. The more you can specify the information to how the specific media outlet or media person wants it, the more that person or outlet will recognize you both as professional and potentially as story or listing worthy. Some places are going to want announcements or releases a few weeks out while some radio stations may want the information the day before for some calendar listings. Find out and send accordingly.

Conclusion

Stupid simple….Advertise, market and promote your shows the right way. Work to bring people through the doors for the night you are playing but also keep in mind how sending out announcements, releases and information for shows can help for future shows and other media opportunities. Work smarter not longer or harder. Make every minute you are working on the promotion count so you can spend more time with the music.

For 99.9% of the bands out there their goal is to sign with a record label. Call it an acknowledgement of the hard work, a badge of pride for the years of sacrifice, gutting it out on the road, a platform for personal expression , delusions of money, whatever – the goal is to get signed. The truth is, getting signed is pretty damn hard on one hand and incredible easy on the other. Easy because in today’s industry there are hundreds of thousands of bush league labels and so called “label executives” looking to nickel and dime you. Assuming you have good judgment, stay away from these clowns. As for the beneficial situations, getting signed to a record label is pretty damn hard. There are layers upon layers of gatekeepers to push past in order to eventually, hopefully, sit down with the right person, the decision maker, in order to make your 10 minute pitch. If you can make it this far God bless you; but remember you need to deliver something different to standout because there are thousands of potential replacements waiting outside the door. If you can get in the door I’ll reveal the tricks to stay. Unfortunately in today’s industry, and you can argue with me until you’re blue in the face, but your actual music isn’t the dealmaker. Here are the 4 things executives will be secretly evaluating besides your music. Arm yourself with these tricks and impress the decision makers while increasing the chances you’ll get signed:

1. Be Marketable

Immediately walk in the door and tell the executive why you’re marketable. Not your demographic, not your market appeal, and not where your music sells, but WHY you’re marketable. You need to ooze cross over appeal, cross promotions, and non-traditional retail potential. Most bands make the mistake by wasting their 10 minute pitch telling the stories behind lyrics (boring) and/or their particular market demographics who attend the shows. These are all good things to discuss, but discuss them if you get a second meeting. An executive is looking past your music in to other avenues that can make money and help push your music. Being “marketable” or better yet how to “appear marketable” is a difficult thing to do and will be covered in depth in a later post; however be fully aware this is an essential element once you’re in the door.

2. Have a Gimmick

I’m not suggesting to do something stupid like have a pacifier in your mouth for all shows, but you do need a gimmick. A gimmick doesn’t have to be something cheesy, rather something consistent, a common factor between personal style, performance, and shows. I’m not here to tell you what that gimmick is because that should be left up to the artist’s creative mind. I will tell you what a gimmick translates into in the mind of an executive: product. You got a gimmick and a marketing department will have a field day creating product to couple your music. So if you’re meeting with an executive and you’ve got a gimmick, make it immediately known and point out the potential for spill over products.

3. Have Some Business Arrogance

Be very careful in how you interpret this, as arrogance may cut your own throat. Musicians who walk in the door armed with a business plan, musicians who carry a “we don’t need the label because we have a secondary plan” attitude will hit a homerun with executives. Why? A smart businessman will be attracted to this professionalism and see you’re ready to play ball. More importantly they’ll be intrigued that you may know something they don’t. Surprised by the fact you may be able to advance your career better than they can. This works. More importantly this separates you from the thousands of bands willing to lay on their backs for the labels.

4. Remain Flexible:

Bands get discouraged and offended when someone makes suggestions to elevate their career. Rightfully so, I would get offended to if some jackass floated out advice that has no merit; but be professional and choose your battles. If you’re sitting in an office of a record executive, in reality you’re lucky to have the opportunity, so be a sponge and soak up the knowledge. Executives, in most cases, have seen it all, done it all, and analyzed ever way to increase record sales through a variety of markets and avenues. Pay attention, as you can only learn.

For some the pursuit of success in the music business is nothing more than a quick dollar hustle. For others it’s more about fame and notoriety than art or financial independence. Some just like to express themselves through music and would love nothing more than to make enough money to do it full time. Others, while having respect for the culture of music are driven by the entrepreneurial opportunities available and see themselves creating and owning the next Universal Records. Maybe it’s a combination of all the above. No matter which description fits your situation the best, success in meeting your objectives will largely depend on how you answer the following two questions which are:

•1 How many people know your product/service exists?

•2 How many people care enough about your product/service to invest?

Keep in mind when I use the term ‘investment’ I’m not only referring to the corporate level but also the consumer level. In 2009 fans spend money on music because they want to, NOT because they have to. Matter of fact due to the recent emergence of free legal music streaming platforms (You Tube, Myspace Music, Imeem, Spotify, etc…) the consumer only has to invest their time and pay with their eyeballs, instead of their wallets. The popular phase ‘time is money’ couldn’t hold more weight in today’s Internet Age.

For example Oprah Winfrey built her empire off of millions of watchers paying not in dollars, but attention to her – which in turn allowed the TV network to charge corporations for ACCESS to her audience (to advertise their products). This ‘attention pool’ also affords her the opportunity to expand her revenue potential into film, print, radio and other media formats. With attention comes influence and that’s where true value lays…in the ability to help shape one’s perspective of what life means to them. How many people are paying attention to what you bring to the table?

Until recently music as a stand-alone product held a certain value due to the limited access one had to it. You either heard it on your local radio station or saw it on MTV/BET. Song rotations were limited on purpose so the record labels could profit off of massive attention (millions of listeners/viewers) but limited product exposure (15-20 song radio/video rotation). In order to listen to your favorite music on-demand you had to purchase the album. This scenario resulted in historic album sales, million dollar video budgets and 8 figure JV deals…until the Silicon Valley mob changed the game.

Once the Internet Age kicked in the consumer now had almost unlimited access to music/entertainment from thousands of online destinations. Because of this the scarcity value has now switched from the music to people’s attention and that (not online piracy) is the primary cause for the decline in album sales as the business model switches from ownership to ACCESS. The war all content creators are in is for market share of the collective MINDSHARE.

Finding the correct equilibrium between attention and scarcity will be a crucial part in the overall outcome of your efforts. Tipping the scales too far in either direction can have an adverse effect. For example spamming people (who never gave you their email address to begin with) or creating a false hype with manufactured beef in search of attention may only erode your brand credibility and turn people off. On the other hand keeping your product completely out of the market for too long in an attempt to retain a scarcity value may stall any momentum you’ve built and allow for the competition to fill the void.

For today’s music professional in search of sustainable success it’s important to understand that perceived value is often tied into scarcity. In other words you have to be able to offer something the next person can’t easily obtain (or create) and then capitalize off the access to that commodity. Then you need enough people exposed to your product/service so you can build a potential customer base and hopefully grow. As with anything worth the trouble your preservation and execution will determine how many crops you yield off the harvest.

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We’ve located quite a few ways to promote our independent record label, new released music and new artists. Having your business information available to your targeted audiences is the central key. There has to be visibility!

One of the perfect ways to make your business information visible and available, is to connect with others who are already visible and available! That is right, seek and search out other websites that will allow you to become linked to their website …it works! For every individual who comes in contact with a website you’re connected to, will definitely elevate the occasions of your website being viewed additionally.

I found that by asking various web site owners permission to link their web site to yours will ofttimes time cause a web site link ex change to take place… wonderful deal huh? You bet it is! Just remember this, it is all about visibility! You will be surprised how a lot of other web site owners are willing to ex change links.

So let’s get on board and start seeking out friendly website owners who want the same accomplishments for their website as you want for yours. But make sure you be careful of those who will ex change links and then remove your link from their website. Go back and check their website every so again and again.

Your artwork is the gateway to your music

You only get one chance to make a good first impression. Why put your worst foot forward with amateur album art? Far too many independent artists put 110% into their music and production, only to slack on the other details surrounding their “product.” Imagine you’re in a super market and trying to choose a breakfast cereal. Brand X may be the greatest tasting thing since the invention of Cinnamon Toast Crunch, but you’re never going to try it if it comes in a bland box with a washed out, pixilated photograph on the front. Now imagine Brand X comes in a blank white box with Sharpie magic marker writing on the front. (Yes, we get CDs like that at CD Baby all the time). Chances are you’d assume the FDA should be notified, and quickly.

When it comes to artwork (the first impression many people will get of you and your music), don’t leave the design in the hands of a well-meaning friend unless they’ve got skills. Look at professionally-made albums in record stores. Notice how most of the artwork doesn’t look like it was whipped up in 5 minutes? Neither should yours.

So how do you avoid amateurism in your album art?

Don’t make a quick snapshot your album cover. People can tell it’s a snapshot and they will think you just don’t care.

Don’t put random pictures of animals next to pictures of people. You’d be surprised how many people do this, and it always looks ridiculous.

Don’t use a low-res digital picture. When it’s on a 4×5 CD cover, your image should at least be 300dpi.

Don’t use a piece of clip art. Again, this reveals a lack of creativity

Don’t make your album cover just text on a white page. It’s boring and people will think you don’t care about presentation.

Do hire a professional to design the cover art. Yes, it costs money, but if you want to be a real contender, every part of your album’s creation must be done right. After all the hours and energy you’ve devoted to the songs, why would you skimp on something that could turn people off before they even give your music a try?

Do brainstorm a bunch of ideas first. Think about your favorite album art of all time. What do you like about those covers? Is there a theme? A thread that connects them? Shoot for that aesthetic.

Do make sure your band name and album titles are clear and striking. Gothic fonts may fit your sound, but they’re really hard to read.

Remember, you do NOT have to be on your album cover. If you’re photogenic and attractive then appearing on the cover could help you sell some music. But if you’re camera shy, don’t feel like you need to force it. Hundreds of millions of albums have sold without any sign of a band member on the cover (Back in Black, Dark Side of the Moon, etc.)