Electronic music encapsulates the passion, the fashion, the relentless beats, haunting melodies and deep bassline in music. It is more than just a song over the stereo, though, it is an iconic movement and your music promotion photos need to reflect this. You need to find a way to reflect the emotions and message intertwined your song, whether they are upbeat, or more ethereal. It is also important to show your listeners who the musicians are behind the music. After all, these are the pictures that really sell records and will bring you a new audience of followers.
Dress the band to impress
This about Kraftwerk’s iconic album The Man Machine. The way the band was photographed told the listener instantly what to expect when they opened their ears to the music. It was all about sleek style, sharp clothing, tight beats and regimented synth rhythms. Equally, when you look at Trans-Europe Express, they were promoting nostalgia, but also a sense of humor. The photos of Gary Numan on The Pleasure Principle were also incredibly iconic – showing us the future of 1980s electronic music and also demonstrating a unique sense of fashion. When you are taking photos of yourself, or your band of musicians, a selfie in a hoodie isn’t going to do. You need to show your audience who you are and what they can expect from your music. Organising a band photoshoot is a good way of doing this. Pick a location that is unusual and dress to impress. Make sure that the clothes are pristine too, after all, you are promoting your music in style.
Creating a striking image
Every week, more than 3,000 albums are uploaded to Spotify. If you are looking to promote new music, how are you going to make sure that your album gets listened to? By taking striking photographs to use for your thumbnails and other promotional material. Think of Die Antwoord’s Yo-Landi Vi$$er. The Ten$ion album cover shows her at her best – beautiful, strange, haunting and totally captivating. The photograph of her, dressed as a white angel eating a deep crimson heart certainly stands out from the crowd. Industry experts CanvasPop.com recommend using contrasting colors for effective music promotion photographs, like the red and white of Ten$ion, or the yellow and black of Ratatat’s “Classics.”
Look the listener in the eye
If you want to take photos that are telling the listener to buy your music, then look them in the eye and tell them. Whether you are taking live shots of gigs, or posed promotional photos, make sure that you direct attention to the camera lens. The eyes are the window to the soul after all. Take Bjork’s Medulla album, or the 1997 classic, Homogenic. There was no fear, she was looking at the camera, and ultimately her audience saying “you will listen me.” And we will.
If you want to attract an audience and get them to follow you and listen to your music, then your promotional photography needs to be spot on. Make sure that your images are striking, unique and really reflect who you are as a musician.
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Since you’re here … … we have a small favour to ask. More people are reading Side-Line Magazine than ever but advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. And unlike many news organisations, we haven’t put up a paywall – we want to keep our journalism as open as we can. So you can see why we need to ask for your help. Side-Line’s independent journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. But we do it because we want to push the artists we like and who are equally fighting to survive. If everyone who reads our reporting, who likes it, helps fund it, our future would be much more secure. For as little as 2 US$, you can support Side-Line Magazine – and it only takes a minute. Thank you. The donations are safely powered by Paypal.
