Awesome Underground ★ Music Review: How to Get Your Music Noticed: Presentation

In this mini-series, I'll be giving indie artists tips to help them be more successful in getting noticed on the internet and growing their fanbase. In this video, I'll be covering how important social media art is for presentation, and getting noticed in the sea of musicians.

For a very long time now, I have noticed that so many very talented independent musicians skip very simple, but very important steps that would help them get noticed by potential fans. So, here I am, sharing what I know in an attempt to help those who may not know what I do.

Let's talk about presentation as a whole for a minute. The image that you present to the online world has such a large bearing on whether anyone ever listens to your music that it cannot be ignored. It doesn't matter that you've created the next big musical thing if nobody ever clicks on your link. You are but a tiny paddle boat out in a sea of varying sized ships. You have to stand out. You have to look like you're worth someone's time, or they'll decide that you aren't before even hearing what you have to offer. So, let's learn how to put a shiny new coat of paint on that old worn out paddle boat.

Social Media Art:
Where do you share your music? How do you let the world know that your music exists? If one of your answers to that was not social media, then you're even further behind than I expected. People see so much on social media that everything you present needs to look bright and shiny. This is where social media art comes in. If someone lands on your page and it looks like a kindergartner made your art, they're not going to take you seriously. If someone lands on your page and your art doesn't excite them, then they're likely to not even bother. You have to give people incentive for them to give you their time, or they just won't. As theneedledrop so accurately stated, people aren't going to come up to you and beg you to make music for them. There's already more music out in the world than any one person could ever even listen to. They don't need you. But that's not to say that you can't add value to their music library, that you can't brighten their days, that you can't help them through emotional turmoil. But they'll never know that if you don't coerce them into giving your music a shot. These days, everything starts with an image. Make that image beautiful. Make it represent you accurately.

So, how do I do this social media art thing?
Well, you have two options: you can pay someone to do it for you, or you can learn to do it yourself. I suggest the latter because it's a valuable tool in several areas where marketing is concerned. However, I know that independent musicians are busy. You're working a day job, you're making posts, you're connecting with fans, you're playing shows, you're practicing, your work is endless and on top of all of that you still have to have time to do two more things: create music, and have a life. So, if you're not up for the challenge of learning how to do this stuff, and you're broke (I know you are), go here and find someone to do it for you for $5.

Okay, now that I've weeded out those who aren't up for the challenge of learning to make their own social media art, to you worker bees in the group, here's what to do:
You're going to need a photo editing program, such as Photoshop. However, I don't recommend Photoshop because it's pricey and the learning curve is steep. Gimp will get you on your way a whole lot faster and it's not going to hurt your wallet at all (since it's free).
Learn how to use the lasso tool. This will allow you to take the background out of an image and replace it with a solid color to make it more captivating. You can search videos on how to make an image have a transparent background. This will help you out tons!
This part is very important:
Learn the aspect ratios for each social media or music sharing platform. For example, for YouTube thumbnails, the dimensions are 1280x720. You can google whichever social media you're working on at the time. And usually, you can even find a template. Keep in mind that most social media sites have multiple dimensions for different devices. So, you're going to need to know where the line is.

Make sure that the image you use has a high resolution. You don't want the thing you've worked so hard on to end up blurry! Well, that's not everything you need to know, but it will be different for each individual. I will offer this, if you come across a problem and you need to know how to do something (and you just can't figure it out), you can message me on Facebook and I'll do my best to walk you through it (or help you figure it out if I don't know how).

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