Artist Promo Shots

Introduction:

I want to take some promotional shots to post on social media to market my new releases, and build a professional brand.

For a musician, promo shots are most effective when branding, story telling and first impression are considered first and foremost. There are many different ways an artist can express this through pictures, starting with framing them as part of my identity, not just marketing. People will often hear your music on streaming platforms after they see your online presence and image for up and coming, new artists. Successful promo shots will tell the potential listener what type of artist I am. To portray this well I need to consider who I am and how I want to portray that, whether I’m raw and relatable? Mainstream and polished? And consider things like the editing style, lighting, background, outfits, facial expressions, poses, and things like whether I want to use instruments and other props. In summary, I don’t want people to feel a disconnect between the promo shots and the music I’m trying to promote.

Promo shots are what blogs, playlists, collaborators, and venues will use when they feature you. If you don’t control that image then someone else will which may control the narrative in ways you don’t want them too and damage the brand an artist is trying to build. They could use a low quality or outdated image, which will cause people to take you less seriously as an artist.

My aim isn’t to build an extensive portfolio of images, I’m just aiming for a small set that will clearly represent my current era as an artist. In the future as my music adapts and changes then so will my promo shots, which in the future will make my growth feel intentional rather than random.

Examples:

The music I have written and am producing is based around the idea of self discovery, love, and change. For the purpose of research I have found promo shots from artists whose brand at some point have had similar themes as what I’m tying to portray now.

I have chosen this image because I like how it’s black and white, It matches his latest album’s emotional values, with themes of emotion rejection, personal growth, and reflection of his queer love life. Photos like this one strips away colour to emphasise emotion, texture, and lighting, to create a more timeless and dramatic mood.

The environment seems to be very humble witch connects to his upbringing in rural Texas, this makes sense since in his song conell in his album wishbone he talks about being from “Texas skies”, and this setting seems like many houses you’d see in southern USA.

His clothes Also match the typical formal wear that historically is set in southern states of America.

This is another promo shot of Conan Gray. I like this one because of the setting and environment. the angle of which the photo is taken says a lot about his current era. The autumn, fallen leaves portray a shift in nature, symbolising the beauty of transition, the importance of letting go and the beauty of transition.

Sebastian croft is a lesser known, up and coming artist. His latest singles like “Tokyo” and “better than ever focus on the themes of heart break, personal healing and the venerability of processing lost love.

This photo shows that primarily through his facial expression. He’s looking directly at the camera which shows venerability and want. His matching pyjamas and wallpaper seems very normal and mundane, for a raw and authentic look that the listener can relate to and engage with.

My Promo Shots

Social media:

Social media is a good platform to spread your work to new audiences and to keep current audiences updated on new releases and a good place for people to connect with you more personally. People decide within seconds weather to engage with a post so strong promo photography can help capture attention quickly and if they engage with your content then its more likely that your content will pop up more on there feed.

Audience And Target Demographic:

Promo shots should appeal to the artists main demographic and reflect the emotional experiences that the listeners clearly connect with. Audiences are more likely to like music who’s visuals feel authentic and emotionally aligned with their music.

mise en scène:

The mise en scène of a promo shot will communicate a lot of information about the artist before the audience even hears any music. Clothing, location, props, and lighting can all help establish genre, personality, and emotional tone.

Editing Style:

How a picture is edited can strongly influence the emotional effect it has on the viewer. For example- softer tones and natural lighting may create a more relatable and intimate feeling, where as sharp contrast and stylised editing may make it appear more polished and commercial.

Overall:

Overall promo shots are extremely important in the marketing phase because they create first impressions, communicate your identity, and visually support themes within your music. If I carefully consider composition, styling, setting, and emotion, I can get photos that feel authentic to my current era and help audiences connect with my music before they even press play.

Shot-by-Shot Checklist:

I plan to post four different photos so I have made four tables with details that I need to plan for which will allow me to give clear directions off what I want of the photographer.

Shot description focuses on the main idea of the photo, this may be poses, props, or emotions, etc. This is important for me to plan because in previous projects I have not known how to pose for cameras so going in with a clear plan will simplify the process. Set up means where the photo is taken, the lighting, clothes/ costumes and how all these connect to show the intended feelings and emotions I want to portray through these shots. Angle just refers to the camera angle, there are some fun ways to get creative with this though, for example, a low angle makes the subject seem dominant and a high angle makes them seem small and venerable. Or a tilted camera will create tension and make the shot feel frantic or surreal.

Shot Description	Headshot, plain background.
Set Up	Dark lighting, black t-shirt.
Angle	Looking away from camera, camera pointing towards the side of my face.
Usage	social media.

Shot Description	Sat on wall, looking at camera.
Set Up	daylight, wearing accessories (hat, glasses),
Angle	shot head on, full body in picture.
Usage	social media.