A Picture is Worth a Thousand Friends: How Your MySpace Profile Pic Can Make Or Break Your Friends List

January 16th, 2008 • Related • Filed Under
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You think your picture looks pretty good, don’t you? That mid air dive from the stage during a recent show makes your band look hardcore enough to draw in the fans that you know will go to every show and wait rabidly for your next single.But, what about everyone else? The beauty of MySpace is that any band in any genre has the freedom and ability to take on fans of any age and background. No one falls into those easy little definitions anymore and neither should your band. So, why would you lock yourself into a specific image with your profile picture?

The Right Profile Picture

You may not think it matters, but your profile picture is essentially a business card or demo tape to potential listeners. They cannot hear your music or read your band’s description until you’ve convinced them to click on your profile and step inside. And what’s the front line to making them click that link? It’s your profile picture.

A profile picture needs to show your potential fans who you are.

Are you serious?
Are you a group?
Are you proud of your stage presence?
Do you have a strong visual theme?
Do you have a band logo or image?

These and a dozen other questions should go through your head before you pick a random shot from your publicity kit to post on your site. It might be hard to think about yourselves as products, but that’s exactly what you are - marketable goods.

So, what image most effectively markets your band and its music to the people you think would enjoy your music?

Which of course brings up the next major question: Which image will effectively draw in the widest array of people? If you are a hardcore heavy metal band, a disturbing, skull filled image will definitely bring in the heavy metal fans - but what about the casual music fans who might be interested in a few of your slightly more melodic tracks. They might enjoy your music, but they definitely won’t enjoy the imagery.

I’m not trying to convince you to sacrifice you integrity for the sake of listeners, but definitely do not alienate too wide of an array of potential fans and listeners if you don’t have to.

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  1. Comment by Str8 Sounds on 31 January 2008:

    You are absolutley right. We must think also of how likely it is that our avatar will be displayed in Top 40 Friends list.

    There are some bands that I’ve displayed simply due to the wild or artistically cool profile picture, and not necessarily their music. So we must have a profile picture that is far more than just a smiling face or a bunch of dudes trying to look tough. That’s crap.

    For a while, I displayed pretty girls with animated dancing avatars, even a dancing robot avatar. Your band’s profile picture, or avatar, is the gateway to your music, equally with the name itself.

    I’m more likely to click on a band like Anthropophagous Rex or Fat Worm of Error, than The Duke Caffery Blues Band or Made in the Shade Rock Revue. I seek avant garde and experimental music to listen to and learn from. I have no interest in bar bands.

    Now I’m displaying mostly my big influences, with early emphasis on known artists like David Byrne, Eno, Beck, Beastie Boys, but also more obscure ones like Alec Empire, Martin Rev, Pere Ubu, and Metaphysical Platypus.

  2. Comment by maxlowe on 2 February 2008:

    Hey Str8 Sounds,

    Thanks for the comment! It’s true, people often overlook the importance of their profile picture and you’ve demonstrated exactly why that’s a big mistake. Remember, first impressions are everything!

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