While there are many forms of music and artist threading the boards at various levels, this article deals with the Pop Music end of things.

It's a common enough fact but one that somehow strangely tends to be ignored by a lot of bands, that to make a dent in the pop music charts or Billboard music charts these days, you or your band needs a super/strong image. This is as important (actually it's more important) than whether or not the band consists of a group of musical virtuosos or similar. We can easily see the reason for this is if we look at it through the eyes of a typical record company, rather than the musician's point of view.

Due to inventions such as radio, tv, video, and the ever/growing internet, we have naturally become a consumer orientated culture which responds (buys) through the current media. These inventions include video, CDs, Videos, DVDs, Internet sales of same and so on. Sure, as a general rule, a band or artist still needs "that something" to offer musicwise and songwise to a potential worldwide audience, but you must also look and act the part too. See what you helped to start Thomas Edison if you're reading this! :)

Generally speaking (in other words popularly speaking) every artist or group that you:

• See or hear on the airwaves,
• See on T.V. on say Top of the Pops in England,
• See listed in the Billboard Top 100 Music Charts,
• Every megaband you see posters for advertising concerts in huge venues and so on,
• Every artist that sells massive quantities of CDs and videos, merchandise and so on

... it's an endless list but you get the picture I'm sure, well they all have one thing in common which the record companies realized long ago but a huge majority of wannabes, artists and bands choose to ignore.

The record company and music industry realize that each and every band or artist they promote, must have an image or something similar going for them if they are to make that necessary dent in the media market and sell. The artists in question, MUST have a visual angle going for them which will enable the company to sell the huge quantities of media needed to repay their investment in promoting the band. These investments can be HUGE amounts of money, promotion and time.

As a rule you will find that record companies are not in the music business just because they love music and want to promote it to the world, and make it a happier place to live in! Nope it's a business and the aim is to make a profit on their investments otherwise they couldn't even exist. And in order to ensure success in this department, a potential investment must be made in a complete product (as they see an artist), which in this case includes not only the music, but also the image or concept an artist or band portrays.

This business strategy makes for a good investment no matter what the subject biz is. You will find this model used throughout any industry be it bars of soap or bands! Sorry fellow musicians for using that term to describe us but it is a useful comparison in this case. Think "product". If you want a company to invest huge amounts of cash into you or your band, you must give them something not only to market to a listening field but also something to appeal visually aswell.

So the advice here is, if you want to generate a fan club, record company contracts, make a dent in the charts, and become famous and make those millions, concentrate on the whole package and not just the music itself.

Here's a cool fashion site which can give you great ideas for your image called Yukka - Urban & Hip Hop Clothing . They have some big stars wearing their gear so they must be doing something right.

The latest G-Unit clothing by ECKO. As worn by 50 Cent, Eminem, Nelly, Beyonce, The Beckhams, Paris Hilton, Britney, Lloyd Banks and Young Buck!

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