Creating album art?  Thinking about advertising your band?  Over the last year, I have been working within the intersection of behavioral targeting, the music industry and ad design.  I can tell you that artists everywhere submit images for inclusion in banner ad campaigns that are less appealing, more boring and exceedingly less mysterious than the image above.

I have news for you: nobody clicks on images that feature four unknown dudes from Worcester, Massachusetts.  And why would they?  Four shaggy haired boys wearing skinny jeans in a band called 'yowhatever'…exists in every town in America.  Alert: you're not truly unique and you're not that cute, and nobody will click your banner ad if you feature your unknown self(s).  The same advice applies to pretty girls leaning against shady trees with acoustic guitars slung over their backs.  Attractive faces hitched to guitars are everywhere.

There are a million artists out there.  Humans on the Internet are bombarded with ten thousand images a day.  Your visuals need to be remarkable, arresting and compelling if you want people to click on your advertisements.

Consider featuring an stunning/halting (stock) image that tells the story of your song instead of the unremarkable picture of yourself.  Be mysterious.  Tell a story.  Draw people in.  Animate your ad.  But most of all, save the picture of yourself for the yearbook.