Rap music, especially hip-hop, has grown to become a global phenomenon with most successful artists writing songs about their wild lifestyle and enormous wealth. Who wouldn’t want to get a piece of that? Beyond the guns, money, bling, shiny cars and groupies, rap music is an art and a powerful form of expression that adds complexity to the human language, the human voice and pushes the extremes of entertainment technology to produce high quality, unique rhythm and rhymes.
Profane or profound, hip-hop rap music is suited for any message. For example you could specialize in rapping about the hardships when you lived the street life. A musician often curves out a niche they identify most with and deliver their most personal messages to the target audience.Humans are different and as such, some fans will fall for the beats, others for the rhymes and some will just love the person, you.
There are 3 things you must pay attention to if you want to turn your music into a business.: Your lyrics, the beats; and the album or mixtape cover. Since you have already produced your tracks, this post will focus on the last and most overlooked ingredient: how your mixtape cover affects your success.
How your mixtape cover can make you a star
Based on a study conducted by psychologist researchers at Princeton University in the US, it only takes a human being 0.1 of a second to fall in love with something they process visually (see) and between 10 and 120 seconds to love something they listen to. This means that when you produce your music and compile a mixtape, the most effective and realistic way to capture an audience that has not listened to that music is by appealing to their visual senses, you need a relevant attention grabbing professional mixtape cover.
Since your mixtape cover is the first thing that people associate with you and your music, a smart artist will make sure the cover paints a picture in viewers head to give them an idea of what the music will sound like. Remember first impression is everything and once someone looks at you a certain way it’s hard change their mind.
How to get a professional mixtape cover that will make music fans listen to your music
I will not tell you what to do, but I will give a few tips that will point you in the right direction. First off, just like your mixtape cover design can sell your image and generate you new fans before they listen to your music, getting a poorly done mixtape cover will give you the exact opposite results: people will dislike your cover,and they won’t give your mixtape a chance. Something as simple as a cover can make or break your music career at any stage of development and you know it; how you handle this obstacle will determine how solid you lay music career foundation.
The first thing you should know is, if you are a good musician, chances are that you are good with words, not pictures and graphics; don’t pretend to be because you will appear as clueless and amateurish as a painter trying to spit dope rhymes. Truth is, you must hire a professional who specializes in mixtape design and can back it up with impressive work samples and a convincing portfolio. Please don’t sabotage yourself by trying to design your own mixtape cover.
When looking for a professional mixtape cover designer, do your research well and compare several potential designers before settling for one that meets your expectations in professionalism, experience and expertise and of course, portfolio. If you are unsure on what a great mixtape cover portfolio looks like, look at this impressive collection by Mixtape Cover King to get an idea.
Last word of advice?
I usually tell anyone who cares to listen that when you want something done right, you have to find the right person. In this age of the internet, finding the best mixtape cover designer online or any other professional for that matter seems easy, but remember that any person can create a Facebook and a twitter page, create a portfolio from other people’s works and convince you to buy a shitty cover by making you believe it wins. So don’t destroy your music career so you can try and save $10.
An example of a stolen mixtape cover design. In music, you either have it or not; you cannot ride on someone’s back. A fake cover designer is more likely to just edit an existing little-known cover by a professional designer, like in this image,a real designer will create you a custom design from scratch.
The point is, finding a professional online is easy, but finding a genuine professional takes deeper research. Never hire someone to lay the foundation of your stardom for just $10, unless you are sure they can deliver. A reputable mixtape cover designer cares more about converting your music and your personality into a unique, catchy graphic that will sell your music.
