This advice applies to 90% of bands/artists in the first 5 years of their careers

Recently we attended 2 US-based virtual music conferences to help with mentor sessions for coaching attendees. From that experience, we believe the following advice was appropriate for a majority of the attendees and I wanted to share here in an attempt to be helpful:

YOUR AESTHETIC / VISUAL WEB PRESENCE / BRANDING IS NOT WHERE IT NEEDS TO BE - AKA YOU NEED BETTER PICTURES, VIDEOS, GRAPHIC DESIGN ELEMENTS THAT ARE THE VISUAL COMPONENT TO YOUR MUSIC— YOUR AESTHETIC

Your aesthetic is a combination of all of your public visual elements like:

Profile photos aka promo photos (photos of the artist)
Album art images
Video elements (music videos, promo videos)
Graphic design elements (logo, banners)

This is also called branding. When people consume or see elements of your aesthetic, they form impressions about you/your music & artistry, if even at a subconscious level. This aesthetic can compliment your music or hurt your music. The goal is to work within your means to have GREAT MUSIC and complimentary aesthetic that, for reasons we can’t explain, makes your music sound better and hits the listener harder.

Don’t get put in the local band box. It’s unnecessary and you can avoid it. It's possible that, without having put thoughtful effort into crafting your aesthetic / online look, that people who check you out for the first time are putting you into the 'local band' box in their minds. Not the worst thing to be in, but why create an uphill battle when in today’s world there are so many free tools to help you get out of this box? YOU CAN AVOID THIS BOX AND YOU SHOULD. Making a much better first impression is within your reach. You want to be in the “Woah who is this” box or the “how did I not know about them previously omg this is my new favorite song” box. A good aesthetic can help tremendously and a poor aesthetic can do some real damage. You can make an impact though, it’s all about the next steps you take.

When people see these visual pieces of your aesthetic, you want them to—

Be artistically intrigued
Get a sense of your character like fun, mystical, dark (OR create mystique from an absence of character perhaps?)
Wonder if you are some HUGE sensation they've never heard of or the Next Big Thing that they were on board with from Day 1

Less IS more! Less can often create mystique. I've seen new artists move mountains in the way of getting deals and agents by having only a few but super solid assets (i.e. 5 great songs, 2 great promo photos, 1 great music video, 1 fitting website, and adequate album art imagery). The absence of too much visual stuff could help maximize your malleability as far as which box the listener puts you into.

Make a great first impression! We've all seen artists in the early stages who spend more time working on their image than working on their music. I am not applauding them here, because the music is 99% of the time the #1 task. You want to find a balance here, as the music is the most important; but realize that when someone looks you up on Spotify or YouTube that they'll see your profile image and album art possibly before they even hear the music. This means their snap judgement opinion starts to form even before they hear a note. Use this to your advantage!!!

Having a nice aesthetic does not always mean having to spend tons of money. I work in the crowdfunding sector and, just like in that world, there's no correlation between dollars spent on making your Kickstarter video and it being a good video. Yes, there is a bar for quality, but at the end of the day it's about the content (aka what is being said, how it's all being tied together, etc). I've seen videos filmed on iPhones that are way better than videos filmed with some insane professional camera because the iPhone person was more thoughtful and used creativity to make up for any lack of budget for extra production value.

Become resourceful. Learn how to use video editing software and Photoshop and Glitche and ALL the new tools for creating this visual stuff. Keep reading to find a list of helpful resources like these. Take pictures. Work with artist friends and grow with them. That said, know when NOT to work with friends.

Sometimes social media can wait. If you feel like you're spending all your time maintaining social media trying to keep up, consider coming at it from a 'burst' approach where you bank up new music and photos and then roll it out over a period of time after which you retreat into hiding (not posting as much) for some time as you prepare the next round. "Going Dark" is when you take a break and don't post. It can help build anticipation and set the stage for the next chapter.

Let your aesthetic evolve with your music. As you release new music, also release imagery that helps to convey this ongoing evolution.

These media elements don’t need to match perfectly Uunless that’s what you want. :) The point is to have consistent quality across your different mediums. Be consistent to a degree but continue to allow yourself to grow and try new things.

When I see your visuals for the first time: I want to see pictures and a website and imagery that makes me wonder where to place you subconsciously into the hierarchy of the stuff I listen to. Consider staying away from:

Having way too much information on your site
Not having a website that is the main hub of what you do
Donation buttons
A photos tab (linking your Instagram feed can be cool though)
Too many pages/options

A fun challenge IMO: Design your aesthetic to a degree that makes new listeners wonder if you're some sensation they've never heard or the next big thing.

Don’t stress. Have fun putting this aesthetic together. Don't stress out about having to spend infinite dollars. Be resourceful. Learn how to edit videos and turn your simple ideas into meaningful visual assets. Or, don’t want to do it? Find people to be on your team who can handle this.

You can absolutely do this. With all of the talented people and web tools to help you achieve a fitting and competitive aesthetic, it is within the realm of possibility that someone could hear your music / see your aesthetic for the first time and consider you're some huge artist they've just never heard of. You want your visuals to be good (and absolutely your music, too) so that these elements connect with the people that are consuming it. Your aesthetic is your skin. Over time you will shed this skin and evolve in tandem with your music.