M One Studios

Our clients tend to prefer acts with professional-quality promotional materials; often times a small investment in a videographer or video crew for your video can be a deal breaker. Keep in mind that our clients receive hundreds of submissions and inquiries each week – they are likely to give their fullest attention to the videos and other promotional materials which look the most sleek and polished. This is not to say the band’s performance isn’t also valuable to them, however. Yours definitely must stand out above the rest. Some of these gigs are very competitive, with many bands submitting promo kits – your best bet is to emphasize your group’s unique personality and strong points (musically and visually), while still fitting within the parameters of the job description. Also remember that you are being hired to put on a show, so clearly demonstrate your ability to do just that. If there is one key to landing this gig, it is to show your versatility and flexibility. Other ideas: incorporate choreography (as much as possible for those with instruments, of course), exciting solos, tight vocal harmonies (we find that bands who have 2 or more members who can sing receive the most attention), interaction between band members, words of encouragement to the audience, and so on. And while the music must sound good, the individual musicians’ visual appearances are equally of value to our clients – all members must appear engaging, charismatic, and captivating for an audience to watch. Usually, our clients opt for bands that have a clean-cut and classy, yet fun appearance - so be sure to dress as if you are performing for a wedding reception or other high-end function as opposed to a bar or club in your video. Basically, stay away from untrimmed facial hair, tattoos, multiple piercings, and outlandish hair styles and you should be OK. Most ensembles in cruise ship lounges will have varying crowd sizes and mentalities, depending on their show times and the age groups of the passengers on their ship. They should have specific music for dancing and specific music for listening/watching. Of course, do not take the advice in this section too literally. Before you do anything else, it’s most important to identify and develop your band’s “shtick” (or that of the individual members), then sell it, sell it, and sell it some more.