If your initial response to the title question is “I don’t have one”, “I don’t need one” or even “I don’t want one”, then you should definitely reevaluate your goal to be successful in this business and consider a career checking vital signs or flipping burgers; because a gimmick is the second most important necessity in the path towards being a Star or even just a successful musician.  One of the most important things an artist can do is exploit a personal characteristic other than the service they provide (i.e. sing, rap etc.) to gain an advantage over the competition, a gimmick.

If you really take the time to observe all of your favorite artists and music’s biggest acts, they all have succumb to this task that many fear compromises the integrity of their creativity.  This is where you have to ask yourself whether you want to write and record music for your personal listening pleasure or whether you want to have thousands of fans and make a lasting career out of it.  If it makes you feel any better… you should know that understanding yourself as a person and a musician is really the only way that you can truly isolate this character that has earned many artists a cult following.  The ability to harness this characteristic, nurture it and know how to project it is merely an extension of your creativity and is actually a gift that separates the wannabe musicians from the true stars.

The average person has one or more personality traits or characteristics that separate them from other people.  It could be anything from your swag, to your voice or even your interesting sense of style.  For some artists it’s the characteristic about you that people actually hate.  For example, Kanye West exploited his arrogance and became the guy that people love to hate which drew attention to him and gave him an advantage over his competition (side note: need to know when to turn it off).  Another artist great at self-exploitation is Lady Gaga.  She exploits her performance skills and ability to be theatrical to stand out from other would-be pop stars in music.  We could look back to artists such as Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder.  Although both were extremely talented, their gimmick was that they were THAT talented and void of eyesight.  These exploits are what make people notice you in a room full of pianists playing the same piece.   Now to add credit to the above acts, they are extremely gifted musicians and at the end of the day it will always come back to the music, but your marketing and self promotion is the driving force to delivering this gift to the world.

How do you find your “Gimmick”?  Write a list of the things you most admire about yourself or the one thing that people point out about you all the time whether you like it or not.  For example, if everyone says “you are such a bitch” then that is probably you’re “Gimmick”.  It could be a physical attribute; rarely it is but could be.  But in most cases, your inner self dictates your outer being.  So maybe you are flamboyant and aggressive.  Find a way to express that in your music, your clothes and your performances.  Make sure your team understands and knows your “gimmick’.  Once you isolate this character hold onto it, be this character all day, at work, at home and in the bed.  If your gimmick is a superhero, sleep in your cape.  Use it all the time until it becomes second nature.  Your “Gimmick” needs to come naturally.

Understand that just because you are forcing your “gimmick” does not mean it is not natural.  Sometimes we spend more time suppressing who we are by trying to be who we are not because we want to fit in.  Everyone can spot a phony…so the worst thing you can do is try to swag jack.  Most of the unsuccessful artists or one hit wonders were just that because their swag was not convincing.  For example, a rapper I am closely familiar with released a record that went on to sell thousands of downloads and ringtones.  When he went to release his second album that revealed his true creative ability and his natural swag, it was rejected by the masses.  Yet, that was him at his best and pretty dope, if I say so myself.  Some artists go in for a quick save by recruiting a team of people to help identify their “gimmick” and come up with great ideas that would make it visible to others.  For example Rihanna went from being a colorful soft spoken Caribbean girl closely resembling Beyonce to this hard-core edgy chic that releases music that challenges her competition with every release.  She pulls it off because it was already there but it took people around her to draw it out and find a way to make it work.

So if you don’t know your “gimmick”, step away from the microphone… slowly.  Archive all of the songs you have recorded before you read this article.  Find yourself and start recording again.  Put it in everything you record.  If that means your songs become a fusion of hip hop, rock, punk and soul, push it until it feels right.  As a creative person your job is to be a bit crazy and eccentric, so recruit a sane person to organize the mess you created.  Trust you will be amazed with what you discover is the real you.