How to build a brand as a musician
To attract an audience to your music, you need to tell a story, and a deliberate approach to building your artist brand is key to doing it right.
by Tony van Veen from the Disc Makers Blog
As an independent music artist, one of the keys to your success and longevity is building a clearly definable artist brand. That means two things. First, you need to create brand awareness. In other words, getting fans to know your name. And, just as importantly, it means positioning yourself in your fans’ minds. Who are you? And what are you like?
I want to focus on this second piece: How do you position yourself in your fans’ minds so they have a clear mental image when they think about you? There are plenty of examples of great brand positioning by music artists. Just consider these names and how they want you to think about them.
- Bruce Springsteen: New Jersey, working-class hero.
- Snoop Dogg: Compton gang-banger with an affinity for THC.
- Taylor Swift: Young, smart, and focused on getting revenge on her ex-boyfriend and anyone else who she feels has wronged her ever.
- Kendrick Lamar: the intellectual observer and chronicler of life In the hood.
- KISS: over-the-top rock and roll theatrics. When you hear that name, don’t you immediately think makeup, tall platform boots, and spitting fire and blood?
These artists are pretty much indistinguishable from their brand image. I mean, when you think of Eminem, for example, how can you not think of him as the angry white Detroit rapper with dysfunctional family dynamics? Talk about some strong brand positioning.
Branding by accident?
So, do you think the brand positioning by these artists was an accident? That it just happened? I can assure you that it most decidedly did not. The brand persona of each one of these artists and just about every artist you know who made it big was carefully crafted by those artists. And sometimes by a whole team of label and PR professionals.
Now, you may think, “If it was created by a team, then that brand was clearly not authentic.” And you might be right. Sometimes an artist’s brand positioning is not authentic. I’m looking at you, Machine Gun Kelly.
However, most of the time, what those PR teams do is take the authentic background and image of the artist and then carefully craft a story to build the brand to create that mental image in people’s minds whenever they hear the artist’s name.
Having a strong brand was an essential part of the success story of all the artists I just mentioned. Why is that? Why is building a brand so important? I’ll give you three reasons.
#1. A distinctive brand makes you memorable
When Madonna first exploded onto the scene with “Like a Virgin,” that brand positioning was essential to not allowing anyone to forget about her.
#2. Your brand sets you apart from others
Sticking with Madonna, her positioning clearly set her apart from the other female pop singers of the day. Or let’s look at a more recent example. Lil Nas X was already unique enough as the rare black pop/country singer and then took his brand to the next level when he came out as gay and embraced flamboy