First things first, what is a brand? According to a popular definition, a brand is an identifying symbol, mark, logo, name, word, or sentence companies are using to distinguish their product from others. But what does branding mean to a music artist?
Simply creating certain identifying markers is clearly not enough to differentiate yourself from millions of musicians. What can you do to build your presence in the music industry? How can you create a unique and distinct brand that will speak for itself? In this post, we will explain why branding is important and how to build your brand as a music artist from scratch by following 5 simple steps.
How to Build Your Brand as a Music Artist
1. Find out what makes you unique as an artist
One might suggest starting with getting to know your audience first, but how can you do it before understanding your true identity?
In the ever-changing world of trends and tendencies, staying true to yourself is not an effortless task. It might tempt to check what is popular and align yourself with it. But do you want to keep changing to fit into the mainstream? Or do you want to build something timeless and make others look up to you?
When people like your music, they do it because of who you are and what you represent. It sounds obvious and easy to say, but finding your uniqueness will set a foundation for your brand. Look inside you and see what makes you different from others, whether it is your music, lyrics, emotions or story you are trying to share. It might not be a simple task to do and it might even take you the longest to complete, but don’t give up and see what else you should do!
2. Determine your target audience
So, you have done some digging inside you and identified what makes you a unique music artist. Now it is time to look around and find out who is your crowd. Again, might be easier said than done.
We all wanted to be liked by everyone, but, let’s agree, it is not realistic. Identifying a smaller group of people that will appreciate what you produce will be a much better approach. Your key priority should be on engaging and interacting with them, showing that you care, and giving them your 100%. Once you master that, expanding your target audience will be easier than it seemed before.
3. Create your visual presence
Congratulations! You have identified your unique style and established your target audience. It is time to talk about the visual components of branding. We often judge and are being judged by our looks. Speaking about music, there is far more to consider.
To start with, you want to create a digital presence by setting up your website and social media profiles. It is important that your message stays consistent throughout the platforms and represents who you are. Stay active and maintain contact with your audience, create collaboration or endorse other artists, build a community that people what to be a part of.
Think about any artwork that you want to implement, such as a logo, album cover, flyers, collaterals, business cards, videos, etc. Remember, a good image can speak a thousand words and this is exactly what you want to achieve. Your visuals must be able to tell your story and persuade people to explore more and listen to your music.
Creativity is everything. Think about what are you trying to deliver and how to represent it with the image. It might be overwhelming and confusing, but don’t get intimidated. Stay true to yourself and keep it simple. The last thing you want is to distract your audience by creating complex content that will be hard to align with your message or impossible to understand and relate to.
4. Identify your competitors
Unless you are creating a completely new genre, people will always compare your music with others, regardless of whether you want it or not. Being able to define your competition will help you establish your music brand and stand out among other artists.
You should focus on being relatable and give a reason to your fans to listen to your music rather than another artist in your genre.
You might also ask yourself: “What if I take some inspiration from other musicians?”. While there might be a certain influence, we suggest you focus on your own uniqueness and avoid trying to be someone else.
5. Consistency is the key
We now have a clearer understanding on importance of finding your true identity, defining your target audience, establishing your visual presence and researching your competitors. What’s next?
You want to maintain what you have established and stick to a certain pattern. It doesn’t mean that you can’t grow and develop, but avoid making any drastic changes, especially in the beginning. Remember, your audience relies on you and relates to what you do, and they will not appreciate being overwhelmed by something unusual they will have to get used to. Always remain consistent with what you do and what you say and keep your word.
Final Thoughts
Hopefully, now you have a better idea of how to build your brand as a music artist. Building your brand as a music artist plays a major role in your career. It is the most powerful tool you can utilize to establish yourself and become successful at what you do. Of course, one might say that if your music is good, the crowd will follow, but it is always better to give it a little push in the beginning.
We have now identified 5 key steps you need to follow to build your brand as a music artist. The key is to understand what do you have to offer, who do you offer it to, how you can deliver your message by visuals, who your competitors are and last but not least, stay consistent at what you do.
Don’t forget that you are competing with a number of prominent artists that emerged before you. Stay focused, motivated, creative and true to yourself and establish a strong and distinct brand.