Branding Your Music

 

 

As an artist you are your own brand, whether or not you know it or acknowledge it. It is up to you to make sure your brand stands out from the rest. Branding has everything to do with PRESENTATION – HOW YOU ARE PRESENTED AND PERCEIVED BY THE PUBLIC – whether it be online or offline. It is essentially what you are known for as a whole and believe it or not, your longevity will depend on how strong your brand really is.

This is a type of industry where you must always be ready. Someone new can check you out at any given moment so you have to look your best at all times, all across the board. We live in a digital world, so how you present yourself in person is just as important as how you represent yourself online. A lot of the time, your music isn’t the first thing people are introduced to. You are first seen on social networks, blogs, websites, magazines etc. Think about it, when you hear about something new and want to learn more about it, the first thing you do is look it up! The last thing you want to do is portray a negative image of your brand. You want to make sure that at first glance, the image you put out represents YOU at your best.

Ask yourself:

If someone judges you by your cover, what do they see? What type of image do you put out? Does your image reflect how you want to be perceived by the public? Would you be a fan of YOU?

So what are we getting at here? In order to succeed with a career in music there are things that you really need to be aware of and put your all into in order for your brand to stand strong. To clear things up even more, I made a list with a few examples of things that affect your brand:

Things that affect your brand:

Your music and lyrics – Does the recording sound professional? Do your lyrics represent who you are and what you stand for? Does your music stand out or sound like everything else that people are getting tired of?
How you use social media to interact – Yes, the way you use social media has a direct reflection on your brand. When you spam that gives off a negative image because it immediately shows that you are an amateur. When you engage with people and properly promote your music and are actively building a loyal following, it gives off a positive image of your brand.
How ‘up to par’ your online presence is – Do you have a professional custom website? Are all of your social networking sites up to date? Do you have professional photos? What about custom backgrounds and graphic images? These are the main things that have to do with your appearance online. You have to make sure that your brand can be clearly seen throughout your online profiles.
Your stage presence – Do you really know how to interact with the crowd and keep them engaged? Do you attract fans when you perform or do you give them a reason not to see you perform again?
Your music videos – Are they good quality? Do they enhance your song or take away from it? Visuals are a must, however you need to make sure that they are making you look good and drive even more traffic to your music.
How you dress and appear in images – Does your image reflect who you really are as well as what you want to represent? This is not saying that you need to be flashy everywhere you go, however you do want to represent yourself in a good way and often those that are a little flashy and show their uniqueness get noticed more than someone who doesn’t pay any attention to their appearance.
Let me give you a scenario:

You are performing at an event, there is only one other artist on the line up aside from you.

Other artist: Put on a decent performance and once he got off the stage, he made sure to mingle with as many people in the room as possible. He had business cards in hand that included links to his website and all of his social networks.

You on the other hand, put on a pretty amazing performance and once you got off stage people were coming up to you asking for your info – but you don’t have a website to tell them to go to, or a mailing list for them to sign up to, and since you have neither one, you didn’t bother making business cards with that info on them. So you shook hands and tried to remember as many twitter names as possible.

So now tell me, who got the best response from their performance? Who left the show with more twitter followers, more Facebook likes, and more people subscribed to their mailing list? You guessed it, the other guy.

What you show to the public has a direct correlation to what you stand for in general. Think about it this way: when you first meet someone, or hear about them, what factors go into making your first impression of them? What things affect them in a positive and negative way? Think of your brand as the core of your personality and what you are known for. If a girl dresses half naked and goes to the club every weekend, you’re automatically going to label her in a negative way, this is the same way you are judged as an artist. From the things that you do to how you present yourself to what you stand for, all make up your BRAND. You brand yourself through your actions as well as your professionalism and appearance.

While there are other aspects that go into building a solid successful brand (mentioned in the bullet points above), there are a few KEY components that an artist MUST HAVE to look professional and attract the attention needed to succeed. These same components also separate the professionals from the amateurs:

Key Things That Make You Look Like the Professional Artist That You Are:

1. You need to be easy to find. You need your own custom domain that is the portal to everything YOU. Your website needs to include your bio, music, videos, tour dates, a place to buy your merchandise and of course, links to all of your social media sites. Nowadays you just can’t get around it. In order to be considered a professional you MUST have a website.

2. If you want to be taken seriously in this industry, having a professional bio is critical. A well written bio is the ultimate marketing tool. Your bio is your first chance to get people interested in your music, plus it’s an amazing way to book more shows and get publicized in online magazines and websites.

3. Your brand needs to be recognizable from all angles. Your online presence needs to be crisp, clean and memorable. Your social media presence must stand out! You can do this by having custom designs on all of your social media to match your personal website. Everything should have a similar feel to represent your brand.

4. You might want to use a symbol or tagline that people can use to relate directly to you. Not every artist needs a logo, not every artist has a catch phrase or ‘tagline,’ however those that do have one have more chances of being noticed because they can post it everywhere possible and fans will begin to relate that image or tagline to a certain artist.

So ask yourself:

Have you released music and performed at showcases in the past and spent hours upon hours promoting but still didn’t get the response you were looking for?

The answer to your problem is most likely BRANDING. If your brand is weak, you won’t stand out – which ultimately means that you’re forgettable. So now it’s time for you to analyze your brand and make the necessary changes that will surely make you stand out (in a good way) and start to get a great response from your promotional efforts.

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Why Rappers Stay Local

Here are my thoughts on this Meme.

1. Soundcloud.  Soundcloud is a tool like all other apps. If you don’t plan to be paid for your music, it is a great place to expose your music to a wider audience. I would advise any unsigned or independent artist only put Mixtape material on Soundcloud.
2. Open Mics.  Open Mics are great for artist just starting out who have no performing experience. You can use this platform to create your fanbase. The Negative about Open Mic performances is if your established artist you should be doing legit gigs. Established artists need to play festivals, Music Clubs, and Special Events.
3. Posting all day in Facebook Music Groups. I disagree with this one. Exposing your music to different people or a group outside your sphere of influence is a great idea. This is a good for artist who don’t have a budget for promotion. Promotion is Promotion. Don’t allow people who don’t are not in your position make you feel bad about not being able to do what other people can do.
4.  Reverbnation.  I also disagree with this one. If you have a budget Reverbnation is a excellent resource. You can get digital distribution through Reverbnation. The bottom line with Reverbnation if you can pay for the premium services it is a great resource. The Best Promotion is Great Music with a Great Performance. If you can not perform or make quality music you really need to quit the music business.
5. Bad Management.  This is a look in the mirror moment. If you have a manager, they work for you. So bottom line you have the final say. Managers are there to advise you on your music career. Managers are not promoters. Managers are to look for promoters for you. Managers are not investors. Managers are to help you find investors. Managers are not Record Labels. Managers help you get exposed to Record Labels. Managers try to help you better if you have a reputation of bad habits. Bottom line you are your Executive Manager which means you have the final say on all business decisions.
6. They already think they famous.  Most people who get a certain level of success do think they are famous. Your persona on and off stage should be different. Remember this is ENTERTAINMENT. The definition it self is a divergence. It is not real. Do you think every comic wrote 100% of their jokes? Do you think ever actor that plays a gangsta in a movie; is like that in real life. I know people who believe stuff like that. That is not the case in the music business. Bottom Line Stay Humble. But when the lights come on for you to perform TURN UP AND TURN OUT.
7. No Budgets.  I agree with this one. You have to have money in this business. Promotions Cost. Travel Cost. Production Cost. Photo Shoots Cost. Wardrobe Cost. How do you expect to be paid if you got everything for free? Just because you believe you are the Hottest MC in your hood; that don’t mean you are going to get a free ride. There is a downside with not having having a budget. You either pay now or pay later but you WILL PAY. Friends and Family who did pay for something for you will come back for their investment when become successful. Your local Street Pharmacist who invested in your career will tax you when you become successful. Think about the decisions you make.
8. Buying fake likes and views. You are in the Entertainment industry. The land of make believe. Do you believe everything that is told to you?  When you see a new artists come out from a major label is who they say he is? Most businesses have a marketing department. The job of a marketing dept. is to convince you that what they are selling you is the Truth and Real. But if the music business had to put a disclaimer on the music that they release like drug commercial… You would not listen to 90% the artists out right now… Buy fake likes and views are a decision you have to make in your own career.
9. No Real Promotions or Marketing.  Again you have educate yourself or hire someone who knows about Marketing and Promotions. There are books and videos online that you watch to educate yourself. You are ultimately responsible for your career. You would be wise to educate yourself. You pay for what you do not know. Bottom line Educate your self in Marketing and Promotions.
10. No Talent.  I agree with this one 100%. But ultimately you have to make that decision whether to continue your career or not. Try to find your audience. There are Billions of people around the world you can find a audience that will like your music. Create a website and promote it to overseas markets.

Bottom Line to Everything I said in the blog: These are decisions. Good or Bad depending on your own situation. How can you make better decisions? Educate Yourself on every aspect of the music business. The worse decision any artist can make is to let someone else make decisions on your career. Remember a Manager is there to advise not to make the decision. Don’t confuse the two.

The DJ Russ Dogg Morning Show