Tag: Branding

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5 Simple, Effective Approaches To Artist Branding

Artist Branding

Branding is an important part of any career, but it doesn’t have to be intimidating or time-consuming.

Let’s be clear: You have a brand whether or not you embrace the idea of branding as an essential part of existing as an artist in the modern age. Your brand exists and evolves whether regardless of your participation in its progression. People will think what they will or worse—not think of you at all.

Brand marketing is the process of establishing and growing a relationship between a brand (that’s you) and consumers (your current and future audience).

Every aspect of your career, both online and in the real world, impacts your brand. Some artists spend their careers meticulously crafting personas and fictitious worlds that they use to establish a brand that audiences can lose themselves in. Others prefer a more natural approach, presenting and behaving as everyday people in incredible jobs. Both ideas can work, and both can backfire. Authenticity reigns supreme.

When learning about branding, many artists shy away from the idea because they feel it will become too time-consuming to maintain. Musicians are trying to make music, and that creative pursuit rarely adheres to a traditional business model, despite being a business nonetheless.

In our latest Music Biz video, host James Shotwell presents five unique ways artist develop their brands and explains easy ways to apply similar thinking to any career. The purpose of this discussion is not to finalize your brand but to generate new ways of thinking about your art and how you tell your story through the many elements of your career.

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Artist Advice Business Advice Editorials Haulix

The importance of brand consistency in music

Your music is your business.

You might not rely on music to pay your bills, but I am willing to wager that a part of you hopes will one day provide for your needs. The fact you even consider this as a possibility should make it clear that your music is a business. Your name – be it your own or that of your group – is your brand, and your product is a mixture of music and live performance.

The term ‘brand consistency’ refers to any attempt to communicate messages in a way which doesn’t detract or wander away from the core brand strategy, values and foundation. In other words, brand consistency is all about being yourself in everything that you do so that consumers know who you are, what you produce, and what your work is all about.

To be clear, brand consistency is much deeper than remembering to use the same logo with proper Pantone color over and over again. These things are helpful, but brand consistency is an ever-evolving process that pulls consumers into your narrative and makes them feel as if they are a part of your personal journey. From your music to the photos you choose to promote your every move, and everything in between, your message and focus needs to be clear.

Without brand consistency, consumers will lose sight of the message you are trying to convey, which in turn will cause them to lose interest. If they cannot understand what you are trying to do, they will find it hard to trust your future output, thus making it increasingly hard to convert listeners to supporters.

The biggest acts of today, be it Drake or Twenty One Pilots, have impeccable brand consistency. Everything these artists release relates back to the messages they are trying to convey, and in many cases further, a narrative that the artist has been developing for the majority – if not all – of their career.

Every artist and band should establish a brand and a guideline for maintaining it as soon as possible. These efforts should include instructions on how to use all your branding tools (name, logo, typeface, photos, color palettes, etc.). Being specific is key. Know exactly how you want to be presented and find clear ways to communicate that to anyone who works with you moving forward. This includes publicists, booking agents, promoters, etc.

If you are unsure of what your brand is or what people expect from your music, do not be afraid to turn to your fans for answers. Their response may not be uniform, but it will shed light on what elements of your current output are resonating most with your audience. Embrace those things, further emphasize them, and plot your next moves with that knowledge in mind.

For help marketing your new and unreleased music to the industry at large while staying on brand, consider using Haulix for your promotional distribution needs. Haulix offers customizable promo pages and email invitations no competitor can rival. Sign up now for a free one-month trial.

J

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Industry News News

Weezer-themed island arrives in Fortnite ahead of ‘Black Album’ release

With their second album of 2019 arriving March 1, Weezer has become the latest musical act to join forces with Fortnite, the world’s most popular game.

Brand collaborations are a major focus of Epic Games’ smash hit Fortnite. The free-to-play game, which boasts more than one-hundred million players worldwide, has previously partnered with Disney and Marvel to promote Avengers: Infinity War, as well as the NFL. The company also has an interest in music and its role in gamers’ lives, which they made evident by hosting the first in-game concert ever in early February with special guest Marshmello.

On Thursday, February 28, Epic Games and Fornite continued to express their interest in music by unleashing an island dedicated to the band Weezer. The location, which features loads of Weezer branding, offers players to hear the band’s new material from the group’s Black Albumahead of its official release on March 1. You can view a quick walkthrough of the new area below:


Unlike Marshmello’s performance, which was promoted as a one-time event throughout Fortnite’s main screens, players hoping to visit Weezer’s island will need to do a bit more work. First, players will need to select the game’s Creative Mode. From there, users need to find the portal that will transfer them to the limited time island. The portal itself looks like any other, so pay attention!

It’s unclear how long this collaboration will last. Marshmello’s performance lasted ten-minutes and took place two times in one, twenty-four hour period. Weezer Island (our name, not theirs) may only be around until The Black Album arrives in stores on March 1.

The other thing that remains unclear at this time is what Epic Games might have in store for music fans down the road. Between their work with Marshmello and now Weezer the company has showcased a lot of potential for collaborations with high-level talent in the future. Where it all leads from here is anyone’s guess, but we’ll update you as soon as more information becomes available. For now, kick back and watch Weezer’s latest music video.

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Making the most of an idea

Making ideas the best they can be is easier than you think

Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler recently appeared on Joe Rogan’s popular podcast to promote a new documentary. During the conversation, Tyler began to describe the early days of Aerosmith, and how guitarist Joe Perry would sit around at night playing whatever came to his mind on guitar. Tyler recognized the potential for the material and soon purchased a cassette recorder to capture the ideas as they made themselves known.

“That’s where we got some of our biggest songs,” he told Rogan. “But just think about the material we never got on tape. The ideas we never got to explore.”

Think about that for a second. For nearly half a century now, Aerosmith has been considered one of the biggest and most influential groups of all-time, yet the members cannot help thinking about what could have been. There is a fire in their gut that years to discover the next song, the next chord progression, the next melody, the next whatever it is that leads them to something new. For Aerosmith, success is secondary to feeling fulfilled creatively, and even decades worth of work cannot quench their thirst for whatever comes next.

If all of Aerosmith’s accomplishments have been unable to replace their desire to create it is probably safe to assume the same would apply to you. The journey of creativity is not one where the goal is the destination because there is no end. To create is to embark on one adventure after another with little to no idea where things will end up. It’s about taking chances and accepting the outcome, whether good or bad, as something that will not stop you from continuing your work.

With this in mind, take a moment to think about your development process. Are you pulling out the metaphorical tape recorder to capture all your ideas as soon as they come into your head, or are you allowing potentially great thoughts to be lost in the ether of life just as quickly as they were discovered? Do you pursue your ideas until they are fully realized, or do you play with them until the next best thing comes along? If so, why?

Ask any creative and they will tell you that they hate when being creative feels like work. Ask any creative who has made a career out of their creativity, and they will tell you it’s always been work. You have to put in the work to get the most out of your ideas, and that begins by not letting them slip through your fingers in a fit of spontaneous creation. You don’t have to save everything because not all things you think up will be great, but you should see them through long enough to know whether or not you’re onto something potentially massive. Refining those senses takes time, but it’s worth the effort.

Don’t let great ideas go to waste. Take notes. Record your thoughts. Do whatever you need to do to ensure those moments of brilliance that strike like lightning coursing through your veins are not gone just as soon as they arrive. Wring every ounce of possibility out of each idea and, in time, you will find yourself creating things that change the world.

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News

Do More ‘Weird’ Stuff

Earlier today someone sent me a link to a video of Lil Yachty performing a Simpsons themed rap as part of a new digital short for Jimmy Fallon’s late night show. This was perfect content for me, a lifelong Simpsons fan, as well as something highly sharable that would no doubt get the name Lil Yachty in front of people who might not have heard it otherwise. Here’s the clip in question:

You may or may not enjoy Lil Yachty’s music, but if you’re a fan of The Simpsons there is little doubt in my mind that the opportunity to hear a rap about the citizens of Springfield is something you wouldn’t miss for the world. This is why the video above is such clever marketing: The idea works regardless of how is behind it. Any artist could create this video and, as long as it was done well, there would be an audience of consumers who might not otherwise touch said artist’s music. 

I call content like this ‘weird’ because it’s not what an artist would normally deliver (song, video for song, album, tour dates, etc.). ‘Weird’ content steps outside the normal expectations for artist promotion and shares something wholly original that also speaks to the artist’s life outside music. This type of content helps artists forge stronger connections with fans through common threads of interest that, through clever manipulation, ultimately connect with the music the artist is creating.

Take the video above. What Lil Yachty has really done by creating this clip is to make himself more accessible to an audience of consumers that may or may not already know his name. Yachty himself is an outspoken fan of cartoons, as are many of his fans, so to leverage the longest-running cartoon in the name of personal branding is a smart decision. People who enjoy The Simpsons may also enjoy rap, and if that is the case there is a fairly decent chance they will enjoy what Yachty does as well. If not, at least they have heard it and can tell others about its existence, even if they are just referring to the video above.

The best kind of marketing any artist can hope to achieve is the kind that comes from fans tells non-listeners about the artist without being asked to do so. Fun, ‘weird’ clips like the one in this post encourage sharing without directly asking for artist promotion. 

Think of something you love and find a way to share that passion with your audience. Maybe this means a clever video, or perhaps it’s a blog covering a TV show you cannot stop binging while on tour. Let people know what makes the person behind the music tick and they will care for the music being created more than ever before.

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News

The importance of brand consistency in music

Like it or not, your music is a business.

You might not rely on music to pay your bills, but I am willing to wager that a part of you hopes will one day provide for your needs. The fact you even consider this as a possibility should make it clear that your music is a business. Your name – be it your own or that of your group – is your brand, and your product is a mixtures of music and live performance.

The term ‘brand consistency’ refers to any attempt to communicate messages in a way which doesn’t detract or wander away from the core brand strategy, values and foundation. In other words, brand consistency is all about being yourself in everything that you do so that consumers know who you are, what you produce, and what your work is all about.

To be clear, brand consistency is much deeper than remembering to use the same logo with proper pantone color over and over again. These things are helpful, but brand consistency is an ever-evolving process that pulls consumers into your narrative and makes them feel as if they are a part of your personal journey. From your music to the photos you choose to promote your every move, and everything in between, your message and focus needs to be clear.

Without brand consistency consumers will lose sight of the message you are trying to convey, which in turn will cause them to lose interest. If they cannot understand what you are trying to do they will find it hard to trust your future output, thus making it increasingly hard to convert listeners to supporters.

The biggest acts of today, be it Drake or Twenty One Pilots, have impeccable brand consistency. Everything these artists release relates back to the messages they are trying to convey, and in many cases further a narrative that the artist has been developing for the majority – if not all – of their career.

Every artist and band should establish a brand and a guideline for maintaining it as soon as possible. These efforts should include instructions on how to use all your branding tools (name, logo, typeface, photos, color palettes, etc). Being specific is key. Know exactly how you want to be presented and find clear ways to communicate that to anyone who works with you moving forward. This includes publicists, booking agents, promoters, etc.

If you are unsure of what your brand is or what people expect from your music, do not be afraid to turn to your fans for answers. Their response may not be uniform, but it will shed light on what elements of your current output are resonating most with your audience. Embrace those things, further emphasize them, and plot your next moves with that knowledge in mind.

For help marketing your new and unreleased music to the industry at large while staying on brand, consider using Haulix for your promotional distribution needs. Haulix offers customizable promo pages and email invitations no competitor can rival. Sign up now for a free one-month trial.

James Shotwell is the Marketing Coordinator for Haulix. He is also the Film Editor for Substream Magazine and host of the Inside Music Podcast. If you enjoy this post, please follow James on Twitter. 

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Artists As Limitless Changemakers

The following post is part of our ongoing content partnership with the team from Muddy Paw PR.

The creative path sometimes feels like a selfish and lonely road. Finding ways of using your talents to make a difference and give back to the community can truly be a positive shift. It was for me.

Several years ago, I came across an ad for a nonprofit event that was truly transformative. It was a screening of the documentary, Very Young Girls, about underage sex trafficking in our own backyard, the US of A. When the movie was over, everyone in the room was bawling or enraged. All of us wanted to get involved somehow. As an artist, I immediately started thinking about how I could raise awareness through my work.

Due to my background in film production, I decided to make a PSA. After researching for several months, I reached out to local organizations, the police department, and abolitionists to deepen my understanding. Upon completion, Channel Austin added the video to their rotation. I also screened it at one of the music showcases I put together as the Editor and Event Planner of The Deli Magazine. People were shocked and disturbed, the community was moved. They wanted to know more, including ways to get involved, so I referred them to local organizations working to fight against modern day slavery.

To be able to make a positive impact on the world with something I created was not only fulfilling, but also very motivational. It was a game changer for me as an artist and entrepreneur and something I work to incorporate into projects I take on moving forward. As long as you are authentic in the charitable work you align yourself with, the change you can make as an artist is limitless.

A worldly musical soul at heart, Oakland-based Charise Sowells – under the moniker of Lake Lady – is combining styles past and present to create a refreshingly modern new sound that holds your attention from start to finish. With influences ranging from the chilled-out trip hop of Massive Attack and Portishead to the blues stylings of Billie Holiday, Lake Lady is ready to take 2016 by storm with her brand new EP titled ‘Better Day’.

Co-produced with Midnite Tiger, Lake Lady’s ‘Better Day’ EP is set to release on March 25, 2016. At times haunting and always bursting with soul, these five songs see Sowells paying loving tribute to her influences while crafting a sound that is entirely her own. Check out the EP’s opening track, “Will Your Feelings Change” HERE.

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News

Making The Most Of Twitter In 2016

My last piece ripped apart Facebook, and now I’ll throw shade at my favorite social media network: Twitter. I joined Twitter back on July 22nd, 2006. Yes, 10 years ago, when it was called Twttr.

I got this question recently, relating to Twitter:

“How should a music blog, or other online brand, organize it’s following / followers on Twitter for maximum exposure, clarity of branding and credibility?“

Organize nothing, and play like you’ve got nothing to lose with the followers you got.

Exposure? There’s a lot of brands on Twitter all shouting for attention, clicks, RTs, and video plays. Your updates sit between TMZ gossip, sports scores, political news, and photos of cats. You’re competing with everyone in your field, and every other field ever. All the time. Forever.

Also, look what Twitter has been doing. Have you seen the Moments ads on TV? The promoted Tweets below replies? The suggested follows, and the polls, and the new animated heart… er, I mean “Like” thing, apps to install, the “while you were away” feature that will never go away.  Count on Twitter to add even more distractions in 2016.

All this fluff aside, you need to use Twitter in 2016 to speak with people directly and honstly. You’re the singer in a band? Reply to the fans. You’re the owner a studio? Talk with other producers and band folk. Run a music blog? Have conversations with your readers.

That’s where branding and credibility come in. Could an unpaid intern – without your knowledge and experience to draw from – have those same honest, intelligent conversations on Twitter? Most likely not.

An unpaid intern can automate Tweets from the RSS feed on your blog. They can find some stock photos, or RT someone that said, “I love your stuff,” but that’s just “social media by numbers.” That is amatuer hour in 2016, and it’s a house of cards because everyone – small businesses, bands, record labels, Best Buy, and Oreo cookies – EVERYONE is doing that.

You need to do what they can’t do. They can’t be you. They don’t have your humanity, your humor, your dread, or your sense of humor. They don’t observe the world the way you do. They can’t be charming like you, or cute, or sassy, or studious.

Forget the social media tips, tricks, and techniques that everyone and their uncle’s hardware store are using. In 2016 you just need to go full bore you on Twitter.

Seth Werkheiser is the quiz master of metal trivia at Skulltoaster. He’s also the founder of some music sites you may have heard of, including Noise Creep (2009) + Buzzgrinder (2001). He’s anti-Facebook, anti-clickbait, and anti-growth hacking. You should most definitely follow him on Twitter. Yes, right now.

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Haulix Advice: 3 (Additional) Aspects Of Artist Branding

This article is a continuation of a series we started last week. To maximize your entertainment (and education) value, click here and review the first part of this feature. More installments will likely follow, so make sure you join us on Twitter and Facebook to ensure you never miss another update.

Last week we started taking a look at various aspects of artist branding, and this week we have returned with three additional points to consider. The best brands are the ones built from the heart, and the same applies for art.  Some of these points may seem fairly obvious, but if even one category strays too far from the others artists may soon find themselves fighting an uphill marketing battle. Recognition is key in today’s hyper-connected society, and it all starts with how an artist chooses to brand themselves. Read through these points, then sit down and figure out what you need to do to convey what you see in your head to the rest of the world the best way possible. Know who you are and what you stand for before you ask others to follow. 

As always, if you have any questions or comments, please don’t hesitate to add them at the end of this post.

1. Merchandise – Fans buy merchandise because they not only want to see you further succeed, but because they want to prove to the world that they’re a part of your global community. When they’re seen in a shirt with your name on it, or holding a phone protected by plastic barring your logo they’re no longer a single entity existing amongst billions of other separate individuals, but one piece of multi-faceted human promotion machine that relies on your gift for songwriting in order to survive. They might not tell everyone they see to listen to your music, but with your merchandise in hand or on their body they do create a phenomenon known by many parents as “the human billboard.” Where they go, the possibility someone may be lured into googling or further inquiring about who you are goes with them. What message do you want sending into the world on your behalf?

2. Image (Video) – Ten years ago it would have been far easier for a talented artist or band to rise from obscurity to relative fame without releasing a single music than it would be today. YouTube changed everything when it launched in 2005, and now everyone who wants to be anyone online is rushing to put out as much visual content as possible. While connecting with fans through music videos, tour diaries, and behind-the-scene footage is a fantastic way to build a relationship with listeners, too many artists look at this content from a quantity over quality perspective. Fans want you to work on your music until it’s the best it can possibly be, so why skimp in other areas of your brand? Now that seemingly everyone has a camera in their phones that offers far better quality than digital cameras from even five years ago, there is no reason to offer low quality content (poor audio/video, messy editing, etc) other than laziness. If it doesn’t look like you cared that much doing whatever it is you’re putting out, people will show similar enthusiasm in return. 

3. Online Presence – This one work as an accompaniment to video, but in all actuality cover a much larger array of topics. You never know where someone will first come in contact with your music online, so it is in your best interest to ensure every aspect you can control is executed in the highest quality possible. This means having complete profiles on all relevant social networks, a digital press kit filled with resources for industry-related contacts, and your own custom website that stands separate from all the worlds of Facebook, Twitter, and the like. Every social network will one day go the way of Myspace circa 2008, and it would be a shame if the hub for all things related to your art went down with it. Visit Hover, find a domain that works for you, and get started carving out your own digital hub. It will take more time and effort than setting up a classy profile page, but the longterm benefits far outweigh the short term costs. If you need help building your site, we suggest visiting Squarespace, Wix, or Weebly for easy to use design tools and guides. 

Beyond the creation of your own central hub for information, make sure you’re using tools like GoogleAlerts to know when your name comes up across the web. If a site you’re unfamiliar with is running an article with an old picture or incorrect information, reach out with the correct information and politely ask if they mind updating their story. Some may groan at the request, but most bloggers will be delighted to see a band taking an active interest in how thy are being received online. 

Finally, pay attention to the way your music is received when being distributed for coverage/performance consideration. Services like Mediafire, Sharebeast, and Sendspace may offer free services and relatively quick downloads, but your music is reduced to a download icon buried amongst another company’s branding (not to mention the ads said company relies on to continue offering “free” services). Haulix, on the other hand, allows complete customization of the way your music is presented, as well as tools for crafting eye-catching emails. Do you want your music to be received the same as any other artist simply for the sake of convenience, or would you rather deliver your latest creation in a way that better conveys the art that lies ahead? If your answer is the latter, click here for more information.

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Haulix Advice: 4 Aspects Of Artist Branding

In an attempt to split the information shared into easily digestible pieces, this discussion on branding is being spread across the next few weeks. This is part one, and next Friday part two will go live.

Branding may very well be the buzz word to end all buzz words, but when you get past its overuse in the business world you find it is a very real topic that many artists struggle to grasp. We want to help with that, and today we’re looking at 4 aspects of branding that effect all artists. There will be plenty more to come on this topic in the weeks ahead (3-4 at a time), but for now this should at the very least point those completely lost in the right direction. As always, if you have any questions or comments, please don’t hesitate to add them at the end of this post.

1. Music – This one is a given, but it bares repeating. Your music is your brand, and every element of it that finds its way to your fans will leave an impression on them. With that in mind, make sure what you’re putting out is the best representation of who you are (or want to be seen as) possible. This needs to be at the forefront of your mind from the first time your pen touches paper, to the moment you’re sitting in the studio mixing your completed tracks. Does the recording sound the way you hear the music in your mind? Am I being honest with myself and fans through these lyrics? Shallow, cash-grabbing efforts will almost always yield short-term returns, but those last make a career out of this business do so by being themselves. Always.

2. Image (Photos) – There is nothing worse than discovering a great talent who has no idea what they’re doing with their image. Fashion may not be your thing, and it certainly doesn’t need to be in order to take control of this of your brand, but you do need to recognize there is more to being an artist than simply creating great art. For all intents and purposes, you are a business, and as such you need to present your product (the music) in a way that is appetizing to as many of the senses as possible. There may not be a rule book for how any one sound needs to look, but I am sure we can all think of artists who have gotten it wrong from time to time. Remember when Garth Brooks thought he could have emo bangs and release an album as Chris Gaines? Yea, I tried to forget too.

3. Social media presence – I feel like we are getting close to beating a dead horse with this topic, but not a week goes by that I do not see a talented band or artist who fails to grasp the purpose of social media. It is not a soapbox for product promotion, though it can help your sales. Sites like Twitter, Tumblr, and Facebook exist for the purpose of creating new communities based on interests, and artists need to learn to see their presence on these sites as the hub of their online community. Don’t just talk at fans, engage with them. Listen to what they have to say, reply to their questions, and in between that get the word out about your latest promotions. If your fans feel like they are in fact a part of the community, they are far more likely to help with  promotion than someone who feels as if they are receiving a steady stream of advertising. No one wants a wall of ads on the browser, and even if they like what you do they probably won’t stick around that long if sales are all that’s on your mind.

4. Stage presence – There is no better environment to get the word out about your brand than the concert setting. Even if the audience did not specifically come to see you, they are in the venue to hear great music, and if you can provide that they may very well become fans before heading home. In addition to following the golden rule to “practice, practice practice,” make sure you and your bandmates have an idea what the audience will see while you’re on stage. It may be all about the music, but in this setting the visual element can play a large factor in how the audio is received. Don’t be someone you’re not just for a few extra claps, but do make an effort to engage the audience with what is happening on stage so they feel compelled to see it again the next time you’re in town.

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