Everything we’ve learned before helps you build your music brand. It is important to understand that a brand is not a logo, a font, or a certain color scheme. These are stylistic elements that should reflect your brand – but a brand is more.
A brand is a consistent feeling you produce in others whenever your fans think of your music or listen to your music.
You and your music create the brand. It’s actually intangible if you think about it.
Logos, fonts, colours, web design, etc. should properly reflect you &
your music, both go hand in hand.
Your brand is what comes to mind when people hear your name or band name.
It is important that your image and brand matches your music. You need to make sure that it all makes sense and that they are coherent, congruent.
1. Peer assessment: Contact 5 people and ask them for help regarding building your brand as a musician. You can write something like:
“Hey, I’m currently working on my music brand and would like to ask you for some help and feedback. If you could visit my homepage (link here) and my Facebook page (link here) and let me know what your first impression of my music would be?
Also can you think of anything I could do that represents my music better and anything that I could do to stand out a little more?”
Write their answers below and make sure to note any common words or themes they bring up. Even small tweaks can have a huge impact.
| 1. Epic |
| 2. Balancing act between dark and light |
| 3. Love the vibes |
| 4. awesome |
| 5. magical |
2. Take a look at your social media sites and your website. Put yourself in the shoes of a brand new person visiting your pages for the very first time. What is the impression they would get if they haven’t heard a single song of yours before?
| Wow, this looks very interesting. |
3. Images say more than words and they make people feel things. What do you want people to feel when they hear your music? What sort of mood will they be in when listening to your songs?
| Intense emotions… bewildered, confused, overwhelmed, cathartic! Like taking psychedelics |
4. Which images do you need to create? Which existing images might need to be revamped in order to make your branding more consistent?
| Just go further and further with the combination of VIKING poet + Neon God |
5. Do your social media pages, your images, your style/look quickly convey your music?
| yes |
6. What might need to be changed or incorporated into your artistic image (can be photos, cover art or just your personal look) to stand out more while remaining consistent with your genre?
| More details everywhere, small subtle things… graphics, animals, decorations, etc Kind of hidden but in plain sight… mystical symbolism |
7. Think of specific themes you already incorporate or would like to incorporate into your artistic image (can be cartoon images, red graffiti & hair, medieval things, cowboy accessories etc.). What is your music wardrobe and style?
| Neon viking god Classic suit + hat + boots But neon nails, gold accessories Maybe tattoos Long hair/beard Muscular warrior physique |
8. Do some in-depth research and analyse the style and image of 10 popular artists. Check out their images, their cover art, their look etc. and write down what you love or hate about it. This all gives you a good understanding of what the “market” likes and gives you ideas on how you can stand out.
| Artist #1: Coldplay |
| I Love: neon |
| I Hate: lacks masculine wild danger |
| Inspired me to: be more open and loving |
| Artist #2: Tom waits |
| I Love: flamboyance |
| I Hate: nothing |
| Inspired me to: go more wild |
| Artist #3: Dua Lipa |
| I Love: her sexiness and playfullness |
| I Hate: shallow? |
| Inspired me to: have fun |
| Artist #4: Radiohead |
| I Love: seriousness |
| I Hate: little boring sometimes |
| Inspired me to: make sure the music is amazing |
| Artist #5: John Maus |
| I Love: intellectual and kind |
| I Hate: not present |
| Inspired me to: complexity |
| Artist #6: Mew |
| I Love: dreaminess |
| I Hate: lacks that rocknroll wildness |
| Inspired me to: dreamy darkness |
| Artist #7: Sturgill Simpson |
| I Love: music nerd thing |
| I Hate: arrogance and disdain |
| Inspired me to: again make sure the music is high quality |
| Artist #8: The national |
| I Love: dark poet vibes |
| I Hate: typical band thing |
| Inspired me to: not be a band |
