Master your craft: Building a brand as a Musician

By Andile Nkosi

So you are a musician, your music is great and you want to be noticed by fans, clients and record executives. You need a strong outstanding brand that will help you get noticed easy. 
You need to brand yourself, your music and your packaging. Branding includes your name, your images (logo, album artwork), and your text (your story, your tagline). These components make up your Brand Toolbox.

Whether you’re a solo musician or a large group, there’s simply too much information about you and your music for new fans to easily digest. Branding is about distilling your identity into its key components.

Chertkow and Feehan maintain that there are four ingredients to an effective brand a good brand:

1.      Accuracy. Your stage name should be the unique identifier of your music and give people a clear sense of what your band and its music is about. Before choosing a name. Google it to see if it’s unique to use. It does not help to call yourself a common name like MIKE. Neither does it help to have a name like Mr Alcohol while you sing Gospel.  Or have a gothic image while you are an R&B artist.  

 Accuracy - House duo Liquideep have a unique name which cannot be confused to any other band

2.     Impact. Your brand should convey its message quickly and easily. Have a slogan special to you. Have an image that can only be pointed to you.  The cooler your logo the more likely your fans will promote it and purchase branded merchandise.

Repetition - Vernec Rapper OZ has a unique logo which he repeatedly uses in his T-Shirts and CDs

3.     Repetition. The key to an effective brand is to use it repeatedly. It’s crucial you brand everything from your website, Facebook Page, Twitter account, Album sleeve, Music videos, posters, and so on. Your brand is what fans will identify you with. After all, why else would anyone buy a T-shirt from a musician? Your brand gives merchandise its value.

Impact - R&B group Boyz II Men has maintained the same font for over a decade

4.     Consistency. Because repetition is the key to strengthening your brand, consistency is critical. Once you decide on what font to use to write your name, stick to it on all singles and albums. Don’t keep changing your logo or theme.

Consistency – Sean Combs is a bad example of consistency in his name. Over the decades he has moved from Puffy to Puff Daddy, P Diddy,   and Diddy - Dirty Money

Thanks to RANDY CHERTKOW & JASON FEEHAN who helped shape this content.  Learn more at http://www.indieguide.com/