When it comes to finding success in the music industry, one area that tends to separate local artists from the artists that go mainstream is how well they can market themselves. Knowing how you want to present yourself and what you want to be known for is a great way to help you get noticed by the right people, in order to help you take your music from the bedroom to the main stage. If you want to find your way into the ears of a larger audience, you have to start by getting recognized by the right people. In order to accomplish this, you will need to not only have a clear image as an artist, but a plan in place to maintain the integrity of that image. This is the primary reason why having a solid brand as a musical artist is such an effective way to get your music noticed.

Branding is a marketing concept that is built around creating a marketable identity that an audience or consumer can count on. While that might not sound very rock and roll, the best DJs, singers, and bands all have one. It’s an easy way to show a record label that you know who you are and what you are doing, and that you know how to present it in a way that appeals to a target audience.

A brand is your public image in a sense. It might be built around the way that you dress, your style of music, or even an aesthetic that your creative pursuits can be recognized by. It might mean that you always do something with a specific color scheme or you use your music to tell a fictional story. When it comes to creating your brand, you want to make sure that it is what you want to be known for when people think of your music. You are not only responsible for controlling your brand, but making sure that your every decision after that stays true to it.

Many artists wonder if having a brand is really that important. They might argue that at the end of the day, the music is all that matters. While this might be true to some extent, it’s really only true in a perfect world. In fact, many artists actually get away with being less talented if they have a strong enough brand. On the other hand, people likely won’t want to listen to your music if your brand is poor. Having a strong and consistent brand is an effective way to show people who you are in a way that will make them actually want to listen. For a music artist, there is nothing more important than making people want to listen, and your music isn’t always going to be their first introduction to you.

For some artists, the mere idea of branding feels like selling out in a way. People have a tendency to think that branding and the kind of preparation that it takes to stick with a brand may very well rob them of their creative process. This is only true if you are choosing a completely new brand that doesn’t match and altering your music to fit that mold. Taking this approach is actually against the branding principles, which suggest that you should always choose a brand based on your artistic identity. This means that you are not choosing a brand for you to fit, but rather you are choosing a brand that fits you and using it to guide your process in order to maintain consistency.

In the music world, branding can include a few different things. It might be a logo that you put on all of your albums and merchandise as a trademark, or it might be the visual appearance of your album covers. You want these things to be consistent when it comes to matching your brand identity so that when people listen to your music, it all lines up. A hyper-positive popstar probably wouldn’t cover their album in dark colors or blood and gore. Finding brand consistency is a great way to make sure that people always know how to identify you. Having a professional-looking brand is a great way to make them pay attention.

All successful artists have a specific brand that they aim for, and the best artists know how to alter their brand over time to support their evolution as an artist. An easily identifiable brand is presented by KISS with their recognizable face makeup, sound, and specifically designed stage shows. Deadmau5 is another master of branding. When you think about Deadmau5, most people think about his iconic mouse head. That is a major part of his brand, and it is what makes him so distinctly recognizable in a sea of other talented electronic music artists. Your brand does not necessarily have to stay the same forever, but you do need to control the brand in order to accommodate a transition from one brand to the next.

When it comes down to it, having a good brand in place is an excellent way to show agents, managers and music labels that you are ready to take your craft and do it professionally. It tells them that you know what you are doing and that you are putting in enough thought to do it intentionally. This makes you a safer investment and also allows you to stay consistent with your style of choice after being signed since an established brand with a following isn’t something that they will want to change. At the end of the day, putting in the work to make your brand will help you to stand out so that you can share your music with as many people as possible. Take the time, do the work, and wait for the results.

Discovery Music Group works with clients from around the globe, including artists, labels and festivals. We offer a wide range of services tailored towards independent or established/signed artists and brands. With years of experience in many styles of music, our team aims to help grow your music career with our branding, marketing, promotion, and contacts within the industry to take your career to the next level.