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Branding

Branding

Oct 24
Love26
Identify Your Niche

4 Steps to Find Your Target Audience or Niche as a Musician to Grow a Fanbase

By Branding, Marketing Basics, Music Business 3 Comments

Have you struggled with getting new fans? Does it seem like no one is listening whenever you promote your music on social media? Although there can be a number of reasons for this, have you thought about who exactly your target audience is?

Just like a business needs customers, musicians need fans. To build a fanbase, one of the most fundamental steps is to identify who your target audience is. If you want to make music for a living, you have to know who to “market” or promote your music to.

How do you do all that? In this blog, I will share my perspective and approach in detail on growing a fan base by identifying your target audience first. Read More

Feb 27
Love3
Black Violin

Developing Your Brand from Life Experiences: Artist Lessons From Slick Rick and Black Violin

By Branding No Comments

I had a chance to go on my first cruise with Butterscotch back in January of 2019. She joined a lineup that included artists like Babyface, Teddy Riley, Doug E Fresh, Slick Rick, Black Violin, Avery Sunshine, Kenny Lattimore, Jon B, Mike Phillips and Floacist.

The two artists that stuck out to me the most, and inspired me to write this, was Slick Rick and Black Violin. Both of these artists shared their stories at some point during the cruise that gave insights into their brand development.

In previous blogs, I’ve talked about basing your brand on elements from your authentic self, but I wanted to use this opportunity to elaborate on why these artists are great brands you can learn from.

For this month’s blog, I wanted to show how Slick Rick and Black Violin pulled from their life experiences to develop their brands, and why they are good examples for other newer artists to learn from. Read More

Dec 12
Love4
What makes you unique?

The Basics of Branding for Musicians: Figuring Out What Makes You Unique

By Branding No Comments

One of the common challenges I’m noticing artists have about branding is figuring out that one thing that sets them apart from everyone else.

You hear it often in regard to branding. I have even said it in my previous blogs. Because there’s so much competition for attention in the digital era, you have to be able to distinguish yourself to stand out. You need to find what is “unique” about you.

I realize now that this could be misunderstood. Read More

Jun 11
Love3

Going Viral: 6 Important Lessons Artists can Learn from the Rise of Hobo Johnson

By Branding, Going Viral, Motivation, Social Media, Strategy No Comments

Hobo Johnson
 
With all the events that have recently transpired for this young artist, the name of his latest album, “The Rise of Hobo Johnson,” couldn’t be more appropriate.

In the last 3 months, Hobo Johnson has:

  • Reached 700k+ Facebook followers (up from a few thousand)
  • Gained 256k+ Youtube Subscribers
  • Sold out shows all over the U.S. and U.K.
  • Reached #11 on Billboards Heatseeker’s Chart
  • Had at least 4 of his songs at the same time on Spotify’s U.S. Viral 50 Playlist
  • Booked his first big festivals – Bumbershoot in Seattle and Outside Lands in San Francisco

In the world of virality and mainstream artists, this is relatively impressive. But to the average independent artist, this is an astronomical feat for a 20 something-year-old adult from Sacramento.

How did he do it? Read More

Sep 06
Love2
Super Fans Isaiah Rashad

4 Easy Communication Tweaks To Help Convert Fans Into Super Fans

By Branding, Music Business, Social Media, Strategy No Comments

Since 2008, there’s been a popular hypothesis floating around the internet about how artists can make a sustainable living if they are able to earn roughly 1,000 super fans.

Unfortunately with so much competition for attention now, that number may be more. However, the idea behind this is to help dispel this notion that you need thousands or millions of fans to make it as an independent and that living off music is more attainable than it seems. Read More

Jul 05
Love3
Branding Butterscotch

The Basics of Branding for Musicians: Setting Your Brand Foundation

By Branding, Marketing Basics No Comments

If you’ve read my first blog about the importance of branding for musicians and some basic terminology, then you’re ready to start laying the foundation for your own brand.

One of the most important assets you have is your brand, and your brand’s effectiveness is determined by how well you are able to connect with people on an emotional level. Why? Because not everyone will listen to your music when they come across it. Instead, they will have to make decisions about you based on your name, online presentation, bios, descriptions and everything else that relates to you. If these aspects don’t get their attention or resonate with their identity, then they are less likely to listen to your music.

In this blog, I will go over the 4 general steps that are essential to help you build your own brand. Read More

Jun 05
Love5
Branding Butterscotch

The Basics of Branding for Musicians: Simplifying the Terms (Part 1 of 3)

By Branding, Marketing Basics One Comment

“Your music is the last thing that matters. Once they listen to your music, your music it the only thing that matters.” – Lisa Lepine (Music consultant)

It’s normal to think that your music is the most important asset you have as a musician. I mean, it is but it isn’t. Your music is only important if you can actually get people to listen to it, and it’s become increasingly harder to get someone to press play for the first time in this new digital world.

Many think being a musician means throwing some songs on some social media accounts and hope that something will magically catch on. Yeah, that’s not happening.

The fact is, there’s just so much great talent out there competing for attention that it’s not easy for musicians to stand out of the clutter. With so many options for music and entertainment, people have to make judgments and decisions about what they may or may not like before actually hearing the music. Read More

May 04
Love4
Chance the Rapper in Sacramento

Was Chance the Rapper lucky? 7 Principles Indie Artists Can Apply From his Success

By Branding, Music Business, Music Distribution, Strategy No Comments

Whether or not you are a fan of hip hop, I’m sure you’ve probably heard or seen the name Chance the Rapper before.

I had the chance to see Chance the Rapper live here in Sacramento recently on April 27, 2017. Although I can’t say I’m a huge fan, he does make great music and a down-to-earth guy you want to root for.

Those who have read a few of my previous blogs know that I have referenced Chance a few times as the poster child for this paradigm shift that music should be freely accessible. Embracing this shift is a mindset and approach I believe will be critical to the future success of all musicians. Offering your music without a price tag and knowing that the days of records sales are dying so all musicians need to start adopting now. Read More

Feb 21
Love4
Chance the Rapper

Stop Thinking Transactionally: 7 Reasons Musicians Need to Adopt a Branding Mindset

By Branding, Strategy No Comments

Photo Credit: Rob Loud

The music industry is not the same as it was 20 years ago. You no longer need to be signed by a record label to actually have a legitimate career in music. Now, it is much easier to be an independent musician, but at the same time, growing a fan base and making a decent living from music is a challenge.

One of the problems in an evolving music economy is that selling records has become an unsustainable source of income for music artists. Buying music is becoming a thing of the past… at least as a form of music discovery. This romanticized idea of musicians selling music as a product is, strangely, fading. Read More

Dec 27
Love138
Choosing Stage Name

How to Choose the Best Stage Name For Musicians

By Branding, Marketing Basics 16 Comments

This blog was last updated October 4, 2023.

Are you a new musician still trying to decide on a stage name? If you’ve been having trouble, then hopefully this blog can help.

Unless you want to perform under your given name, you should devote a considerable amount of time researching and strategizing what your stage, artist or band name should be. For a new musician, choosing a name to perform under may not seem like that big of a deal. However, you can avoid a lot of potential headaches down the line if you invest the time to research your preferred stage name. Read More