How to Transform yourself from a Musician to a Brand

What is artist development?

If you get signed to a label, they might spend time doing “artist development.” As the music industry changes, it’s more likely that you’ll be an independent musician for part or all of your career. So you can’t sit around and wait for a label to develop you. Because of that, many of our voice students want to know what exactly is artist development? And Where do I start?

Artist development is a broad term encompassing so many different aspects. It includes personal branding, business, merchandising, etc. The second question is a little more straightforward. You should start with personal branding. Everything else will be much simpler once you have that covered.

 At Amber Light, our teachers have all had different experiences with personal branding. Ben’s band, Convey is signed but they did much of their own personal branding. I put together Ben’s looks, found an artist to collaborate with for album covers and merch, etc. Cait did most of her own branding for Violet Grae before getting signed to management. Although we’ve all had different experiences, there are similarities that stand out as essential.

So here is what you need to know to get started on your artist development journey. Step 1: Personal Branding:

Artist vs. Brand

Switching your mindset from artist to brand can be difficult for a musician. The music itself has been a part of your identity for so long. How are you supposed to define and package yourself as a consumable product? Why would you even want to? After all, your an artist.

But developing your personal brand will actually make everything else so much easier. Every decision you have to make after that will be simpler once you’ve separated your musical brand from your identity. Rather than thinking about what color you want to dye your hair, you’ll learn to consider what makes sense for your brand. Even though Alecia Beth Moore might want to dye her hair blue, it doesn’t fit with her brand, Pink.

You might consider developing a persona. People are complex, but your “persona” can be easier to explain and can help your audience relate with you. Lady Gaga, Elton John, and Childish Gambino are easier to identify with than Stefani Germanotta, Reginald Dwight, and Donald Glover. Even if you keep your real name, think about the parts of your personality and look that you want to play up and promote. It will help others understand you and help you separate you from your brand.

What Makes up “Your Brand?”

Your Message:

What Makes You Stand Out? What is your lifestyle? What sets you apart? Are you all about female empowerment? Are you the anti-establishment? Just as Rihanna has an “idgaf” attitude, and Lizzo is empowering, you want to say something with your brand. Your message will help people connect with your music and give it some context.

Your Personal Sound:

One of the most crucial pieces of your artist persona is which genre you’re going to focus on. You can mix genres, but you should know what to categorize yourself under on Spotify, or what to tag yourself under when it comes to social media. 

But the personal sound is more than genre. Consider what types of songs you’ll perform, and where those songs will be played. Do you want to make songs that will get people’s heart rates up? Or songs they will cry to? Answering those questions will make it easier for you to pick the right producer and marketing plan.

Your Image:  

This is where you as a person and you as an artist really meld together. Are you the type of artist who changes their hair color all the time? Or do you have a signature look that will help people recognize you? Even your body type is involved in your personal brand image. J Lo’s Booty, Beyonce’s hips, and Lizzo’s plus size are all embraced by their particular audience. 

Do you have tattoos? You need to consider this before you get your girlfriend's name tattooed across your back. That could be excellent for your image if you're going for a Maroon 5 vibe. Not so much if you’re gonna be singing about single empowerment. 

Your Audience and Market:

Not everyone will like your music or identify with your brand. The idea is to identify the people who do, cater to those people, and find more of them! Part of personal branding is figuring out who your market is. Once you identify your market, you’ll be able to play up the parts of your look, sound, and message that cater to those folks.

Your Electronic Press Kit:

Your EPK, or your Electronic Press Kit includes everything you need to communicate with the press about your brand. Consider it your final personal branding product. It will prove to yourself and the world that you’ve figured out your personal brand as a musician. Here’s what it should include:

Bios: Your bios should be well written and edited. If writing isn’t your strong suit, consider hiring a copywriter or copy editor to polish it. If you can’t afford one, find a friend that got a good grade in English. This will often be copied and pasted into blog posts, interviews, and other media. You don’t want to look unprofessional with typos or grammatical errors. Make sure to include bios of all team members. Highlight relevant prominent artists they’ve worked with. People will associate you with those musicians, so use it!

Press: Include any press that is a. Relevant b. Positive and c. Recent in your EPK. Ideally, you don’t want anything over six months old, but if you’re just starting out and don’t have much to include, you can fudge this rule a little bit. If you don’t have any press, start reaching out! There are tons of music bloggers out there that need people to write about. Check out how to market yourself without being shameless for tips on reaching out to people. Remember that marketing yourself isn’t just about reaching your audience. It's also about reaching gatekeepers that can connect you with larger audiences.

Music: You don’t need to include all your music, and you shouldn’t. Put your best three to four songs in order. Link them with MP3 files, not just links to the streaming platforms. You never know how someone will want to access them!

Images: A picture is worth a thousand words. You need to have some professional-level photographs of yourself in your EPK. You should have some “headshot” style photos, and some action shots as well. If you have album art or a logo, include those too. Include them as JPEG or PNG files so they can be easily opened across devices.

 Contact: This one might seem obvious, but you don’t want to forget! Make sure to include all social handles, and a way to get in touch via email and phone. You should have your management or agent’s contact info too. If you don’t have a professional email yet, make a new Gmail with your handle. You don’t want to be getting professional opportunities sent to hawtgirl2009@aol.com.

 Resources:

Just because you don’t have management yet, doesn’t mean you have to do all this yourself. Check out our blog posts on the different elements of personal branding, or sign up for our new workshop.

 Making your dreams come true is hard work, but if you learn from the experts that came ahead of you, it doesn’t have to be that hard.

Sources:

www.smartbugmedia.com 9 Things That Must Be in Your Electronic Press Kit

www.hypebot.com 5 Tips For Branding Yourself In The Music Biz

www.awal.com Don’t Be Boring: A Musician’s Guide to Branding

www.cyberprmusic.com 5 Challenges to Building a Strong Online Musician Brand

www.musicianmonster.com Music Branding: The Ultimate Guide To Brand Your Music

www.icadenza.com How to Build Your Personal Brand As a Musician