As a musician, building a strong personal brand is crucial for success in the industry. Some don’t want to hear it, but the truth is that a strong brand can help you stand out from the masses of musicians trying to make it, connect with fans, and grow your career. Some artists only want to work on their craft, and while that’s an excellent way of thinking, in today’s especially crowded field, branding is king
If you don’t know the first thing about branding, that’s okay. You don’t need to be an expert to at least get started defining who you are as a person and an artist. Taking even small steps in the beginning is helpful, and there’s no time like the present to begin branding.
Here are seven ways to build a strong personal brand as a musician.
In This Article:
- Define Your Unique Style and Image
- Create a Strong Online Presence
- Network and Collaborate with Other Musicians
- Consistently Create and Share New Content
- Engage with Your Audience
- Focus on Delivering High-Quality Live Performances
- Develop a Strong Personal Story
Define Your Unique Style and Image
One of the first steps in building a strong personal brand is to define what makes you unique. This includes establishing your image, style, and the music you want to create. Think about what sets you apart from other artists trying to make it big, as well as what you want to be known for. This could be your fashion style, your genre of music, or a specific message you want to convey through your music. Once you’ve identified your unique qualities, make sure to consistently incorporate them into all of your branding efforts. Focus on them. Highlight them. They’ll become incredibly important to you and your career.
Create a Strong Online Presence
In today’s digital age, it’s essential to have a strong online presence as a musician. In fact, it’s pretty much unavoidable at this point. Utilize social media platforms like Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook to connect with fans, share your music, and tell your story. You can also use websites like SoundCloud and Bandcamp to promote your music and engage with fans. Be consistent with your posting and what kind of content you share. Building a strong online presence will help you reach a larger audience and connect with fans on a more personal level.
Need some help managing your social media? That’s something we can definitely help you with!
Network and Collaborate with Other Musicians
Networking and collaborating with other musicians and industry professionals can help you gain exposure, build relationships, and learn new skills. While the internet has taken over when it comes to promotion and even discovery of new acts, relationships are still incredibly important in the music business.
Collaborating with other musicians can also help you expand your reach and find new audiences. You can create more music and try new things. Learn from those you work with, as everyone has something they can teach others.
Attend events, participate in online communities, and join groups where you can connect with others in the music industry. Yes, social media can help you network and connect, and it’s important you lean on those tools, but there’s still nothing like meeting someone in person and forging a friendship that benefits both of you.
Consistently Create and Share New Content
Keeping your fans engaged is crucial for building a strong personal brand. Regularly releasing new music, videos, and other content will keep fans interested in your work and connected to your brand.
Having said that, don’t feel the need to churn out a new album every six months. When you have a milestone offering, it should be great. In between full-lengths or tours, you can keep people happy with one-off tunes, remixes, acoustic recordings, collaborations, and many, many other types of musical releases.
You can also share behind-the-scenes glimpses into your creative process and personal life to give fans a deeper understanding of who you are and what you stand for. Social media and YouTube were made for this kind of content, and it shouldn’t take too much time to work on.
If you’re having a tough time coming up with new social media content for musicians and making the most of it, let us guide you.
Engage with Your Audience
Interacting with your fans and followers on social media and in person is an important part of building a strong personal brand. Respond to comments and messages, attend events, and be accessible and responsive to those who support you. Building a relationship with your fans will help you establish a loyal following and strengthen your brand.
Focus on Delivering High-Quality Live Performances
Live performances are a crucial opportunity to engage with fans and build your brand. Aim to deliver powerful and memorable performances every time you take the stage. Focus on engaging with your audience, delivering high-quality music, and creating a unique and memorable experience for your fans.
Also, you might want to come up with something you do at your shows that you’re known for. Some rockers have been known to jump into the crowd. Pop singers or rappers sometimes brings fans up on stage to sing along, or they croon right to them. What might you do that fans can expect when they buy a ticket to your next concert?
Branding is all about meeting expectations that you set, and there’s no better place to do that than in a live setting.
Develop a Strong Personal Story
Lastly, it’s important to develop a strong personal story to accompany your brand. This can include your background, what inspired you to become a musician, and your goals for the future.
Sharing your personal story with fans will help them connect with you on a deeper level and understand what drives you as an artist. Have you ever noticed that whenever a top tier artist has a new album, they always open up about something highly personal in a magazine cover story or during a TV interview? That helps endear them to the public and to those who already love them the most. Take a page out of their book and play the same game and you might see some of the same results.
Building a strong personal brand as a musician requires effort and dedication. It’s not easy, but it is one of the main things you can do to find real success in the music industry and potentially even hit it big.
By focusing on defining your unique style and image, creating a strong online presence, networking and collaborating with others, consistently creating and sharing new content, engaging with your audience, delivering high-quality live performances, and developing a strong personal story, you can establish a strong brand and grow your career as a working musician. If at times it feels a little too much like marketing…that’s because it is. Welcome to the industry!
If you’re planning on releasing new music soon, don’t waste another moment–call Planetary Group today so we can begin working together to make it reach as large an audience as possible (323) 952-5050.
