Artist branding is as old as time. Now that social media is just about the largest part of building a fanbase, it is more important than ever to focus on what your artist brand is, and how to show it!
What is an artist's brand?
Your artist brand is your identity. It's everything from your musical style to your visual aesthetic to the values you stand for! What you wear, what your Instagram looks like, and how you act are all part of your brand! An artist's brand evokes emotion, tells a story, and creates a sense of belonging for your fans. A well-crafted brand identity sets you apart from an oversaturated market, and helps you leave a long-lasting impression on your audience and industry professionals!
Things to think about while building your artist brand kit:
Visual Identity: Logo, colors, fonts, type of photos you use or share, and what you wear are all a part of this! Do you give a more grungey and gritty vibe, or more bubblegum pop?
Voice and Tone: How do you speak to your audience? If you're hosting an Instagram Lives or posting TikToks and Reels your audience will get a sense of your identity through these clips. Do your captions on your other posts match this? Being consistent in posting on socials is important, but so is maintaining your brand voice!
Values and Authenticity: Any organizations you're aligned with? Charities you support? Who do you align yourself with? What do you stand for? Your brand should reflect who you and your music are! Stay authentic to who and what that is!
Your brand will be seen all over your promotional materials like show flyers, merch, your website, your social media, your EPK, and more so it must be cohesive! You want someone to see a show flyer or t-shirt and say that is SO THIS band!
Your artist brand might even evolve from release to release.
For example, when you think of Taylor Swift's Brand you might think:
-red lipstick
-glitter guitar
-Eras tour
-friendship bracelets
-blonde/bangs
But when you think of her release folklore, you might think:
black and white
cardigans
cabin/woodsy
Jack Antanoff
indie
How do you build your brand identity?
Create a Brand Kit: This is so easy if you have Canva! You can even use this with a free account. In their brand kit, you can add your logo, choose your brand colors, fonts, photos, icons, and graphics. They also recently added your 'brand voice' which allows their version of AI to help you write copy. Creating this brand kit allows you to have all of your visual brand elements in one place for easy access and cohesion! It's also a great help if you're creating social posts on Canva, where you can easily just drag elements of your brand kit to each post you create! You can even have multiple brand kits if you want to create one for your artist brand, and maybe a new kit with each release!
Build Your Story: This is your bio. Who will tell your story better than you? Craft this contain your unique artist story, your incredible highlights, and let people know what they need to look forward to! More on why you need a bio here and what to include in one here.
Content: And one of the most prominent ways your brand voice visual aesthetic and values will be seen is through your content! This is your photo shoots, music videos, reels, TikToks, IG stories, lives, and even your DSP (like Spotify) profiles! Any forward-facing piece of content that your fans will see, should scream your brand! Don't forget your brand kit here!
Long Story Short: Your brand is YOU! Make sure it shows who you are, what you stand for, and has your own flair! It should be cohesive and reflect the same style from your stage presence to your social media, to your EPK. Show off who you are to your fans, and let them join your journey!
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