Marketing is really what you are in business to do as a music act and the earlier you start liking it the better for you. Somehow directly or indirectly, you have been involved in marketing. The bling, the tooth caps, the ‘do-rag’, the fast cars, the beautiful 1.5Mil naira video, your specially tailored suit and many other image boosters are attempts of you to
communicate your ‘thing’ to whoever is watching or listening. It’s just that if all these activities were more pre-planned and well directed you would get more results.
In as much as the term ‘marketing’ and its ‘jargons’ might scare you, you cannot afford to ignore them if you really want to go far with your music and music business. “So, stop thinking of it as Marketing and start thinking of it as creative ways to be considerate. Think of things from the other person’s point of view”.
Wikipedia says "marketing" is a business term referring to the promotion of products, advertising, pricing, distribution channels, and branding. The term developed from the original meaning which referred literally to going to market, as in shopping, or going to a market to sell goods or services”.
Music marketing is simple. It is a non-music extension of who you are and
what you create. It's everything you and your music already are, but
brighter, louder, faster, stronger, and taller.
“Music marketing is coming up with a complete package that sells (your) music, gets
people to (your) shows, and makes (you) money”
people to (your) shows, and makes (you) money”
It is this ‘package’ that...is called a ‘brand’. A brand is the culmination of who you are, how
you’re different from your competition (the rest of the playerz), and why the
relevant public should want to identify with you.
Branding is simply a more efficient way to sell things. A successful branding project is to create in the mind of the prospect the perception that there is no music artiste in the music industry quite like you. That no one else does your music like the way you do it. From a business point of view and in the case of you and your music, your branding project should be targeted towards differentiating you from the numerous music acts. Hence, helping you stand for something, easy to be singled out by music lovers and interested businesses.
You need to be a brand because branding pre-sells you and your music to the market. That is branding screams about you and your music way ahead before the relevant public. The power of your brand as an artiste lies in its ability to influence the attitude of the music market towards you and your music.
Note that a brand name for example, on an album cover is not the same thing as a brand name in a mind. That is when people see ‘Dbanj- the koko master’ on his album cover, they don’t see ‘KOKO MASTER’ in their minds. They see an energetic and very entertaining singer whose music cuts across... breaking ‘language’ and ‘class’ barriers.
The ultimate aim of your music brand project is to put you on top of your game. You- dominating, outstanding....
Experts have concluded that Marketing is building a brand in the mind of the prospect. Hence the essence of your every marketing activity is to build a powerful brand in the minds of the public. In the mind of the public though, they don’t know you are ‘something’ called a ‘brand’. All they know is that you are ‘something’, that you are unique, and that you are different; That you are something like....
Terry G- Crazy, unusual;
Banky W- Classy, smooth and crème;
2face-Consistent, International superstar, former Plantashun boy and so on.
2face-Consistent, International superstar, former Plantashun boy and so on.
Well, you probably didn’t get into the business to worry about the way you’re portrayed, but because you love making music. However, you do want to make a success out of your
own musical project, and to do so you need to create a brand.
In conclusion, I quote the words of brand experts Al Ries and Laura Ries that ‘‘you are a brand- to be successful in life, you should consider yourself a brand and act accordingly’’. They also stated in their all time classic book ‘The 22 irrefutable laws of branding’ laws that gives a proper guide to building of a brand. In the next piece, I’ll briefly explain some of these laws even as they apply to the music artiste and his/her music business. Thank you for reading.
Please click on the ‘Hit Note’ page to read my funny views on matters arising...
Resource: ‘The 22 Irrefutable laws of branding’, Bobbaker.com,
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