Branding for Artists – Step By Step Instructions

(Note: Go directly to “Summary” to only see the branding questions you need to ask yourself to determine your branding).

These are my notes from the Berklee Online video on how to develop your brand as a musical artist. Stephen Webber breaks down the IVI process for branding for musical artists – Identity, Vision, and Intention.

Use these notes as a worksheet to fill out to determine your own [solid] branding as an artist.

(You can watch the video here).

IDENTITY

Who are you as an artist? Where did you come from? What is your point of view?

It has to truly come from within you – it’s not really about putting on a mask (though you can do that, although in this article we’re talking more about personal branding for you yourself as an artist, not a-la Lady Gaga, deadmau5, etc). 

Very successful artists typically have a really strong identity. Which can include:

• A very strong visual identity
• Personal identity
• Interesting backstory (who you are, having a sense of yourself)

Exercise to determine your identity as an artist

• What artist(s) are you similar to? Who influenced you? [example A]
• Then think of another artist that in some way you have some element that is similar to… but that is as far away from the first artist (above) as possible. [example B]
  • [Example A]: Earl Scroates (cause he plays the banjo) and…
  • [Example B]: Grandmaster Flash (because he also plays the turntables)
• What is your unique differentiator?
  • What is it about you that is very unusual for the journey your into taking
  • What is it about you that not many people know?
    • It might be something you haven’t thought of… It might have nothing to do with your art… and at the same time it might be kind of the coolest thing
  • Then the “algorithm” is to say:
    • This person is [example A] meets [example B] with a healthy dose of [unique differentiator] 
    • Putting it together like this can really help to focus what it is your doing and who you are as an artist
    • The most boring answer to “what type of music do you play” is “oh I dunno… I can’t put it into any specific genre” 
    • If you don’t define these things, at the time of working with the producer, to define your sound, if you just answer “I dunno” to what specific sound your looking for… you’re just going to get a generic sounding product most likely, and not be able to stand out

VISION

When you take a look at The Beatles, for example, it’s hard to know whether or not they had a clear vision for where they were going to end up… 

BUT it certainly seems like each individual recording project that they had had a very clear purpose and vision. 

What steps can you take to figure out what your vision is?

Vision for Projects

• A recording artist is rewarded for the specificity of their vision, rather than their versatility
  • Because if you come out with an album that is one track hip-hop, one track country, one track r&b, etc… people aren’t going to want to listen to it
  • And people, when listening to music, are looking for a certain vibe… they don’t want to be jerked around various ways through various different genres
  • So having a vision of what you’re trying to accomplish is key
  • One way to do that is to plan out three albums at once. That way, if you have songs that don’t fit into one “vibe”, they might fit into a the vibe of the 2nd or 3rd album.
    • Works of art hold together for their unity
      • Ie. Theme, style, overarching vocal quality, tempo, etc.
  • Having a vision, and having people listen and having a sense of what your vision is, that can be very powerful

Exercise to determine the vision of your project (EP / Album)

• What is the vision of the EP or album you’re putting out?
• What is the vision of the other EPs you can put out for songs that don’t fit into your main EP / album?

Vision for Career

• It’s important to have an idea for the trajectory of your career, from the start. Because once you start becoming successful, the easy thing to do will be to put out a record that sounded just like the one that was finally successful, and you won’t grow as an artist (and be creating interesting art)

INTENTION

• What exactly is an artist’s “intention”? (In terms of an individual song)
  • When an artist doesn’t have a very crystal-clear intention, it’s often very excruciating 
  • Asking yourself “what emotion am I trying to convey?” and really going for it, vs. just playing a song to play a song
    • “Am I angry? Sensual? Happy? What is the intention of the song?”
    • Great session players are really into it… the intention is there… they are trying to convey that emotion through their playing
  • Looking at it from a vibration (energy) perspective… we are trying to convey emotions via vibrations of air molecules in such a way that when those vibrations hit another carbon-based life form (ie. person), they’ll feel something. You can’t do that just by hitting some notes alone. You have to play with intention
    • We have to really imbue our music with an intention to move other people, to actually convey to people what you are actually trying to convey (the emotion of the song)
      • And that’s true in the writing of the songs, in the singing of the songs, in the performance…
    • If you look at great artists, whether they be pop stars or classical musicians, etc… those artists are really trying to go for it in terms of communicating with other people… that way, when you hear their music, it just leaps out of the speakers at you
      
      
• What exactly is an artist’s “intention”? (In terms of a career standpoint)
  • Your intention is really close to your vision
  • How you’re going to bring your vision about
  • Your Identity informs your Vision
    • Your identity is is basically: where you came from, who you are, what you’re thinking about
    • Your vision is: what are you going to do with that? What art are you going to make with that?
    • Then your intention is really to try and bring that to the foreground… your execution…
      • Vision is high level
      • Intention is whenever you’re working on your art… you have to keep that vision in mind
    • Having that IVI (Identity, Vision, Intention) in place really helps to not lose sight of why you are doing all of this – it answers the question: “why am I waking up to create this art?”
      • With art… you need to keep in mind why you are doing this… if you want to create interesting art. Because otherwise it just becomes a day job and your work will be meh (average, boring, etc). 
      • Your work will be a reprieve for those just trying to get through the day… you will be there to remind them of that other noble part of their identity that has to do with love, idealism, etc… those things that we have to hold onto (as living beings) to not get pulled down and lost within the drudgery

SUMMARY

The simple questions you need to ask yourself are:

IDENTITY

• What artist(s) are you similar to? Who influenced you? [example A]
• Then think of another artist that in some way you have some element that is similar to… but that is as far away from the first artist (above) as possible. [example B]
• Then the “algorithm” is to say:
  This person is [example A] meets [example B] with a healthy dose of [unique differentiator] 

VISION

• What is the vision of the EP or album you’re putting out?
• What is the vision of the other EPs you can put out for songs that don’t fit into your main EP / album?
• What is the vision of your career? When laying on your deathbed, looking back on your life, how would you have wanted to lived it, to be content?

INTENTION

• Ask yourself “why am I waking up to create this art?”
  (With art… you need to keep in mind why you are doing this… to contantly be reinjecting life and vigor into your craft, and keep it from getting boring, routine, and average).

CONCLUSION

I hope this exercise has helped you to determine your IVI – Identity, Vision, and Intention. Feel free to leave a comment with the IVI you came up with, or any questions or comments regarding the process. Happy branding!

(If you haven’t checked out the Stephen Webber video from Berklee on branding – check it out here).