Visually branding your music does not stop at just owning expensive clothing or having nice backgrounds. It is a day in, day out type of work. When an artist gets signed by a record label, one of the first things they do is call in a stylist and brand consultant to analyze all data points to help consolidate the musician’s identity into one, perfectly and strategically crafted avatar. Since you’re reading this, you need help to do it on your own so to the rescue we come! Read on to discover the 5 pillars of visual branding for independent artists.
5. Your image has to match your music.
Although we’ve stressed this in many articles in the past, we have to remind you that it is of utmost importance that your clothing should match your genre and delivery style. To put it in the simplest of words, you can’t sell a bag of tea packed in a box displaying shoes. There’s tea inside, there’s tea outside. So you better make sure whatever comes out of your mouth, is also represented on your body or you’ll never be able to move past the struggling artist phase.
4. Your visual art has to aid in furthering fan connection.
Let’s assume you understood the urgency of connecting your clothes and aesthetic to the music you put out. The next step is applying the same mantra to producing your music videos. Don’t go shoot in a barn when you rap about living the high life. There’s no faster way of shooting yourself in the foot. Creating a cult-life fanbase is rooted in consistency and repeated messaging. Your music videos have to follow the brand’s mission.
3. You have to carry the stage persona into the social media realm.
Although you and we both know that real life is not always the artist’s life, people want the illusion of an artist being an artist 24/7. You lose your appeal when you show you clean your floors and wash your dishes. No, seriously. You can’t descend to being portrayed as a regular person because then you lose your credibility. This can only be an exception when it is an urgent matter of damage control situations. Special brand salvaging units know exactly what we mean so we won’t give their business away. The point is, even those candid IG shots you think your favorite artist just snapped in the morning are planned well in advance and approved by a publicist. Don’t be naive when everyone else is being mischievous.
2. You must consolidate your brand image in all public endeavors.
No better example comes to mind than Cardi B showing up in court dressed up in high-end fashion. You want to truly be treated like an A-lister? Dress up like the artist you want to be every single time you know there’ll be a pair of eyeballs other than yours to watch you. Interviews? Dress up like you’re going to a video shoot. Court hearings? You already know the answer. Meeting up with a sponsor? Dress up you must. Doing a sitdown with your fans? Bet your career you have to show up as the best version of yourself.
1. Your cover artworks have to respect the core brand identity.
We don’t know why so many indie artists completely sh*t away the possibility of consolidating their branding via their cover art. Your album and single cover artworks MUST follow the same guidelines as your clothing and music videos. They must tell the world both directly and indirectly why you’re worth following. When people don’t know your name, you have to be in their face all the time. So show yourself in the proper attire in the proper environment to further deepen the branding value of your music.
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