Revisiting artist promotion through branding: a working example
A couple months back, I wrote on the importance of creating a brand name for you as musician, band and/or recording artist. (See: Image Branding: The New Trend in Artist Promotion). With the myriad of bands, both on an independent and major scale, today’s recording artists are faced with having to create more compelling and creative ways to market themselves to reach an audience.
Now, before you chastise me for “selling out” let me emphasize that yes, the music is the main element. However, with so many songs and bands available for download across the Internet, songwriter’s and recording artists are becoming increasingly less visible if they don’t take steps to actively promote themselves by creating name awareness to spark interest in the music that they have taken so much time to perfect.
The following is a working example of exactly what I spoke of – not someone who is already a name in the industry, but an individual like you, who is working to make a name for herself in country music. Her name is 18-year old Colby Dee from Atlanta, Georgia and she has loads of potential.
I met Colby a couple Saturday’s ago while I was judging the Country Star singing contest sponsored by April Crawley of C&D Entertainment. Crawley created the Middle Georgia Idol Contest which is growing in popularity and has produced some incredible talent.
Though Colby’s aspiration is to be a country artist, she also leverages her vocal talent by building her regional celebrity status through beauty pageants and singing contests such as this one. One enhances the other and helps to get her name and face in front of people.
As a “guest star,” Colby arranged to sing twice throughout the night, at selective parts of the contest. Both times, the host gave a brief introduction of who she was and directed people to her MySpace and Facebook fan pages. Ambitious girl. I give her two thumbs up.
As a special bonus, she also received another mention, as the host took the time out at the middle of the contest to introduce the judges and their accomplishments.
I want to hear from you. What are you doing in regard to promotion to get your name out there?
About the Author
Hugh Hession owns and operates Emerging Artists Entertainment Marketing & Consulting, LLC - a company devoted to cultivating aspiring music artists, He is also the head of Hession Entertainment Group, LLC (artist management) and the Music Industry Liaison for the artist discovery site, TalentWatch (www.talentwatch.net). He has over 25 years experience in the music business as a performer, composer, producer and artist manager. Hugh holds a BA in Marketing and is a professional member of NARIP and a voting member of The Recording Academy. He often speaks at seminars and workshops on artist development.
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I think the key is to keep pushing ahead and producing content and giving it out for free. Sooner or later you will get a good opportunity.
Thanks for your comments, Marin. Using “free” to sell is a powerful technique. Check out my other post: “Image Branding: The New Trend in Artist Promotion,” where I discuss that concept of “free.” Hope to hear from you soon. -Hugh