November 13

Branding for Musicians:

The Importance of Visual Imagery in Music

by Beatstars

https://blog.beatstars.com/branding-for-musicians-the-importance-of-visual-imagery-in-music/

 

25 Replies to “November 13”

  1. I really enjoyed reading this article. I think that it is very important for an artist to pay attention to their imagery when branding and marketing their music. Matthew statement spoke to me “Design is a handshake; it causes a snap judgment on your identity. Good design speaks loud, but bad design screams much louder. ” because thats what a someone first see before pressing play to a song so if the design is bad why not make an assumption that the music is too ?
    I also think it express the inside of an artist when the image is something deep or something noone can understand. I think many hip-hop and r&b artist have the branding and marketing done right.

    I found an article that went into more depth about why visuals are still important in musichttps://blog.reverbnation.com/2018/05/31/visuals-still-important-music/

    All of this suppose to tell a story in my opinion from album cover to music to music video.

  2. Something that the article mentioned at the end to sum everything up caught my attention. The quote from Brandon Seymour discusses the importance of committing to a specific tone, look, and feel. I understand the importance of being consistent in your work, but I think this sets a tone for artists having to constrain themselves to one genre, target audience, aesthetic, and/or style. I think this can be very limiting for artistic expression and could contribute to the problem some artists face of all of their music sounding “the same”. It has to fit with the image they chose for themselves when branding at the beginning of their career, and they don’t have room to grow and change.

    To be fair, most artists in the industry do stick at least to one genre. Whether this is because it is all they are capable of doing or because they feel like they have to, I don’t know. I found an article that discusses some possible reasons why musicians assign themselves to one genre when beginning a career. https://www.quora.com/Why-do-famous-musicians-assign-themselves-to-one-genre

  3. This article uplifted a lot of ideas I already had about the industry and artists in general. Being a musician and selling your music makes you have to combine creativity and business to have a successful band/company. A lot of artists don’t like to think about their art in this way, which is why it is important to have your dream team so that you can be successful on both ends of the industry. This topic of branding is so important because once music is released it is competing for the listeners attention. I agree with the article where it talks about artists releasing songs without any cover art. I find it very hard to believe that i would listen to any song without cover art. My first judgement would be that it is an artist that has very little experience and probably isn’t worth my time of listening to. In this age of streaming a lot of times that cover art has to be the thing to sell the listener on listening to the song or album. The link I’m attaching is about how to brand yourself as an artist. Even talking about the 3 E’s of branding; Enabling, Elevating, and Enriching. Chick the article out for a better explanation on how you could use these ideas to better brand your band.
    https://spinnup.com/uc/blog/artist-branding/

  4. It is true, nowadays an albums art work is very important. Almost as important as a vinyl cover once was. For fans it is something you can turn into a poster, post a picture of or even get a shirt with the album cover on it. With social media being as big as it is and a place where people market it is also a place where people post about themselves. Today many music lovers share their music and playlist on social media, and streaming platforms such as Spotify have made it much easier and cool to share these songs on social media by posting the album cover and letting the song play while someone clicks on the post. Many people including myself post about one or two songs daily on our stories hyping up the song and posting the album cover for people to see and listen to. It is a great way to not only find out about new music but also showcase the awesome music you listen to. Here is an article on how Instagram now lets users add music to their stories. https://www.altpress.com/news/instagram-now-allows-users-to-add-music-to-stories/

  6. I do not have much to add to the article that hasn’t already been stated by the text, however, what i can add is the personal experience of designing my own cover art and album covers for the music I upload. I do indeed try my best to not only capture what the music itself represnts but also something that immediately is recognizable and can attach to a listener. In my case I am a large, super big fan of the popular show Dragon Ball Z and I always, naturally might I add, try to incorporate something along those lines and reference to that just because i am such a fan of it. In the prospect I have connected several several times with other fans in my time networking and that is usually one of my favorite and most effective selling points to get people to listen. I would say with that already established i have an advantage in getting that listener to follow and maybe tune in for the next song or release if they happened to enjoy what they hear.

    In today’s day in age again it’s takes about the 2-3 seconds of people’s attention span before they completely blank on the subject or go about their day, and it is hard to hook on to their attention if they aren’t from the get go. Eye grabbing cover arts do not have to be complicated, but just recognizable to an audience that has never heard a second of the music.

    Here is an article that explains some of the effect that social media has had on the attention span of individuals:

    https://kaushalsubedi.com/blog/2017/12/11/social-media-and-its-affects-on-our-attention-span/

  7. This article provided some very interesting information about branding and artwork. I think the artwork for an album is one of the most important aspects of growing your brand. Sure, an artist’s fans will keep coming back to listen to their music, but an eye-catching cover could draw in some new fans. If done well, album artwork could become so well recognized by everyone. Look at Pink Floyd’s “The Dark Side of the Moon.” That is one album cover that is almost always universally recognized. So much merchandise has come out of that album cover, I’d say it was a success. In today’s day and age, visual content should be one of the top priorities right behind the actual music. Solid visuals are what catches everyone’s attention on all social media platforms.

    This article on NME talks about the that best album artwork of the 21st century.
    https://www.nme.com/photos/best-album-artwork-21st-century-2155715

  8. Artwork and album covers matter more than what I had previously thought. I went back and looked at my songs in my playlist versus the songs I didn’t have, and I noticed that for a lot of the songs I didn’t listen too the album cover artwork was horrible. Artwork has to catch the viewers attention in order for people to want to hear the music behind it.

  9. Prior to reading the article, I was already aware of how important a visual brand is to the artist. If content does not have the visual appeal, it won’t be as easily marketable as content with good visuals. This has to do with Sensory Marketing. Sensory Marketing is marketing to the five senses. With marketing your Brand, sensory marketing is very valuable. You want to appeal to the visual aspect of the senses just as much as you want to appeal to the audible senses.
    We can even expand on this and include hard copies of music as well. If the album cover isn’t visually appealing, it takes away that individuals desire to get that physical copy of the album. This takes away that potential sensory marketing of feel and smell. That individual won’t have that attraction of touch and smell that is associated with a brand new physical cd or vinyl of music, because the album cover deterred the listener. If you can appeal to most of the senses well, then you will definitely be able to market your Brand successfully.
    For more information on Sensory Marketing, check out the link:
    https://alistemarketing.com/blog/5-senses-sensory-marketing/

  10. I’ve heard from many sources that even music videos are so important. That music videos not only help your music reach new and different audiences, but it provides those important visuals that help keep the listener there throughout the entire video and in parallel with the entire song. Without a music video, and uploading your song to video based websites, at most only either lyrics or a picture of the album cover would show. Much weaker than having a full on video, even if it’s at least just a cover video where the singer is sitting on a stool playing their guitar and singing.

    http://zeddrecords.com/why-do-i-need-a-music-video/

  11. This article claims that imagery is king in this age of social media. While I tend to agree to a certain extent, I am not sure that pertains to the art displayed on the covers of albums, or CDs (which are rapidly becoming non- ubiquitous). When it comes to branding, the images do play an important role as pertaining to associating the artist with a genre, label, or even cultural perspective. However, I do not believe that the actual artwork contained in a cover bears as much weight today as it has in past years. The examples used in the article did not convince me of the importance of the artwork being important to those who are trying to make it into the business, because those albums were not debut projects, but projects that were among a list of many, by already well-established artists. In one article I read pertaining to this, the writer suggests that the importance of artwork has declined in importance in this era of streaming and social sharing except for those who are already big enough to make an impact. In my opinion the music itself should be king and the rest is gravy.

    https://www.creativebloq.com/features/the-20-best-album-covers-of-all-time

  12. This article was very interesting to read. I’ve always loved single & album artwork, as they add another layer to the music and artist. Well executed and creative artwork are create tools to market and brand an artist, which made me realize just how important marketing is for artists. To set yourself apart from a saturated music market, you must be original and creative to intice consumers to become interested in your work. One detail the article discussed is how the visual aids should be professionally executed. I think this is very important because consumers have high expectations when it comes to music and art in general. If you can’t make a design or artwork look professional, it never hurts to ask for help and hire someone to do it for you. Visual imagery is also important because it can be an extension of the music itself, lending another dimension to the story or theme of the art. This following article I’ve linked describes why album artwork is so important, especially for the relationship between artists and music listeners: https://humanhuman.com/articles/the-importance-of-album-artwork

  13. I remember the day when I was sitting in my marketing class and my professor made us understand just how important packaging was to a product intended for sale in a mass – inventory – marketplace. I believe this topic of visual imagery and the pre-sale psychological effects go hand in hand.

    The main reason you want to invest a lot of time and energy into your aesthetics is that you want to stand out amidst a sea of artists who are all trying to do the same. But many people might have problems when it comes to originating an idea of how they want to be perceived.

    My advice, then, would be to look to the intended market you want your product to sell to. If you’re a rapper, maybe look at the fanbase of some of the most popular rappers around, or if you’re an indie singer, maybe scope out an urban outfitter (I’m only slightly kidding about that).

    Once you have an idea of what the fanbase looks like, you can then apply this same aesthetic to your logo/ merch/ album artwork.

    There exists, however, a duality in this state of mind. If you look too similar to another artist, you might strike some nerves in the copyright department. Or, perhaps even worse, people might choose to ignore your work altogether.

    But, as Alt – J once stated; “like all good fruit, the balance of life is in the ripe and ruin”.

    So perhaps the safest approach would be to find a good halfway point in these extremes. Either way, the packaging is as important as the product itself, do not forget this.

    To read more about the importance of packaging, click here:
    https://www.inc.com/joshua-conran/why-your-product-s-packaging-is-as-important-as-the-product-itself.html

  14. From personal experience, I have reference on album artwork when I am searching for new artists to listen to. So I understand how important creativity is when putting in the artwork for an album. This article touches on different types of branding, such as, album artwork and trademarks on bands. The following link is a guide for independent artists on how to brand themselves.

    https://spinnup.com/uc/blog/artist-branding/

  15. I believe this article is so right when talking about the importance of album artwork and drawing the attention of your audience. In this day-and-age, everything we view is within a split second, and if you don’t capture the attention of consumers in those seconds then you probably never will. Branding is so important for this reason. Often consumer are concerned with a mood or feeling being set in what they buy and creating a certain aesthetic. Products that don’t feature any sort of eye-catching branding or work to appeal to those consumers we either be over looked or looked down upon because there are so many other products that fit the idea they’re trying to create.

    Link: https://independentmusicpromotions.com/social-media-aesthetic/

    In the article i found it talks about how independent artist use social media and aesthetic appeal as marketing and branding for their music.

  16. You would think people would expect that their artwork and logo should look professional and neat, but you’d be surprised at how artists sometimes don’t care about what it looks like. Sometimes I’ve wondered while listening to certain albums of the artist has a significant meaning behind the album art and how it pertains to the playlist. I feel like sometimes they just slap a picture on it and call it a day, which can be disappointing to the consumer. It is important to get it professionally done, either by someone you’ve known through networking or simply just hiring a professional. The consumer will look at every aspect of the songs because we care about what we are buying. If the consumer or audience won’t be happy with the artwork, it can influence how they feel about the music. The whole mood behind the art builds up to the music. This article explains how the artwork has changed through time:

    https://www.google.com/amp/s/panethos.wordpress.com/2011/03/02/album-covers-a-lost-art-form/amp/

  17. Beat Stars published a good article regarding music branding and getting the right type of exposure in terms or Visual Imagery and Visual Content when publishing works.

    A part of the article that really stood out to me was when Beat Stars expands upon how good art isn’t realized as much as bad art is, shedding light on how careful artists have to be when beginning to brand their works visually, stating ” Just because you have something doesn’t mean it’s better than nothing” .

    Personally, when looking at new music the first thing that stands out to me is the album cover, a direct portrayal of who the artist is and what they’re trying to portray with that particular work of music.

    Here is an Article shedding some negative light on Cover Art controversy for Rap artist, Noname Gypsy.
    https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/hip-hop/8479905/noname-room-25-album-artwork-abuse-allegations-artist

  19. Its easy to forget the visual aspect of advertising a person’s music. The visual experience is just as important as the audible one, and its role is just as important as well. If the artist is unknown to a potential buyer, the first thing they see is branding. I personally can recall countless times where I’ve figuratively and quite literally judged the CD by its cover when deciding to buy. While I personally know how important it is, I know nothing about how to go about branding successfully.
    Here’s an article I found on with tips on branding for someone just starting out.
    https://www.themusicmermaid.com/home/10-branding-tips-for-musicians

  20. As a former artist, I can identify with the belief that one’s artwork speaks to their music’s true meaning and the values they try to communicate. Most times the cover art sets the scene and establishes a mindset or image that comes along with the music. I enjoy it when artists either create the cover artwork themselves or at least originally thought of the concept. If not, then the music probably isn’t that thoughtful. Here’s an opinion piece on why cover art is more important than ever: https://pigeonsandplanes.com/in-depth/2017/04/should-we-still-care-about-cover-art

  21. It was interesting to read how influential art is in music, because I did notice the trend of artists posting their album covers well before they shared music and it made me curious. Personally, some of my favorite albums are simple but still express the vibe of the album title and the overall theme of the songs it holds, something I guess I never really paid much attention to. I didn’t realize how the two art forms, music and “plain” art like graphic design, for lack of better description, influence each other so much and overlap.

    Here’s an article further exploring the importance of graphic design in the music industry:
    https://rampages.us/rachellucas/2017/04/25/graphic-design-in-the-music-industry/

  22. I’ve posted before on how I was fortunate enough to meet Hip-hop artist Skizzy Mars at a Steakhouse in San Antonio, and one thing he is very passionate about is branding. He explained to me how when he began to release his music he was not at all confident in his appearance, but he knew he sounded great.
    He told me, “Make all that sh*t dope. Everything.” He told me that even though he did not post his pictures anywhere online, he did focus on making his artwork one of his main focal points for his fans. Looking back now, I can see exactly what he meant.
    People who are willing to give someone an opportunity are not only focused on the sound, even in the music business. Appearance is a huge, if not the biggest, part of a product or service. If your brand is tip-top, you’ll reach the tip-top.
    This article helped to solidify the foundation of what I have been taught this semester about branding and digital media.
    Below is a link which talks more about branding and how balance is great.
    https://skinnyartist.com/artist-branding-tips/

  23. A visual brand is very important to an artist. This is the way in which their music goes recognized in the music industry. Some artists don’t care about their brand when starting out, and in my opinion that may be what is holding them back from being noticed. I think artists need to pay just as much attention to their brand as they do to their music. I know the industry forces growing artists into certain themes or genres, but that is because they know it will sell and make them famous. Even if it isn’t how the artist wishes to be portrayed. But people who just fit in with the rest of the crowed will never stand out and be recognized. The industry knows what that is all about and knows how to make them unique. Sometimes you have to step out of your comfort zone for the good of your brand.. if you wish to become that famous that is.
    Here is an article about building an artists brand. http://www.thebigmusicproject.co.uk/build-artists-brand/

  24. Branding alone can make or break a musicians sales. Creating the right demand for the artists makes the audience experience what it is. Good marketing is marketing that makes you feel apart of the experience, great marketing is when the audience member doesn’t feel like it’s marketing.

  25. Visual branding is very important when building your image as an artists and to sell music in general. A lot of people will check out new music based on the image and album artwork that is associated with it. If album art is eye catching, people are more likely to buy and listen. Beyond just album art, image is important as an artist as well. The way the artists looks and presents themselves is very important. A unique look will draw more attention. Image is also important in video representations of music. Sometimes music gets the most attention because of the creativity of the music video. Talent can mean nothing if there is not an interesting image to pair it with. The most successful, iconic artists can be recognized by key elements of their image. Here is an article that goes more into depth on this subject.
    https://themusicsolution.songtradr.com/2018/03/22/how-important-is-band-and-brand-image/

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