Brands make sales - not your song

BrandingMarketing

Oct 14

Written By Mystic Arts

Everyday, there are 120,000 new songs released on streaming services. (source)

Yearly this is 120,000 * 365 = 43,800,000.

Yes - that's almost 44 million new songs every year (and it's growing year by year).

With assuming each song on average is 3 minutes:

120,000 * 3 = 360,000 minutes per day required to listen to every new song.

360,000 * 365 = 131,400,000 minutes per year required to listen to every new song.

131,400,000 minutes = 91,250 days = 250 years.

Now tell me - how are you supposed to get anyone to listen to your average (sorry, but it's likely true) song in this much volume?

Most people don't have a million of anything - least of all the time to listen to your new single when there are 120,000 new ones everyday.

You might say;

I need connections

I need better quality music

I need to get lucky

While these help, they don't move the needle far.

Do you want to rely on getting lucky or having connections to get listens on your tune?

If you were even able to release 1 song a day for a whole year:

365/43,800,000 = 0.000833%

I mean, you might have better odds finding a four leaf clover than even getting a single listen on your song.

So enough terror - what's the solution?

The importance of Brand

Some of you think a brand is a waste of time - especially as a producer.

But brands are what make sales, not your product (in our case songs).

"Your brand is the single most important investment you can make in your business." - Steve Forbes.

Marshmello has good songs - but what makes him standout and stay relevant is his branding.

All the stuff outside of his music.

His personality, his style, his cartoon helmet..

Branding is the way people perceive and think of us when they hear or see our name.

Nike
BestBuy
Costco
Walmart
Apple

When you read those, each of them gave you a vision and distinct "image" in your head.

That's the importance and power of brand.

The ability to stick in a consumers (in our case listener's) mind.

Some of the best Producer/DJ brands are

Marshmello
deadmau5
Barley Alive
Alan Walker
Steve Aoki
DJ Snake
Avicii

Steps for identifying your brand as an artist

1. Identify your core values

Sounds like typical advice but it's important we identify this.

You don't want to create a brand identity that isn't true to your values.

Building brands take time.

If you choose something that you don't value or care for, you'll quit before seeing any fruits of your labour.

Some questions you can ask yourself to identify your core values are.

What do you care about as an individual and artist?
What moods or feelings get you the most excited?
What causes or issues do you care most about?
Why do you want to be a producer/artist?
In 2 sentences max, how you want people to feel and think whenever they see or hear your name?

In each of these, dig deeper than the surface level.

Don't say "money" or "fame" - those are not powerful enough motivators long term.

2. Create a mood board.

Draw inspiration from other artists and your favorite creators (in and out of music).

Make a notion or google document and keep track of artists or brands you resonate with.
Write down why you resonate with them or what you like about them.

Creating a strong and long term brand won't happen overnight.

You need time to think and come to conclusions about what and why you're being an artist.

Once you have the What and Why (clarity and foundation) - you can then figure out How to install them (Implementation).

Next week, we'll talk more about the How.