How to build a personal brand in the music industry
The phrase personal brand is often thrown around a lot by many people on social media. Whether it’s referring to someone’s success, or simply their identity, it certainly represents who they are as a person. Whether you’re an employee, artist, label manager, or anything else, we all have a personal brand. It is not just being an influencer. Instead, it’s what people think of you; your reputation. In this article, we’re going to discuss some methods that you can apply to help build your personal brand, and thus strengthen your reputation within your field of the music industry.
Firstly, you have to understand your value & what you are worth to a certain community. Instead of dwelling on the negatives and pessimistic attitudes which many people seem to take, consider focusing instead on what you are all to bring to the table. For example, if you are a music producer, it may be a great idea to give advice on production techniques, creative mindset hacks, and much more. After all, your reputation is based on your knowledge and influence within a certain niche. If you aren’t certain on the type of message/impact you want to have, it’s hard for people to know to approach you when it comes to certain topics. After all, the more information & positivity you put into an industry, the more you tend to get back. By identifying what you want to talk about, and how to distribute your message, it quickly allows you to become a thought leader within the entertainment industry.
Next, it’s worth applying practical examples to whatever you are talking about. If you are seen as somebody with no past experience, despite trying to become one of the most prominent figures within a niche, you’ll most likely lose a lot of credibility. Therefore, having great studies is absolutely essential to the success of your personal brand. If you are an Instagram marketing “expert”, it’s naturally expected that you should have an extremely high following in comparison to the majority of people. Sure, maybe not millions of followers. But If you truly know & understand the algorithms as you claim to, then obtaining 100,000 followers within several months shouldn’t be too difficult. Likewise, if you are a producer teaching how to get millions of Spotify streams, you would look like an idiot unless you have millions yourself. Essentially, you need the credibility to back up whatever you are saying in order to establish respect amongst peers.
Understanding how much to charge is also an integral part of building a personal brand. If your prices are extremely low, it’s very probable that people won’t take you seriously. Likewise, if you price your services too high, you will most likely be seen as someone trying to get quick cash. Instead, it’s better to find a pricing model that is proportionate to the value being given to your clients. For example, charging several thousand dollars for a 100k Spotify campaign is not a good return on investment for the artist considering the royalty payout rate. However, a few hundred dollars would seem much more reasonable as it is proportionate to the value of the result. Ultimately, you need to create a pricing model that creates a great & fair reputation for yourself as a personal brand – just like what a business would need to do.
In order to constantly get clients for your services, your personal brand needs to be extremely reputable in the sense that you are always able to constantly deliver on what you promise. Sure, there may be odd occasions where something doesn’t work out. However, if you are hoping to be seen as a thought leader within a certain space, it definitely helps if you’re able to practice (and execute) what you are preaching towards your community. Don’t be the only person talking about how good your advice, course, or services are. If you are able to bring about excitement and get other people to express their happiness in results via testimonials, your credibility will massively increase within your Industry.
Finally, another great way to increase the reputation of your personal brand is by teaching yourself even more about a particular topic in order to provide even more value towards your audience. If you are a producer, consider attending production seminars and networking with big names in the industry in order to learn more about the craft. Likewise, people interested in marketing could potentially attend conferences & network with others in order to build up their knowledge of a particular topic. By staying up to date with the music industry in your certain field of expertise, you will be seen by your audience as someone who’s relevant that can deliver on what they promise.
As discussed at the beginning of this article, a personal brand is not just some fancy term to describe an influencer, it is who you are: your reputation. As a music producer, you should always be discovering & learning new things in order to further your career. Sharing that knowledge with others can potentially lead to even more success within your field. If you able to execute on your beliefs, create meaningful change within your industry, deliver reliable results, and much more, your reputation within your industry will ultimately increase. And so whether you are after more followers, sales, or anything else, your reputation will make it much easier to achieve those particular goals that you are aiming for.