Introduction
The commercial music industry is often seen as being full of emerging artists. And except Kendrick Lamar secretly reads my blogs for marketing advice, you’re one of them. Adrian Chetan noted in his paper on music and visual identity that the music industry is oversaturated. And because of this it’s no surprise that the role of visual branding is of great importance. We’ve witnessed the music industry shift and transform as a reaction to technological and societal advancements. One of such is the use of streaming services which have only highlighted the importance of visuals in music.
Your Music is Visual First and Foremost
With music, it’s easy to think it’s only about the sound but you would be very wrong. Thanks to streaming services and social media, most listeners come across the visuals first. However, this phenomenon is not anything new. Those old enough will remember going through vinyl or CD racks at their local CD shops or watching videos on MTV back in the day as a way to discover new music. It’s no different now: people scroll through web sites, they see your cover or video and something catches their eye before they ever hear your song.
The Power of Visual Branding
There’s this story I read about a chef that decided to make some sort of crab nitrogen ice cream concoction. He tested it on his friends introducing the dish as “Crab Ice Cream” which of course, immediately put a bad taste in their mouth. They all came back saying that the ice cream had been too salty. The chef took their suggestions and came back with a new invention, Crab Sea Ice. They tasted it and gave rave reviews. This was where the chef revealed that he had not changed the recipe but merely adapted the name.
I’m not sure how true the story is but the moral is that the power of presentation can wildly alter people’s perception. Change a few words and you can change the taste or even the sound of something. In one study, visual information was seen to have had a greater impact than aural information when the participants judged music performances. Where the music was of amateur quality but the video was professional, the performance was rated higher in quality compared to the opposite scenario. This is why branding is so important.
Building Identity through Visual Branding
Imagine scrolling through a sea of album covers on a streaming platform. What makes one stand out? Visual branding is the secret sauce that can elevate an artist from the background noise. Here’s a short how-to to kickstart your branding journey;
Tap into your inner creative director: To start, take a moment to ponder the big picture. “Ask yourself who your music is for and what the message is that you’re trying to share,” recommends Marissa Ramirez, who as a Director of Creative Content at Interscope Records. It’s important to spend time getting to know your own Values, your own drive of WHY you do what you do. To help, check out Pieter Schoonderwoerd’s article to spend some time exploring your Why.
Inspiration = Research: Plumb the internet and platforms like Pinterest and Are.na, bookmarking images that resonate. But don’t limit your search to online. Go to your local bookstore – nothing beats the actual experience of reading and getting inspired. Keep tabs on what masters of the form like Tyler, the Creator and Solange are up to. Look beyond genre, keeping in mind that inspiration comes from unexpected places. You can start here with a list of the best album art.
DIY everything: The digital era has democratised the production process and as a supporter of democracy (and hater of capitalism), DIY projects are a great place to start designing visuals. Also cheap. Online video how-tos give advice on lighting, cinematography and editing. Challenge yourself to experiment with styles that are easy and cheap yet artistic to really expand your creative muscles.
Social Media: Artists are increasingly harnessing platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube not just to share their music but to craft a visual narrative. It’s a multi-dimensional approach that captures their essence. Planning in advance will ensure that quality and style is consistent. Ideally, content should be half of what is ‘promo’ and half of ‘personal’. The Promo is reviews, gigs, news updates, releases – don’t be afraid to repeat, ‘throwback’ and explore your archive. The Personal includes behind the scenes at a recording session, composing, rehearsing etc. What might be an ‘everyday’ for you as an artist, could be fascinating to someone not familiar with the process of music-making.
Keep it simple: My common rule 5. Always, always, always keep it simple. Keep these in mind and regard all else as extras;
- Fonts: Choose two complementary fonts you would use on a flyer.
- Color scheme: Pick a few colors you like and use them for all your marketing efforts.
- Logo: Create a logo that represents you (refer to the number 1 to figure out “you”)
- Tone: How would you’d like to come across on social media and press releases? Familiar? Cold and unaccessible?
Conclusion
“There’s a psychological principle called Anchoring which convincingly demonstrates that people do, in fact, judge a book by its cover. This principle shows that the initial interaction with something will firmly anchor someone’s opinion or biases in place. Consequently, if you have terribly designed branding for your music, people will promptly form an opinion before they’ve even heard a note. With this, it becomes significantly more challenging to convince people that the music is great. Thus, the importance of Visual Identity in branding cannot be overemphasized.