Marketing and branding for artists are interesting concepts. This is true because in a lot of cases – many of the most noteworthy in fact – an artist just seems to be blessed with an innate ability to make people want more from him or her. Sometimes they just seem to get it, to speak, and understand how to play the masses. On the other hand, though, marketing and branding can be studied, learned, practised, and analyzed to no end.
Generally, it’s best to accept the latter concept if you’re involved in music marketing to any degree. Most artists don’t have that Kanye-like ability to tease out material and build intrigue seemingly on a whim (and granted for all we know he may have a whole marketing firm behind his “genius,” but he’s been pretty good at the game ever since his jaw was wired shut). For most people, it’s necessary to study what works and what doesn’t and come up with some specific strategic approaches to marketing artistic material.
That brings us to the modern music industry, where this whole concept is evolving just about by the day. Getting the word out and building excitement about an artist is different now than it was 10 years ago, whether we’re talking about the next album from a titan like Jay Z or Eminem, or a self-produced effort from an up-and-comer. To get an idea of how much things have changed you need only consider some of the newer marketing opportunities that have emerged for musicians:
Social media is the biggest thing that has changed in marketing, not only because it’s still relatively new (and always evolving) but because it changed the responsibility of the whole concept of marketing. Once, this might have been largely up to a paid individual or a whole team helping to manage an artist’s image. Now, the same artist would have a direct channel – or several of them, really – to fans. Case in point, Complex wrote about 25 different rappers to follow on Instagram – and that’s just one publication’s take on one genre’s activity on one social network! Factor in the other social apps and the entirety of the music industry and it’s fair to say this is the biggest area for marketing in music. And while we may think of services like Facebook and Twitter as having been around forever, they’re still pretty new in the context of this industry.
YouTube is more or less another social network in this context, but it should really be considered a whole different branch of the marketing conversation because it’s still one of the most effective ways to get music out. Consider this: Childish Gambino’s “This Is America” has nearly 400 million views on YouTube since May 5th. Granted, he’s an established artist with a major following, but those views aren’t just because people like his music. They’re because his presentation of it more or less stopped the internet for two days. Now, it’s not easy to come up with something as jarring, subversive, and dramatic as this video, but it does prove the point that artists are still figuring out how to use video to gain exposure and get people talking. Sometimes the right music video or behind the scenes content can be the most valuable marketing ploy of all.
Gaming is playing a more subtle role and has less to do with hip-hop specifically, but it’s still worth noting for one odd but undeniable reason: online slot games have played a role in the sweeping comeback of classic rock. These games market themselves through free spins, bonuses, matched deposits and general bells and whistles, but ultimately their thematic content draws players. And some clever person figured out that plastering band imagery all over a slot reel and playing top hits from the likes of Metallica and Guns N’ Roses made the games more interesting. It wasn’t solely responsible, but this happened to coincide with a massive revival for this kind of music. Rap artists could easily have the same success simply by pairing their content with popular games, in any genre.
And finally, there’s fun. Yes, really, fun. As one nice article with advice about this topic said, marketing shouldn’t be so damn serious. That doesn’t necessarily mean anything on its own, but we would argue that fans can tell when you’re taking yourself and your work too seriously – and they can also relate to you when you’re clearly having fun. This isn’t a recommendation to do any one thing specifically, but rather to keep in mind – always – that your emotions and your feelings show through when you’re trying to be a public figure. Have fun, and your audience will be more likely to engage and ultimately do the same.
