Hello again internet! I always try to keep myself up to date and aware of the ever-changing world that is the music industry, and this morning I came upon a very interesting article that my lovely girlfriend was kind enough to send my way. The article was titled, "Identity in the Music Industry," by Alexandra Ampofo (I will link the original article at the end of this one), and kept me thinking long after I finished reading.
Whenever anyone complains about mainstream music one of the main points consistently brought up is the inauthenticity of the artists. Ampofo hit the nail on the head in her article - that "you are your own brand" and that you have to bring your true strengths to the forefront and use them to your advantage. If we look at me for example, I could never put on a helmet resembling a certain small mammal and go on tour with just a laptop and speakers - I would look foolish and never hold a consumer's attention. However if I joined a metal or punk band and dressed like a young Glenn Danzig (the original lead singer of The Misfits), it would seem a bit more Shane Chavatte than a carbon copy Deadmau5.
I swear no other artist/band has a better sense of identity than The Misfits.
Personal branding is not something to be afraid of however, and there is no connection between that and "selling out." Like Ampofo says, you need put all of your efforts and energy into your branding. Being a carbon copy may get you a nice cushy platinum single or maybe even a gold record if you're good at marketing, but the key to continued success - both commercial and personal - in this unforgiving industry is to be truly honest with ourselves and put our own unique stamp on the work we put our entire lives behind.
You are your own brand, so identify why you want to be branded in a particular way before you consider anything else, this will make your end goal a little clearer in terms of reaching it. The first rule of branding is to divert all focus towards branding.
Self-reflection is one of the biggest factors in finding your own unique identity in the music world. If you don't look inwards, you utterly lose sight of yourself and your future. It's how we grow and bloom into the people and/or artists we will become. If we ignore the person we are beneath the surface - so will the rest of the world. Why do you think so many artists fall of the face of the earth after their groundbreaking first records? The rare and unprecedented person they used to be was lost when they could not take the time to look in the metaphorical mirror and reflect on why they started this career in the first place.
Reflecting upon oneself is very important when trying to develop and grow as a person in the music industry.
And of course, we cannot forget that like everything else - music is a business. Your identity and branding is not something done solely to ease the conscience of the artist, but ultimately to sell to an audience. But wait, you might be thinking. You went through this entire article making it seem like it's the artist's responsibility to themselves to find their true identity in this industry, why are you now saying this like it's a requirement to sell your art? Is that not the very definition of "selling out?" In some ways you're correct, my dear reader, but is there no happy medium? To pursue art, especially music, as a full time career, some kind of financial living is also required. As unfortunate a conundrum as it is, the line between a one-of-a-kind yet successful artist and one that only uses their identity for the purpose of making money is sometimes blurred, and it's one that can only be drawn by the artists themselves.
Identity in the music world acts much like a junction between many important topics in the industry - many that are over-looked by both the labels that count the profits and the purists who seem to vomit at the word "branding." In this vein of life we find ourselves in a place that not many have the courage to go - but as beautiful as the horizon looks, we're standing on a slippery slope between selling our true selves and selling a two-dimensional image.
I want to thank Ms. Alexandra Ampofo for the fantastic article that served as the inspiration for this piece. Check out her original work here: https://medium.com/@planetalex_/identity-in-the-mu...
