Branding for Musicians:
The Importance of Visual Imagery in Music
by Beatstars
Branding for Musicians: The Importance of Visual Imagery in Music
Intro to the Music Industry: Course Readings
Dr. Stan Renard | Fall 2019
Branding for Musicians:
The Importance of Visual Imagery in Music
by Beatstars
Branding for Musicians: The Importance of Visual Imagery in Music
Marketing for your brand or your music is very important. The marketing really is a first impression or (like it mentions in the article) a handshake. You want to be able to grab the target’s attention with the ads and the design. Visual is key to marketing and advertising.
Link: https://www.musicindustryhowto.com/record-labels-know-the-importance-of-music-marketing-do-you/
This article was one of the most important things when it comes to being a musician and that is your visual representation (branding.) They would go on to mention that album covers are not only used as an expression for the artist, but the artwork defines the music in real time while the the visual imagery is associated with marketing (for the tour) and merchandise. Not only that but with having a good branding can potentially increase your your streams and actual sales. Lastly, an important thing to note when it comes creating your image always remember that image is about consistency, create an image your consumers can stand behind and trust.
Here is another link that talks about the importance of branding.
https://www.musicclout.com/contents/article-342-the-importance-of-branding-as-recording-artists.aspx
and this link talks about the basics of branding.
http://d4musicmarketing.com/branding-for-musicians/
As sad as it is to say, Image is everything to draw in people. If you can market your image off well, it brings in interest and attention. The goal of marketing is to sell whatever it is you are trying t sell. It has to capture the audience’s eye, it has to show a representation of who you are. The image you put out there and how you brand yourself ultimately becomes you, weather it be good or bad. First impressions are everything so when marketing, you have to set the tone. choose artwork that embodies your vision for all your pieces of work. MArket your work to get attention, bring in more sales. The aesthetic is important when you are trying to sell your name.
Here is a link to help you get started with creating an album cover: https://99designs.com/blog/design-other/how-to-design-album-cover/
This article explains why music artists should brand their music. The article also states that is essential for musicians to provide a visual imagery to their work in order for their fans to recognize their music and listen to them more often. In addition, having a visual image to an artist’s work that is influential and well-known can greatly benefit that artist since more people will buy and stream their music. To learn more about why branding their music is important to artists in the music industry, click the link here: https://medium.com/@EufaulaGarrett/the-importance-of-personal-branding-in-the-music-industry-7d626506e3fd
Imagery is important when It comes to promoting and marketing your music. Like the article states, it would be hard for people to listen to your music without any visuals. Having pictures and art for your music draws people in before even listening to the music. A good example would be Chris Brown and his latest album Indigo; the graphics on the album cover is something so creative and different and it makes the person looking at the album wonder what kind of music is on this album. Visuals can either draw people in or draw people out
Here is a link on the importance in visuals when it comes to marketing
https://getgist.com/importance-of-visual-marketing/
Considering the importance of imagery, I would have to agree with this article wholeheartedly. Image can absolutely define an artist, and not only gives people a visual representation of the artist but a selling point for the artist as well. Image dictates merch, sales, and overall interest of a piece of work. It is a classic case of judging a book by it’s cover. Here is a link that talks about the importance of album art https://blog.landr.com/album-art-absolutely-crucial-success-2016/
The image of your cover art is truly essential to your song/album. The saying “don’t judge a book by its cover,” unfortunately does not apply for this industry. The cover truly brings your attention to listen to this specific piece of work, and if the cover art looks amateurish then the sudden thought you’ll assume the song/beat/album is also amateurish. Here’s an article in things to consider for your cover art. https://www.google.com/amp/s/99designs.com/blog/design-other/how-to-design-album-cover/amp/
This article covers how important imagery can be when releasing an album or single. It’s interesting to think about how a cover defines the recording and captures it in time. These images can be later used to create merchandise that will go along with the recording. Imagery is what captures the consumer and eventually is used for marketing purposes. I found it interesting how this article points out the imagery influences an artist uses for upcoming work.
https://leffcommunications.com/2015/07/30/album-art-content-marketing/
Branding For Musicians was a truly fascinating article because it gave me a new perspective on advertising and visual imagery for music; I didn’t realize originally how important it is for music artist’s to ensure that their visual art is eye-catching in order to make pleasant first expressions to potential listeners and buyers. Visual and graphic art of an album or single is an important part of promoting your music, as well as growing a fanbase being that many will become first attracted to an artist the more eye-catching their artwork is. Being that social media is an important part of today’s society, having interesting and appealing visual art will help attract mroe fans. Here’s another article I found about the importance of visual art in music.
https://blog.landr.com/album-art-absolutely-crucial-success-2016/
Image is everything! The way you want to represent your brand to the way people look at you imagery is the first thing the people see. This article gives a bit of insight on what to be expecting when using a logo or an image. The way people respond to your image can either make or break a person all by what they see. I personally like the article because it has a lot to tell about marking your brand and how you want to be perceived as an artist. Something that I would like to know more about is what if some people understand the image you’re trying to get across and others don’t or take offense to it what would you do in a situation like that?
here’s what I found about offensive logo.
https://graphicdesign.stackexchange.com/questions/117357/how-to-ensure-international-logo-can-be-ethnically-neutral-enough-so-it-won-t-be
Visuals and graphics are more often than not, the ultimate 1st impression in the music industry. One must have it down to an art – literally and figuratively – in order to have a successful product, or in this case, album. Things like cover art set the tone to what kind of brand you are and how you aim to represent yourself. Because social media dominates our generation today, the first impression is always in the visuals.
Here’s an article with some tips on how to make effective cover art:
https://iconcollective.com/album-cover-art-tips/
Creating a visually appealing logo or album artwork is essentially only half the work. The other half is building and establishing your brand in a consistent manner that people can understand. One of my favorite authors, Simon Sinek, has a series of great books on how to build a brand with palpable reason behind what you do. Iv’e linked some of his products for my fellow bookworms.
https://simonsinek.com/
This is a great (but short) article emphasizing the importance of branding as a musician/artist. One of my personal favorites was Miles Davis’s covers. With one look you got the feel of the cool behind the cover.
https://www.music-graffiti.com/miles-davis-album-covers.htm
Great San Antonio resource for helping to establish a brand “look”:
https://robotcreative.com/work/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIqZ-rmrD15QIVf__jBx2YtwFnEAAYAiAAEgKrlPD_BwE
Visual imagery is very important to the consumers because visual images/artwork capture people’s eyes more than words. To sale out an album you have to have a unique visual aspect that catches the consumers attention.
Here is a link that goes into more depth of visual imagery and how it connects with marketing:
https://leffcommunications.com/2015/07/30/album-art-content-marketing/
The article given to us titled branding for musicians discusses the importance of visual imagery in music which is huge for musicians trying to make a name for themselves but make something cool for their name to be planted as people look for interesting new artists and what there brands stand for. For example, the article discusses that visual content and imagery are king and social media in this age is filled with people scrolling through thousands of tweets or posts and musicians need those big ad or media centers that people will notice in order to actually listen to those artists music or look at their branding. The article goes further in discussing the branding and marketing that people should push for, like album covers tat become renowned for not just being a great marketing tool but also imagery which shows the artists intent as a creative and brilliant artist.
Here is more information about branding an artists music.
https://musicianmonster.com/music-branding-ultimate-guide/
Branding is very important to listeners because people naturally desire consistency. This does not mean to lack variety in your music but there needs to be a constant underlying theme in your music. This idea can be reinforced with consistent branding and recognizable imagery. Having a band logo can help you to be more easily recognized if people are exposed to your music more than once. The branding should represent your music artistically as well, which is why heavy metal albums don’t have calm imagery. After I read this article, I thought about how one could use visual psychology in their album art, and simply what to check for when making an album cover. I found this article on 99Designs that talks about many aspects of album art: https://99designs.com/blog/design-other/how-to-design-album-cover/
This article discusses visual imagery and its effect on the music it represents. I completely agree that visuals are very important when it comes to music. A great example of this is album covers which I think sets the tone for the album and should help represent what you’re about to listen to. There are so many iconic album covers and when you see them you think of the music behind it so good quality art for the cover is ideal.
Here’s an article on the importance of album art:
http://www.bulletmusic.net/features-1/album-artwork-in-the-digital-age
The saying “you eat with your eyes first” can also be applied to this article. A musician’s image in regard to their album art can be very important in terms of sales for first impressions amongst new fans and the media. This is one aspect, of visuals, that this article discusses. As the article says it would be difficult for people to want to support an artist if there are no visuals, I agree with this. I find the concepts, logos, music videos, album art, etc very important when it comes to looking for new music When I am scrolling through a playlist I tend to want to listen to artists/songs that draw me in with their branding. Although people say to not judge a book by its cover, many people still do so.
here is an article on how album art affects the sales – https://www.designbold.com/academy/en/album-cover-affect-music-sales/
Marketing is single handed the most important thing for an artist to do. Yes, the music can be great, but people need something that is going to catch there eye. That is why now album art work covers, or name designs are so huge because it gives fans something to see. If the fans enjoy your music, having something visually to associate that artist with with only help them and grow there fan base.
I found an article on how to brand yourself a a musical artist. https://spinnup.com/uc/blog/artist-branding/
This article really emphasizes the important of visual imagery. In order for your music to be taken seriously, it is crucial to have album artwork and other means of branding yourself to the public. I like how the article gives the example of how if you uploaded an album and it was just a black or white square then you would not get nearly as many listens. The artwork needs to portray the music and the artist is some way shape or form. I like how they used the example of Kendrick Lamar to demonstrate the importance of visual imagery. Here is an article on how to make your own album cover artwork —> https://diymusician.cdbaby.com/musician-tips/make-album-cover-artwork/
I love that this article discussed a dimension of music that isn’t always a priority for musicians: visual art as a representation of music. The article quotes Matthew Sebert, saying “Design is a handshake; it causes a snap judgment on your identity. Good design speaks loud, but bad design screams much louder” – something I had never even thought about, but wow it makes so much sense! This idea of design reminded me of some research I had done on potential career paths: sound design. The concept of sound design is based on a desired mood or effect that the designer is trying to achieve. Often inspired by visual or written art, sound design is basically working backwards from a visual representation. Here’s more info on it: https://www.audioshapers.com/blog/what-is-sound-design.html
This article touches in the overlooked topic of cover art in the music industry. Specifically cover art for albums and singers. Although it is true that the song being good isn’t reliant on what the cover art looks like but that is the impression that the art gives, if you have a avarage cover art the audience will be expecting an average song. Another point that was touched on was that the cover art should be a visual representation of the music that has been made so when an artist thinks about that it should already inspire him to get the most compatible art to his work.
Here is an article on possible careers in the album design industry:
https://www.thebalancecareers.com/album-cover-art-graphic-designer-career-profile-2460636
Image is everything when it comes to music and album covers, and it goes a long way in determining how your music is portrayed. A hip hop visual will be different than a jazz visual and a heavy metal visual. Each genre has a different style of art that gives off a certain vibe. If someone sees your album for the first time without listening to it, it is the album artwork that will give them a first impression of what they are in for, so it is important that it is eye catching and is bold, but most importantly, that it represents you and your music. Here is an article that discusses the importance of album artwork.
https://www.varsity.co.uk/music/16677
In the world of social media and streaming services, album artwork is often the first thing that potential fans see when discovering new music, and it can play a big part in whether or not they decide to actually listen to the music. It’s so important for musicians to be thoughtful about their artwork and how it represents them, because bad artwork isn’t going to draw as many people in. Additionally, like the author mentioned, having recognizable imagery can only help a musician’s branding because fans will be wearing their imagery on hats, t-shirts and stickers, which provides extra advertising.
Here is an article that talks more about the importance of album artwork:
https://www.horusmusic.global/why-is-artwork-so-important/
With the advancement of technology this generation is full of visual learners and quick viral post. When it comes to music you must have something to make you stand out because regardless of the quality of the music if people are not drawn to click on it, they will never listen. Album covers and music videos that stand out to viewers are the best way to brand on social media and streaming platforms. With so many new artist rising the only way to stand out is to do something out of the ordinary or to find a way to make your album the biggest first impression for the viewers. Below I attached an article about how visual content can enhance the engagement of viewers.
http://blog.sonicbids.com/5-types-of-visual-content-to-promote-your-music
As a visual person, an important part of the article’s focus to me was the discussion of cover art. I think it’s important for an artist to make sure their cover art is a good representation of their music. Eye catching art that captivates new people is key, if that is something out of the artists’ capability this is where working with outside sources come into play.
Just as the article stated that your art has to be just as good as your music. They go hand to hand with each other, they play off one another in order to give the listener a set vibe so to speak on what to expect from the album or song. He stated good albums and songs that set moods, like Kanye West “The life of Pablo”, to me though a good album that went with the cover art was Frank Ocean “Blonde” it was a simple image but it set the mood for the album and made it so iconic to everyone that knows of it. Album cover art isn’t even art sometimes it just a picture but yet, it transform into art work much as pusha-t album cover for “Daytona” is actually a picture of Whitney Houston bathroom when they found her in her dead from an overdose, like I said not art but set the mode and transformed the picture.
Here I added a link for all the most iconic album covers.
https://www.yardbarker.com/entertainment/articles/the_most_iconic_album_covers_of_all_time/s1__30083705
This article highlights how important branding and marketing your album is to you success. Along with visual imagery, this will all impact the reach and popularity of your music. The album artwork is typically the first taste of your new music that the world sees, so it has to look enticing to new possible listeners while keeping your current fans interested. For me, a lot of the album artwork from artists that I listen to ends up being on a lot of the merch and stuff, so it’s important for it to look cool so people buy it.
Here is a link to the 50 best album covers: https://www.billboard.com/photos/6715351/best-album-covers-of-all-time
Image is an important topic when it comes to branding. Its important to know your brand and what makes up your brand, from the type of cover art you put out down to the way your clothes are styled. People connect with artist that resemble them in away or by living vicariously through them. a way to establish your brand is to have a person that knows marketing and branding that can create a image your fans love, others appreciate, and you feel comfortable in.
https://theabundantartist.com/personal-branding-for-artists/
In an era of time where people are so saturated with new interesting things, it is ironically difficult to catch the interest of people to listen to a piece of music. Due to this, it is extremely important and helpful to have good visual artwork that represents the album or track. This article really emphasizes the importance of having a good cover for an album as this is what draws listeners in to the music, and how to do this the correct way to really make sure you attract the highest amount of listeners. This whole idea of visual representation goes emphasizes the importance of marketing yourself and how influential that is in the music marketing business. Below is an article offering advice on making a good album cover: https://99designs.com/blog/design-other/how-to-design-album-cover/
I enjoyed how this post made an effort to demonstrate the importance of branding. Having a memorable image or piece of art to show the emotions that the artist wants to create is an amazing way to stand out. I found an article that talks about the importance of branding from a brand manager’s point of view and how important it is as well.
https://medium.com/@EufaulaGarrett/the-importance-of-personal-branding-in-the-music-industry-7d626506e3fd
Although I’m not saying graphic design has to be your passion, the artwork you pair with your music has to look appealing to your audience. Imagine putting in hours of work on a track; recording, writing, cutting, and mixing it, but then you end up slapping a graphic you made in Microsoft Paint in two minutes on it. In today’s society of mass social media usage, branding is one of the most important things for an artist to look out for. I found an article on how to create your perfect album cover: https://www.tunecore.com/guides/how-to-make-an-album-cover
This article is very important to artists because you want something to pop and get everyone’s attention. Their are so many brands out there how is your brand supposed to be better the all the competition. This article really explained to you how that your brand is very important. Having images for example I apple everyone knows what it is and what they provide. I was able to find another article that gives you a step by step process on how to Brand for a music artist.
https://www.unifiedmanufacturing.com/blog/branding-musician-checklist/
Branding is very important in the music industry. You really want others to remember what you are putting out there. It is all about being top of mind!
https://spinnup.com/uc/blog/artist-branding/
This article is a great article for anyone who needs authenticity in their career. It gives a basic understanding of branding and exactly what kind of visualization for branding can work. I liked that it includes examples like Kendrick Lamar’s “DAMN” and Kanye’s “Life of Pablo”. People are attracted to authenticity and visualization is the only way to get the message across and that is what this article was explaining.
https://bothsidesofthetable.com/how-i-use-visualization-to-drive-creativity-ef76bf4d8c26
Marketing is such a key factor in any profession. With music, it is a little tougher crowd. There are so many different genres in music and many people listen to all different types. There is no way for a music professional to be successful without marketing. First, you have to find out who your fans might be and engage them before trying to market to new fans only. Again, social media is a perfect way to get music out there quickly and cheap or even free. Then you have to pitch your playlist and promote the type of music you have and then sit back and wait.
https://bandzoogle.com/blog/7-top-marketing-strategies-for-musicians
I very much agree with the views discussed in this article. Personally, there have been times in the past where I have felt more inclined to listen to an artist/band based on the artwork displayed on iTunes or YouTube. A few albums that come to mind when I think of unique artwork are Foster the People’s “Supermodel” album, Travis Scott’s “Rodeo” and “Astroworld”, Tyler the Creator’s “Flower Boy”, and practically any BROCKHAMPTON album. Many different shirt designs, hoodies, social media graphics, and even prominent music festivals have been based off the logos and art associated with the music listed.
When looking for more info about how musicians can create more visually appealing content, I found this article which details extensively the planning that can go into this process. The author cites some solid material that he feels can help in getting creative inspiration:
https://www.awal.com/blog/musician-branding
This article emphasized the importance of branding artist by being considerate of the artworks and designs that are associated with the artist. The logos and artwork that represents these artists can make or break their brand. If an artist’s logo is badly made or if their album art is horribly designed then no one will want to even think about listening to any their content.
I found another great article about branding for musicians: https://spinnup.com/uc/blog/artist-branding/
Artwork is very important when marketing music. You want something eye-catching that makes the individual stop and think about what this might be. The imagery evokes a tone for that specific album cover. It is one of the main things that will draw in the consumer other than the artist himself. It gives the artist a chance to be creative outside of the music.
For more info on the importance of imagery in music visit this website: https://blog.reverbnation.com/2018/05/31/visuals-still-important-music/
Visual and branding are one of the most important things to an artist. As an Artist you need to have an image that when you someone looks at you they know who you are and what you about. Branding is the same way of how do you brand yourself and where do you stand. But being honest branding and marketing is really hard, espeically when you are trying to figure it out your brand and image. I am still in the phase of figuring it out on my brand and images so i am having a hard time to market myself. I can only market myself as a performer who connects with music and want to connect with other people with my music. But on a deeper level of branding and images I am still struggling to figure who am I as an artist. Sometime I look at an artist I am still not 100% have the idea of who they are with branding and images. Example would be Halsey, I know who she is ” an Alternative artist who sing about heartbreak” but her branding I truly don’t know what she is branding herself as. This article gives tips on how to brand yourself as a SuperStar :
http://blog.sonicbids.com/5-tips-to-brand-yourself-like-a-superstar-even-if-youre-just-starting-out
I guess you can brand yourself as anything you like, even being a superstar.
This article does a good job of broadly covering the importance of of imagery in establishing your brand. I appreciate how it covers more than just album art, though it’s central to an artist’s identity. Its mention of pamphlets and posters can oft be overlooked when creating a cohesive brand across all the publications that artists put out. What is interesting to me is that a lot of the articles that have been linked are to non-classical musicians and begs the question: where is the disjointedness in the branding of classical musicians? Do they not have the same marketing structures?
Linked is an article about Classical Music Month and the progression of album art within Colombia Records.
https://library.wustl.edu/visual-harmony-a-look-at-classical-music-album-covers/
“Branding 4 Musicians: Visual Imagery” has made me more aware of different aspects of an artist’s music. It is not only the auditory that people are attracted to in an artist, but definitely their image/ branding and what they represent as well. Visuals inspire a mood and creates an atmosphere for the listener before they even hear the music. This leads me to the question: Which logos and brands are the best? The simple ones or complex ones? The link attached goes into detail distinguishing when the appropriate times are to use both.
https://www.designhill.com/design-blog/major-difference-between-complex-and-simple-logo-design/
Visual Marketing can help your album or single stand out. For example, someone who is into more metal music as opposed to pop-tunes, they would turn away from artists who would wear, lets say bright yellow and put a rainbow on their album covers. People tend to look more into artists if it matches their “image.” Here’s more information about the psychology behind visual marketing. https://blog.getshoutout.com/the-psychology-behind-visual-marketing-f4948b6a6f13
This article briefly describes different aspects associated with branding an artist and their music. One aspect the article mentions multiple times is visual content. The visual content, on all spectrums, helps to give the listener a better sense of the artists’ identities. Visual content, also, when paired with music, sells better. Here is an article that describes the types of visual content that can be used to brand and promote an artist’s music.
https://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2016/04/5-types-of-visual-content-you-can-use-for-promoting-your-music.html
This article was a look into musical branding. It is key for every new artists to have a brand in order to gain a following. I’ve linking to an article that talks about self branding in the music industry with 3 examples from famous artists.
https://www.inc.com/donna-wells/3-things-music-rockstars-can-you-teach-about-your-personal-brand.html
The state of the music industry today is over-saturated with artists trying to make a name for themselves; and in this state its not even to just create great music to be set apart visuals and branding are crucial. Visuals are exponentially more stimulating than sound alone. the visuals also help with branding because they enhance whatever message the music is making. with the cluttered industry a fan might not like every song released but they will come back and listen because with relate with your brand. same idea with a casual listener not knowing every song but identify with your image.
” Don’t be Boring”- more branding advice for musicians –> https://www.awal.com/blog/musician-branding