Guru's Guide to Digital Marketing for Music Producers & Artists

Artists and producers pour their hearts and souls into their craft, but translating that passion into success often requires another skill set entirely: marketing. Many talented creators find themselves struggling to navigate the ever-changing marketing landscape, leaving their incredible work unseen or underappreciated. So, now that you’ve created your music, how will you get noticed? How will your unique sound stand out compared to other artists? You need a way to amplify your presence online, which is where digital marketing excels. The digital landscape is a like a crowded stadium with millions of talented musicians vying for attention. You need a strong brand identity to draw listeners in and help you become instantly recognizable. Personal websites and social media platforms allow you to engage with your audience by sharing glimpses into your creative process so they can learn more about the creative team and work behind it. With careful attention and consistency across platforms, you can fully reap the benefits of digital marketing. Digital marketing isn’t just about broadcasting to the masses. It’s about inviting listeners into your musical world, one carefully crafted post, one captivating video, one genuine connection at a time.

By the end of this series, you'll have:
A clearly defined brand that effectively communicates your unique selling point (USP) + a template to help you define your brand identity.
An idea of where your target audience gets their content and how to make your content resonate with them.
A distinctive, attention-grabbing website that converts new listeners into raving fans.
A highly curated newsletter that helps you intimately connect with your current fans and provides you with an outreach channel you can control.
A strategy guide for fan outreach that encourage fans to share your music amongst their personal networks, buy merch, pre-save your song, and follow/engage with you on your other social channels.
A tailor-made press release template and guide to building a press outreach list.

About the Author

Greg Davault is a sales and marketing expert with over 25 years of experience working to develop markets for new brands and unique technology.

Defining Your Brand

Think of your favorite artists. What comes to mind? Their music, yes, but also their visual aesthetic, personality and storytelling. This is the power of branding. When your branding is strong, listeners are drawn to your consistency, your personality and the promise of a unique musical experience. They understand why your music is different and want to hear more! Otherwise, your creations can get lost in the shuffle. Branding is not static. As you evolve as an artist, your brand can too. Start now with a solid foundation through consistent messaging and visuals, so your growth is recognized and appreciated by your audience. This drives deeper connections and creates raving fans. Remember, brand guidelines aren't hard rules that you have to follow. Instead, you should use them to inform your decision-making and provide a foundation for building out your online and stage presence.

Before you start adding your answers, click on the toggle to check out each example. Then, you can toggle back to type your answers in. Once you've completed the questions, click on the 'Print Brand Guidelines' Button for a custom PDF with your brand guidelines.

Colors

Colors are a valuable tool for telling your story visually. Consistent use of colors across promo materials, album covers, merchandise, and online platforms helps establish visual coherence and brand recognition. Different music genres often align with specific color palettes that reflect their characteristics. For instance, vibrant and bold colors may align with pop or electronic music, while darker, subdued tones may be more suitable for rock or alternative genres. Struggling for inspiration? You can get inspired by your wardrobe, cover art choices, or other similar artists in your genre.

What colors evoke your personality and style? Curate a simple but flexible palette. Choose 1 main color, 2 primary colors, 1-2 complementary colors and 1 accent color.

Logo

A great logo isn't just about the looks. Your logo is an important aspect of your musical identity. Think about the emotions and style you want to evoke and choose a typeface or symbol that reflects that. Keep it simple so that it can be easily recognizable across different platforms. You'll want to make sure that your logo matches well with your website and looks natural on your merch, posters, or any other physical promo material. Look to the logos of other artists that you admire for inspiration, but make sure that your logo is unique to you. Sometimes, a good logo design takes a few iterations. Share your logo designs with friends and mentors for their feedback. Is it memorable and does it accurately reflect your sound? Use their input to improve your design.

What type/style of logo reflects your brand personality? Does the logo work for both web and print? Make sure that it is readable at a distance, but also detailed enough to stand out.

Style/Genre

The music industry thrives on discovery, but listeners often stick to familiar territory. They search for genres they love, then explore the unique voices within that space. The challenge for artists and producers: how to stand out enough to get noticed, while staying grounded in a genre that helps listeners find you and gets your songs included on playlists? Looking into the competitive landscape within your genre is key. Understanding its core elements (production, themes, instrumentation) allows you to carve out your own niche within that space. Just find something that you think is missing from the genre's current sound. This should be your unique selling point. It could be a new sonic twist or a fresh message within the genre's conventions. Your brand identity, encompassing visuals, messaging, and overall aesthetic, should resonate with your genre's core audience while subtly showcasing your unique selling point. Authenticity is crucial - your personal take within the familiar is what will truly capture listeners.

What is unique about you and your music? How does it compare to artists or producers you're inspired by or look up to?

Audience

Your audience needs to be able to find you easily, so think about which platforms you should target and how search engines will find out who you are. It’s important to have a visual component, such as YouTube, that is searchable, and could be monetized. YouTube is great for long form content like full songs and music videos, and is integrated into the most popular search engine, Google. Not far on YouTube's tail is TikTok. It's quickly becoming the next biggest search engine. TikTok's algorithm can be gamed for a potential viral post, and is good for collaboration and trendjacking. IG is good for short form video or visuals with beats or samples. A major proportion of artists, producers, and musicians use IG as their main social account, so it's a solid way to network. Once you establish a website, you will also want to ask fans to opt in to a newsletter. This way, you can control your contact list, and send emails for free instead of paying to boost your engagement on socials.

How will listeners find you? Which platforms will you use? Where does your target audience spend their time online?

Brand Guidelines

Brand guidelines are a set of rules that help you create a consistent experience across different platforms. This can foster a sense of community and loyalty with your audience, ultimately leading to increased conversion rates. Think: more conversions from your socials to your website, your website to your newsletter, and your newsletter to presave campaigns and other promotions like merch. It's worth noting that virtually all PR and marketing agencies representing big names in the industry use guidelines like these to help build their branding and boost their online presence. If you want to look like a serious industry player (and do similar numbers), you've got to act like them too. As an added benefit, your newly strengthened branding will help you communicate your unique value proposition to agencies and fellow creators, which can help attract projects and collaborators that align with your creative vision.

What are your 3-5 sentences or themes that summarize your brand?

Add answers to each of the questions above to fill the checklist.

Brand Identity Checklist
Pick Your Color Palette: What colors evoke your personality and style? Curate a simple but flexible palette. Choose 1 main color, 2 primary colors, 1-2 complementary colors and 1 accent color.
Brainstorm Your Logo: What type/style of logo reflects your brand personality? Does the logo work both for web and print? Make sure that it is readable at a distance, but also detailed enough to stand out.
Identify Your Style/Genre: What is unique about your music? How does it compare to artists or producers you're inspired by or look up to?
Define Your Audience: How will listeners find you? Which platforms will you use? Where does your target audience spend their time online?
Capture Your Brand Guidelines: What are your 3-5 sentences or messages that summarize your brand?

This is the first of many posts in our series of Guru's Guide to Digital Marketing worksheets. If you felt like this exercise was helpful, you can enter your email here and we'll send you an update whenever another worksheet is added: