I Obsessed Over Music Branding for 20 Years - Here's What Actually Works

Many artists think the difference

between where they are and where they

want to be is either talent or luck.

It's not. It's storytelling and

marketing. There are hidden cheat codes

surrounding the world of music

marketing. There are techniques the

biggest artists in the world use to

build audiences of millions. These

artists get six figures per show and

travel the world showcasing not just

their music, but their taste. They have

the houses, the cars, the toys, the bank

accounts, and more importantly, the

resources to keep growing their projects

year after year. If you want to play in

the pros of the music world, you're

going to need real knowledge of where

storytelling meets marketing and a clear

plan of the tactics you're going to use

to grow your project. Unfortunately,

music alone will not get it done in

today's world. You need a proper story,

identity, and a plan. In my world, most

of what we talk about is story, brand,

identity, and communication. In the

broader music industry, all of this gets

flattened into one word, marketing.

There are so many different marketing

techniques and ways to use time and

money trying to get your music heard.

Over the years, I've seen them all. I've

seen millions of dollars wasted on the

wrong path. But I've also seen artists

go from being semihomeless to

multi-millionaires just by mastering one

technique. And this is exactly what I'm

going to talk about today. I'm going to

give you my top 10 key insights when it

comes to music marketing. If you want to

create a cult following of fans and

build the creative life you seek, the

insights from today's topic could be

crucial in walking up the mountain

toward your dream. So, who am I to even

talk about this subject? My name is

Chris Alba and I've worked on all sides

of music for the last 20 years. I've

been an artist, a producer, and a DJ.

For a full decade, I was a concert

curator doing weekly shows with

thousands of people every week in Los

Angeles during the boom of EDM. In the

2010s, my wife Lindsay and I owned

clothing stores up and down the

California coast, and we styled many a

music video, photo shoot, and album

cover. 12 years ago, I founded my

creative agency, The Cole Creatives. We

focus on creating clarity surrounding

storytelling, brand, and marketing

strategies. We help artists get ultra

clear on the story they're actually

trying to tell, how that story lines up

with the music, and then building plans

surrounding execution to bring that full

concept, what we call the movie, to

life. Over the last 12 years, we've done

tens of millions of dollars in business

and have helped craft strategies and

execute creative campaigns with some of

the world's most well-known music

artists, record labels, and music

festivals. We've also been on the ground

floor with many artists helping build

their brand story and growth strategy

from day one. So, because of these

experiences, I've had a front row seat

to a massive range of campaigns,

strategies, and launches across the

industry. I've seen what works and what

doesn't, and what looks good on paper,

but never actually delivers the results.

And with all these unique experiences

that I've been blessed to have, it's

given me perspective. And I don't think

my perspective is better or worse than

anyone else. I've just seen what I've

seen. I've been able to experience the

industry from a lot of different angles.

And with those experiences, there are

some key insights that I found that

could save you years of trial and error

and save countless marketing and content

dollars from your artist bank account.

These insights are what we're going to

get into today. So, let's dive in.

Insight number one, brand is greater

than product. They say it only takes one

song for an artist or one product for a

company to blow up. And while that can

be true, in my experience, the brands

that I've been a part of from the ground

floor that have become massively

internationally known brands all had one

thing in common. They always put brand

first. And what do I mean by brand? It's

the story, point of view, mission,

rules, values, principles, and beliefs

of the brand. This is why a core part of

our work at Colt is getting the

foundational elements, values, and story

ultra clear on any brand that we work

on. These elements should become the

guiding light on everything a brand

does. With this level of clarity, you're

making decisions not based on if

something's cool or not. You're asking,

is this in alignment to my brand? And in

my world, it's black and white. If an

artist is clear on these elements and is

game for the advertising and promotional

part, they usually grow at an

exponential rate versus artists that are

unclear and play the game of throwing a

bunch of ideas at the wall to see what

sticks. Most of the videos on the

neighbored art supply channel are filled

with exercises and organizational tools

to help flesh out these elements. So, it

can be good to watch those if you're

unclear with any of these elements for

your own brand. The main reason most of

the larger artists that we work with are

hiring myself and Colt is they have a

sense of these elements, but they want

to get clear on each piece so they can

attack all sides of their project with

clarity. If you're clear on your brand

and its story and you have an audience

of people attached to it, it's okay if

you have a song or even an album come

out that maybe the audience doesn't

resonate with because they're connected

to the brand. They'll likely stick

around for the next one. This is

different than the one hit wonder

stories where the audience loved a song

or two, but then there was no brand to

back it up, so they quietly faded away.

A well-built brand can do so much of the

heavy lifting when it comes to

marketing. A confused brand will always

struggle with the marketing, even if the

product is incredible. For example, look

at Steve Jobs and Apple. Jobs and his

marketing agency sold the story and idea

of think different. Rebels fighting a

system and thinking differently. The

storytelling, visuals, and messaging was

so strong he could have put almost any

product next to it and it would have

worked. Seth Goden, one of the greatest

marketing minds of our generation, says,

"Marketing is no longer about the stuff

you make, but the stories you tell."

This is why it's crucial to have the

movie and story to go along with the

soundtrack that is your music. Without

the movie portion, the audience is

hearing the music, staring at a black

screen, or worse, if the story is

confusing, they're watching scenes in a

movie that they don't understand, tied

to music that they may actually like,

but it all feels disjointed. The music

artists that are your personal heroes

spend time with the stories surrounding

their music. It's par for the course

with legendary music acts. If you want

to connect in the way that they are, you

need to put brand and story at the

forefront of your marketing

conversations. Insight number two, from

I like this to I am this. When someone

wears a t-shirt with your logo on it,

they may just be saying they like your

music, but more than not, it's actually

a way for someone to signal to the world

that they identify with you and your

artist brand. They identify with it so

much that they're willing to be a

walking billboard for you and your

project. Artists are groups with great

music who have done their job with their

storytelling, branding, and properly

conveying what they stand for are

usually the types that get people

wearing their merch. Artists who can

sell merch are on a different level. And