First Impressions And Branding - SUPER Important!

One of the most important things to remember with music, and you can't say it enough, is you have to treat your band like a business. And what's one of the most important things for a business to have? 

Branding! 

Your image needs to say you're a professional just as much as McDonalds or Dunkin Donuts has to! You don't want people checking out your band's website or Facebook and seeing poor quality(or questionable content) photos or updates with typos. People will immediately start forming an opinion of your band and that's going to affect your image - and you don't want that to be 'unprofessional' or 'amature'. Same goes with your music. If you're going to record a song, make sure you're not just doing it with your cellphone.. the quality is going to be awful and people WILL remember it (and not with a positive light). 

So how do you make your band's image favorable? Well, there are plenty of things to consider. First think about this:

• What is the forward slash address to your band's website?
• What is the first image you see?
• What is the first thing you read?
• When was the last update?

Then…

• Write words that describe what you see.
• How do these words compare to the words you want people to think?
• Then ask friends to do the same, asking for honest feedback! 

You are aiming for a consistent look and feel across all of your online profiles and pages. This is often very easy to fix and could just mean customizing your URL, updating information, or adding new photos. With a consistent brand identity in place, next consider how you can continue to communicate this consistency across the basic assets you need to support your next release. 

1. Recorded music - Ensure the quality is sufficiently high to have a chance of radio airplay.

2. Press pictures – Do you have a high quality image or images to support this release? Will people want to publish this image? Do these images communicate your style and support the sound of your music?

3. Artwork – Do you have high quality artwork to accompany your single, EP or album? If people judge the music by the cover, what will they conclude?

4. Biography or Press Release – What is the story of this release? Why should people be interested? Who produced or mixed the track? Do you have any quotes from music journalists or DJs supporting the track? Avoid hyperbole – sadly, apart from your mum, nobody is likely to really believe you are greatest band in the world!

5. Video – Do you have a HD quality music video to support your release? It doesn’t have to cost a fortune or be professionally made, but it does have to look great. So be creative! Ensure you add tags to help people find it and provide links to your key online sites and profiles.

Just remember, figure out what you want your band/brand identity to be, and tailor things accordingly. What do you want people to feel or think when they hear your music? Is that how you feel? And use your friends! They're great resources and less connected to the band than you are and will have a more honest opinion.

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