Last night a young man who just recorded his first song called me on phone, he wanted to know what’s next for him and I replied him “From the moment you went in to record that song, you have seized to be an ordinary person.
You’re now a brand, either you know it or not” So it is now your duty to conform to the image that you want your fans to see, the one that sells your music even when your not around. ”
Branding is key for every entertainer, it digs far into every specs of life if you look at it from Music, Entertainment, Business, Politics, etc.
Branding has to do with the way you talk, act, dress, move, the way you are that distinguishes you from the crowd. If you do music and you don’t brand yourself or your music, you are just one in a many and that my friend, is sad and non profitable.
Music superstars knows that they need to have their own style and flare to sell, from the slangs they put in their songs, the way they dress, what their music stands for, their genres and even the lyrics they use.
Now my dear friend, to do this thing called branding you will need to take time and study the already established brands, then you look deep into what distinguishes you as an artistes, then you finally create your own style of brand. Now at first, this might not be easy but you have to love it. Also it might not be easily accepted at first by your fans but with time and your consistency, the world will accept your brand for what it is.
Now Branding has its do and don’ts that needs to be considered before its being successfully forged. Your favourite stars from Adekunle Gold, Dbanj, Simi, Wizkid, Rema all knows and follow these rules secretly without fail. Now, Let’s take a quick look at it.
1. Adekunle Gold: Dekunle is well branded as an African folk/Alternative/Soul Nigerian Music artiste. He clearly knows that his talent is not built for Hip Hop or Secular songs, so he builds around his strength. His songs carries deep messages, also as African sounds infused in it (Shekere, tambourine, percussions, ticks, etc) and the aim of his entire songs his to appreciate life and be happy with it.
This is branding. Dear artiste, for the do’s, build around your strength, aim with your music and have specific sounds that your fans identifies with you. For the don’ts, avoid deeping into your weakness, doing music for the sake of it and don’t ever think money is what music is all about
2. Dbanj: Long after Dbanj relevance is gone, his brand will still pay his bills. These man has built a brand that is even bigger than his music because of his ideas and confidence. Having so many slangs from “It’s Don jazzy agian” to “Kokolets” to being called “Eja Nla” to “Kinihun Fun fuj“.. Dbanj doesn’t get tired of branding himself and his music as the years go by.
Another move towards this is his electric and energetic performance anytime he mounts the stage. He’s arguably one of the best stage performers of all time in Africa. He’s talented but more than that, he’s well branded..
Dear Artiste, for the do’s, Take your brand serious, Always evolve your branding because branding doesn’t stop, create your own stage performance, forge your own slangs to amuse your fans. For the don’ts, don’t be static, branding is not a one off thing. Your today brand might not fit into tomorrow’s.
3. Wizkid, Rema: From the similarities it’s safe to say that Wizkid is the Old version of Rema. These artistes tells a story even before the Music. People love and connect with stories.. So for your fans to connect more with your sound, they need a story. These two artistes tells the story of a young boy making it out of the ghetto despite all the obstacles they faced Your story is part of your branding.
Give it to your fans. Let them know you beyond the microphone and music videos. Dear artistes, For the do’s, Tell a story. Be honest about it. Infuse it into your songs and fans will love you for it. For the don’ts, don’t lie to your fans, don’t build your brand around lies, fans can tell if something is fishy.
There are many more artiste that you as an entertainer can learn from, you just need to take that step and follow it up. Remember Simi is seen as the shy tender soul singer we all love. Cynthia Morgan is the madrina god mother of Nigerian reggae music we all love.. Zlatan is that street artiste with banging hits that is laced with Kapaichumarimarichupako!…
However it goes, whatever you do as an artiste, businessman, politician or so, you have to brand it to sell it.
I am Daniel Scott Eleh
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