Research: Why is branding so important to the music industry?

Critic: Ruth Simmons:
"More than ever, Brands purport to interact through our social and emotional sensibilities to make personal connections and build trust with us. 
Whatever the Brand sector - soft drinks, automobiles, cell phones, athletic shoes or video games - our senses will either respond positively, negatively or not at all, impacting our level of interaction and desire for the Brand offering.

Thirty to forty years ago, the suggestion that we would be able to recognize and understand Brand values from a pantone colour, a font style or a name was as questionable as implying that we should be able to recognize a brand from its sound. Today, an entire industry has been built around tactile and visual processes involved in understanding and building Brands, from graphics to the semiotics of names, from packaging to color."

Personality psychologist Raymond Catell states:

"So powerful is the effect of music, that one is surprised to find in the history of psychology so little reference to the use of music." It is no secret that Brands invest a great deal of energy and money on comprehensive research to fortify their evolving trust - relationship with consumers. They do this because they understand that if this trust is violated or misused, the customer/client is gone. So why are so many Brands still reactive in their choice and usage of music? Are Brands asking themselves "do we really understand our consumer in relation to music, not just their lifestyle, but what makes a heart beat to the music?"

An extract from a blog on: 'The importance of branding your band'

According to Brandon Marcel Cherry branding your band is hugely important in the music industry. I couldn’t agree more with him. Especially in this day in age in the music industry. The current model isn’t working for many artists. I was on the phone the other day with a very good friend of mine who has been working with top charting artists and he said, “Dude, these artists are charting man, getting national radio play, but they are struggling to get by.”

I believe what we as artists need to understand that times have changed. You cannot be following the old model of selling music to create a living. It’s so much more than that now. Even the idea of touring and selling merchandise is seeing a decline in sales. Don’t get me wrong artists are selling merch, but not on the scale they were 10 years ago. More than ever, it is about the brand you establish. My definition of brand is lifestyle. Remember, people do business with artists they like, know and trust. So, you need to create a lifestyle that fans can attach themselves to and want to support.

You should be using your music as a form of creating relationships and building a following. You’re music is a means to an end, not the end. Did you know that Lady Gaga gives away more music than she sells…and she sales of ton of music!

Lady Gaga understands the importance of branding your band. She has created more than music; she has created a lifestyle that people have identified with and as a result, they want to follow and support.

I believe this mindset is critical for approaching the future of music. I want to leave you with four questions you need to answer for creating a brand for your band:

1. Who are you as a band?
2. How do you want the world to see you?
3. Why would the world want to be attached to you?
4. How can you present who you are to the world with excellence?

Looking at these 3 critical views- i can see that they're all talking about the need of a strong relationship with an audience. The basic feel is that we must be aware that the old model of selling music has changed and we must conform to the new ideas in order for a brand to succeed. Phillip Kotler says that:

"A brand is a seller’s promise to deliver a specific set of features, benefits and service consistently. According to Al Ries, a brand is a symbol, a name or a logo that someone owns in the minds of the customer.These definitions of a brand holds true across industries."

In conclusion, without branding, artists would fail to be recognised as individuals and with every artist conforming to old methods of branding: following the tradition- the music industry would just be full of clone-artists all making the same styled tedious music causing the music industry to suffer massively from profit loss and it's audience's support.