When creating things, we are pressed to categorize and place names on them. Whether it be a new song or a painting, eventually the piece must be given a title, so that people can get a better understanding of what it is. Sure, you can listen or look at the thing and get a general idea, but the name usually helps drive the message home. Some might say you are branding your work. If you ask me, there is no question about it, YOU ARE.
When a group of musicians decide to give their collective self a name, that’s branding. Now you may not like this for whatever reason, but it is true. That is why it is good to assume responsibility for the brand that you have inserted into the public minutiae.
While it is hard to control how you are perceived, you can still be proactive in managing what is out there in relation to the brand that you are associated. Ultimately, your customers, fans or associates aid in defining your brand. You can help them by supplying them with the information you would like them to share.
On October 8th, in metropolitan area of Detroit, Michigan, there will be an event that is set to help you manage your personal brand. Aptly called BrandCamp, it features internationally-known speakers that run the gamut of entrepreneurs, communication professionals and folks with significant celebrity. This event was founded by Hajj Flemings, author of The Brand YU Life
I was recently interviewed by David Murray for BrandCamp on my thoughts on personal branding. The main takeaway that I iterated is good for artists that lead “double lives.” Hopefully, both of your personalities are on the up-and-up or you will find yourself in a lot of trouble in places you might not want.
I would prefer the artists I support be who they are at all times, but if you must distinguish your different personas, then realize that your fans may be different than your friends. With that comes more work, because life is hard like that. I plan to talk about this more in future blog posts, so stay tuned.
Check out my brief interview and let me know what your thoughts on personal branding in the comments.
Stay up on the latest Frying in Vein material by subscribing to the RSS feed by Email. Thanks for visiting!
Related Posts:
Photo by csgholz
On Sunday, June 20th, I was invited to participate in a session at the Allied Media Conference in Detroit. The session was designed to be a catalyst agent to building a new music economy for artists in the city. Fronted by Ilana “Invincible” Weaver and Monica Blaire, the roundtable discussion focused on providing solutions to the problem ailing most music acts in the city of Detroit. As it becomes very apparent that artists tend to feel more loved away than at home, there was a feeling that more could be done to change the situation.
Although the scenario was brief, it was a powerful move in getting the future leaders of Detroit’s music business community together. [Other] Key persons in attendance were Vaughn Taylor of SplinkMe, Nina Morena and Jocelyne Ninneman of Fusicology, Sicari Ware and Piper Carter of 5e Gallery and journalists Tamara Warren and Jonathan Cunningham. One of the biggest takeaways from the discussion was that all parties in attendance should look to pool resources to build a stronger unit for the community. Instead of continuing working in silos, we should band together and create a unified network that encourages quality over quantity and garners brand recognition.
I know I look forward to working closely with everyone that I connected with at the conference. Hopefully there will be reports of progress in the very close future. As an advocate of leading by example, I look to coordinate some collaborative projects intending to help the music community at-large in Detroit.
A big thank you goes out to Invincible for the invite to participate. Make a point to follow her on Twitter.
Quick question: when you think about the business of music, what is your vision of a thriving economy?
Related articles by Zemanta
- Jackson 5 exhibit opens at Detroit’s Motown museum (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
- Thinking outside the box: how to save Detroit (hermenaut.org)
- Unicycles and Dart Guns at Maker Faire Detroit (craftzine.com)
Related Posts:
SoundCloud is one of our favorite places to discover new music. There is a little bit of everything on there, but if you love electronic-based jams, you cannot beat the diversity of sounds on the site.
One of the coolest features on SoundCloud is the ability to follow artists and interact with them. With that idea in mind, we have decided to bring some of that interactivity here. Introducing SoundCloud Players, we will interview artists on SoundCloud that we dig and give you the opportunity to check out some of our favorite works by them. We hope you enjoy!
Our first feature act is Doc Illingsworth (Disclosure – I, Hubert Sawyers III, manage this act). He is a rapper / producer from Detroit, MI and is a member of the hip hop group, Detroit CYDI. He also released an instrumental collaborative project with a Swedish gentleman by the name of Erik L. You can check out the album called Northern Connection
read more…
Related Posts:
Over Labor Day Weekend, the great Midwestern city of Chicago will host the North Coast Music Festival (NCMF). This particular festival will have performances by The Chemical Brothers, Nas and Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley, Boys Noize and De La Soul, as well as FryinginVein.com favorites Phantogram and Mayer Hawthorne & the County.
To promote the music festival, NCMF is hosting a contest for one (1) band and one (1) DJ to get the opportunity to play a 45-minute set at the festival. They are pushing for crowd participation to pick the best of the pack. The entries are in and the voting has commenced. Obviously, we like to share our taste and our pick is the hip hop group – CROWN NATION. Crown Nation is a duo from out of Detroit. The members are FryinginVein.com notable Quelle and Denmark Vessey; both of whom are vocalists and music producers.
Help us get Crown Nation to the top 10 to get a chance to advance. You can vote ONCE A DAY until August 15th. Here’s the details right from NCMF:
Voting
Between August 2nd and August 15th, vote once per day, every day, if you want to make a life-changing difference in the life of one band and one DJ. Each e-mail address will be allotted one vote per day, so encourage your supporters to vote early and often!The Decision
On August 15th, the votes will be tallied and North Coast Music Festival organizers will choose 10 Finalists out of the Top 20 Vote-Getters. These finalists will play a private show for organizers and their guests at a yet-to-be-disclosed location. Wow us, and you’ll be one of two winners. We’ll pick 1 Band and 1 DJ to join the main stages for a 45-minute set. He, Her, or They will be showered with praise and good fortune.
Check out our favorite song of their project – Slut Bag Edition – “Deal Wit It.” Then Vote for Crown Nation today!
Related Posts:
- Image via Wikipedia
We have talked about merchandise in our Masters of Content series. If you read the posts and felt defeated, then mope no more! We were on Hypebot the other day and learned about Merchluv, which is where “artists inspire artists.” Sounds like utopia, doesn’t it? This is an interesting model - crowd-sourced merchandise. Imagine the possibilities.
Here’s a summary of how the service works where band meets arts-and-crafts and then get married and/or do business (however you want to see it):
Musicians just upload their logos, photos, etc. Then designers buy a license for 99¢ to make an original merch sample and post their creation on Mechluv. If it sells, the designer ships directly to the fan and band gets 20% of the sale. Bands can also negotiate to purchase higher quantities of an item to sell directly to their fans.
Via Hypebot
This opens so many new opportunities. If you use this service, please come share with us your experience. We would love to do a feature on you!
Related Posts:
- Image via CrunchBase
Alex Zelenka is a producer and DJ from Chicago, IL. The tracks you can find him making and/or playing vary between tech house, electronica, nu disco and everything in-between. He has a new project available for free download under the title Morphemic.
Alex has impressive stats on SoundCloud for someone we just recently came to know. He has an impressive resume with a considerable amount of releases. We asked him a few questions about his experiences on the site and what his approach to using it.
1) Why do you use SoundCloud? What are some success stories that you have had using the site?
Well, I was one of the first 400 artists who got to test the site before it was officially released and I have proudly used its features (widgets) to release my music for free digital downloads on multi songs.
2) Do you have any strategy with how you’re using SoundCloud?
Normally, I seek out songs and artists I like and follow their work and by using some of the share features it allows to me share music with my favorite artists as well.
3) Who are some of your favorite artists to check for on SoundCloud?
Crystal Castles
cliquetalk
Secret Shadows
Lucky Date
jasontyler
Kill Paris
Da Fresh
4) If there was one feature that you would like added to SoundCloud what would it be?
I think a chat box would be pretty sweet to talk with online artists or maybe an app to design album covers.
5) Who/what are your influences? What songs that you feature on SoundCloud are good examples of these influences?
I am influenced by all genres of music, I have always been in love with the expression through sound.
Here are a few of our favorite tracks [and a mix] from Alex Zelenka:
Legends (Original mix) by Alex Zelenka
Crystal Castles Untrust Us (Alex Zelenka Remix) by Alex Zelenka
La Roux – Bulletproof Zelenka Remix by Alex Zelenka
Related Posts:
Image via Wikipedia
This video is posted purely for the sake of noting a popular p0rn star is prominently featured in it. Nothing about this video is pornographic. Nothing about this video is life-changing or inspiring, so it doesn’t fall under the concept of an Audio/Visual Gem. The song is solid and AVN Award winner Gianna Michaels is in it.
Dyme Def is a rap crew out of Washington state and they have a new project called Sex Tape, sponsored by the T.I.T.S Brand (you’re getting how all this ties in, right?). If the sound of this song resonates with you, then you should support the video production budget (Gianna was probably paid $$$$) and buy Sex Tape. Here are the links (Label store / iTunes).
Once you are done watching and/or listening, how effective do you think this marriage of media producers will be? Everything seems to be in place. How do you their respective audiences will respond?
