When your collaboration can make or break someone else’s product, you’ve reached the top of the musical food chain. The path to this position is not in dollars but rather in the influence of your work, because notoriety remains above all a question of reach and authority.
Dropping a bombshell in the music industry is all about maximizing, capitalizing, and optimizing that interaction link between your story and the user. By elevating your brand through appropriate branding, authentic collaborations, strategic outreach, and diverse visibility, your art can do more than delight the user – it can trigger viewing to actions of broader commitment.
Branding: level one on one
Branding is a mosaic of an artist’s characteristics. The totality represents the identity, intent and integrity of the art itself. If as an artist, your brand archetype cannot meet the five Ws (who, what, when, where, why) and cousin H (how), you are definitely missing a few tiles in this mosaic.
For example, Moneybagg Yo, the American rapper and fashion influencer, has developed a brand identity that encapsulates wealth, streetwear, and the infamous “money talks” lifestyle. (Full disclosure: Moneybagg Yo is a former MPT agency client.) As he explains in his interview with Angela Martinez, looking classy — even using fake jewelry — was something he had to do to compete and maximize his archetype’s visibility. The raison d’être of his brand is to release wealth and power. Whether or not he was able to personally afford this lavish figure was secondary to the significance of portraying him in public.
Content Delivery Strategy: Abundance Helps Flood
Having a large content portfolio can be a powerful asset in generating mass engagement and branding the campaign itself. Ambition, when executed with impunity, can be an unstoppable force in the market. Content is a space you create to give space to talk about your work, whatever you post. Imagine that it will be projected through your deployment and when the audience consumes it, it will engage you in that space. Make music part of something bigger than just content – and make content something bigger than just publishing.
For example, in 2017, LA rapper R-Mean used a campaign strategy to take his music releases to the next level. (Full disclosure: R-Mean is a former MPT agency client.) Both bold and consistent in his delivery, he released 52 songs in 52 weeks to virally worsen his reach. The campaign became a testament to the form of content at scale, which became more likely to like, share and comment.
Diversify through your own shadow
When you reach the limit of your creative personality, it’s time to reach out and build with others. Your brand may be complementary to the attitudes of others, may have similar target markets, etc. Either way, you have to accept that you are and never will be all-encompassing; collaborating and diversifying your talent is a natural part of the industry and your rise to fame.
50 Cent went from rapper to entrepreneur during the early years of his big breakup. Despite going bankrupt in 2015, 50 Cent had a stake in markets parallel to its music, including fashion, spirits and beverages, and even metals and accessories. Today, he’s deeply involved in film, HBO television, and everything behind the scenes.
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Collaboration is key
Synchronizing your builds with partners in the ecosystem around you can give you an advantage. The most important part of strategic collaborations is that they are executed with precision. Such collaborative efforts could naturally bring a lot of new retinas to your brand.
For example, Canadian electro-pop group Jeff Fetes (aka Riotron) has worked with the biggest names in the industry to propel their brand. Teaming up with legend Big Freedia on a new song opened new circles with its message about self-love and self-acceptance: two very powerful themes in music branding. Due to the algorithmic nature of search engines during Big Freedia’s recent collaboration on Beyonce’s album, Renaissance, for the single “Break My Soul”, Riotron is now part of a wider range of search terms, increasing its visibility among diagonal content pools.
Conclusion
The art of collaboration can be done in four strategic ways as an artist. At the first level, you need to refine your brand image. If you can’t afford the car you’re talking about, at least take a few photos in one. When posting content, look at the entire campaign rather than the individual post. The means could invariably have an impact on the ends.
Diversifying your art output isn’t a brand change, it’s an increase in character and reputation. As an artist, your voice can be heard on different stages. Don’t be afraid to make a relevant leap; your talent will speak for itself and help you build a strong network.
Collaborations carried out vertically or diagonally in your sector can only extend your reach. When your sound meshes well with another person’s style, it’s a window of opportunity to build a powerful organic link. Don’t be afraid or want to share the limelight. If your music can make more people happy, what are you waiting for?