In the music industry, an artist is a brand, and through not only their music but through what they wear and their interviews, they are creating how they want to be perceived. This is where fashion comes in by ensuring that you maintain your image to your audience.
Musicians need to manage their brand and image, and they can do this with the help of fashion. We have seen several artists who have signed contracts with different brands of clothing lines, shoes, perfumes, and engaging in significant talk shows. Branding for a musician is not that easy and comes with a complex structure that needs to be followed. With branding, you can market your music and yourself to people worldwide. Why is that? It gives you the focus on what you need the most to excel in the industry and identifies your audience and how to impress them.
That much said fashion as a branding tool for musicians has proved to produce positive results. What they choose to wear, how they do their hair, how they socialize with the public and the products they use.
Fashion Runways/Imaging
Musicians can choose to perform at runways where models will be wearing different brands of clothes being released to the public. Be in an enticing look as you perform or you can agree with the managers of the runways to appear the first as you wear some of the designer’s clothes and shoes. Get yourself a professional photographer to take your pictures in such an event which you’ll later share with the public via your personal accounts. The image the public sees you as a musician goes beyond that music you produce.
Social Media
The media is the ideal place to market your brand. Social media has become the place where you find the bad or the good vices. Make proper use of it, and I bet you’ll see your brand going in an upward level that you couldn’t have imagined. Be fashionable in all manners (your version of fashionable that fits you), and you’ll be sure to reach out to a large fan base out there. You can upload explicit pictures of you on different platforms wearing trending clothes, caps, cuffs, shoes, the hairstyle or holding the designer perfume you use. Be it Facebook, that has billons of users, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, and all the other social accounts. Make sure what you post and upload on social media is promotional and can drive sales up. The content should be promotional, add value to your fans, and engage your fans.
Co-Branding/Brand Ambassadors
Most established artists have used adequate resources to build their brand and they know the fashion to use in different occasions. You can partner with other brands such as Nike, Adidas, and Converse by wearing their products on major shows such as a live event with an established artist. You can also appear in movies or come up with a clothing line that markets your clothes and in turn will improve your brand. When you perform live you can bring along your T-shirts and merch to sell to the public.
Media and TV Appearance
Apart from social media, a musician needs to maintain their image on TV and other Medias. You need to be correctly dressed on a particular TV interview where you’ll be engaged by the interviewer in answering questions your fans want. Many artists utilize celebrity stylists in order to build the image that they want to be perceived by on TV. Many brands actually contact celebrity stylists, to get their brands to artists that they feel would be a good fit for their brand. It can be when to release your new album, performing the new song on a live TV, or directly talking to your fans.