There are two main streams when marketing and promoting your record label. The first stream is focussed on generating sales for individual releases through activities such as tastemaker promotions and the subsequent use of that feedback, which was covered in this earlier blog article. The second stream surrounds the more general activities of branding, making your record label visible, generating exposure and building up profile over time. In this article I will look at the importance of visual identity.
By giving your label a strong brand and visual identity and seeking out opportunities to spread the word via that brand/identity you can create something that fans will buy into and keep coming back for more, thus generating you more money. Unlike many other music genres where the artist is far more important than the label, within dance music the label brand can be just as strong, if not the strongest selling point. DJs trust labels and will continue to return and check out specific labels they like. An unknown artist will often get overlooked on an unknown and poorly branded label, but an unknown artist on a label with a strong brand and identity will still attract interest.
The list below covers the key ideas around the topic of branding and visual identity. The web is full of articles on branding, so I will focus on how some of the most important points can be applied to a record label.
1. What do you want to convey?
A brand is all about who you are – it reflects the underlying beliefs of your record label and your image but will also be defined by what people think of you. If you release dark, driving techno then you probably want to convey a different message to a label releasing light, soulful house. This needs to come across in everything you do from your name and logo to the way you advertise releases and talk to customers.
2. Logo
Have a great, strong, instantly recognisable logo and use it everywhere – on your release artwork, website, social networking sites, email signatures, gig flyers and so on. Your logo is the starting point for your visual identity and should reflect your brand, beliefs and the music (would a light, soulful house label use a skull and crossbones for their logo?).
3. Integrate the brand
As well as using a strong logo, integrate your brand values and identity into all places where customers (or influential people who might say nice things about you) come into contact with your label. The style of your artwork, websites, social networking sites, blogs and all other places should reflect the brand and identity.
4. Consistency
Whatever your brand is it is very important to be consistent both in terms of the message you are conveying and the way you represent that through your identity and communications across all mediums. That way you will become more instantly recognised. Where possible use the same colours, styles and templates, make your communications have the same ‘feel’ to them, use similar language and one that reflects the overall brand. All online presence of your label should be kept up to date – out of date websites and Myspace pages are of no real use to anybody and can quickly dilute the brand you have built up.
Below are some examples of record labels that have developed a strong brand and visual identity.
Buzzin Fly
Ben Watt’s Buzzin Fly has become one of the most well known deep house and techno labels in the world, due in part to their strong brand and unique, instantly recognisable identity. The name, styles and overall feel of the label are consistent in every single communication from their website, newsletters and Myspace through to their release artwork, radio show and club events. Everything is kept completely up to date helping to further engage fans.
Deepology
A Russian deep and tech house label – what impresses me about Deepology is their consistency in terms of their identity across a number of platforms. They use the same style artwork and colour schemes and push their tagline “In Love with Deepology” – check out their website, Myspace and Beatport page.
Rekids
A UK based tech house label. Rekid’s have a very strong identity in terms of the overall style used, the main ‘R’ logo and the artwork – it conveys a serious and crisp approach yet with the occasional hint of fun, much like their music. All of this is in evidence on their website and is consistent across their Myspace page. I feel that the Rekids brand is diluted a little, however, because the information is not always kept up to date.
Companies I’m Involved in
I personally still have a great deal to learn about branding but hope that I’m headed in the right direction. With Kahua you’ll notice that this blog, the website and Myspace page are all consistent in their both their message (professional yet personal (hopefully!)) and their identity. This also follows through in all other company communications from newsletters to emails to administrative paperwork.
With Lost My Dog, our ‘brand’ is one of a serious and professional record label, but with a fun edge. This message is conveyed from the name and logo through to the artwork and ‘feel’ of our website. We try to take the style of the website and apply it to other public facing areas of the business.
By giving your label a strong brand and visual identity and seeking out opportunities to spread the word via that brand/identity you can create something that fans will buy into and keep coming back for more, thus generating you more money. Unlike many other music genres where the artist is far more important than the label, within dance music the label brand can be just as strong, if not the strongest selling point. DJs trust labels and will continue to return and check out specific labels they like. An unknown artist will often get overlooked on an unknown and poorly branded label, but an unknown artist on a label with a strong brand and identity will still attract interest.
The list below covers the key ideas around the topic of branding and visual identity. The web is full of articles on branding, so I will focus on how some of the most important points can be applied to a record label.
1. What do you want to convey?
A brand is all about who you are – it reflects the underlying beliefs of your record label and your image but will also be defined by what people think of you. If you release dark, driving techno then you probably want to convey a different message to a label releasing light, soulful house. This needs to come across in everything you do from your name and logo to the way you advertise releases and talk to customers.
2. Logo
Have a great, strong, instantly recognisable logo and use it everywhere – on your release artwork, website, social networking sites, email signatures, gig flyers and so on. Your logo is the starting point for your visual identity and should reflect your brand, beliefs and the music (would a light, soulful house label use a skull and crossbones for their logo?).
3. Integrate the brand
As well as using a strong logo, integrate your brand values and identity into all places where customers (or influential people who might say nice things about you) come into contact with your label. The style of your artwork, websites, social networking sites, blogs and all other places should reflect the brand and identity.
4. Consistency
Whatever your brand is it is very important to be consistent both in terms of the message you are conveying and the way you represent that through your identity and communications across all mediums. That way you will become more instantly recognised. Where possible use the same colours, styles and templates, make your communications have the same ‘feel’ to them, use similar language and one that reflects the overall brand. All online presence of your label should be kept up to date – out of date websites and Myspace pages are of no real use to anybody and can quickly dilute the brand you have built up.
Below are some examples of record labels that have developed a strong brand and visual identity.
Buzzin Fly
Ben Watt’s Buzzin Fly has become one of the most well known deep house and techno labels in the world, due in part to their strong brand and unique, instantly recognisable identity. The name, styles and overall feel of the label are consistent in every single communication from their website, newsletters and Myspace through to their release artwork, radio show and club events. Everything is kept completely up to date helping to further engage fans.
Deepology
A Russian deep and tech house label – what impresses me about Deepology is their consistency in terms of their identity across a number of platforms. They use the same style artwork and colour schemes and push their tagline “In Love with Deepology” – check out their website, Myspace and Beatport page.
Rekids
A UK based tech house label. Rekid’s have a very strong identity in terms of the overall style used, the main ‘R’ logo and the artwork – it conveys a serious and crisp approach yet with the occasional hint of fun, much like their music. All of this is in evidence on their website and is consistent across their Myspace page. I feel that the Rekids brand is diluted a little, however, because the information is not always kept up to date.
Companies I’m Involved in
I personally still have a great deal to learn about branding but hope that I’m headed in the right direction. With Kahua you’ll notice that this blog, the website and Myspace page are all consistent in their both their message (professional yet personal (hopefully!)) and their identity. This also follows through in all other company communications from newsletters to emails to administrative paperwork.
With Lost My Dog, our ‘brand’ is one of a serious and professional record label, but with a fun edge. This message is conveyed from the name and logo through to the artwork and ‘feel’ of our website. We try to take the style of the website and apply it to other public facing areas of the business.
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