[page 2 of 3]
Tip Two: Know Your Brand, Know Your Audience, Most of All…
Which brings us to a very key question, one I ask every artist for whom I’m hired to write a bio and one surprisingly few indie performers has deeply considered: what’s your brand? How is your image and presence projected into—and received by—the world? If you as an artist cannot answer that question in a 60-second elevator speech, if you can’t characterize how you stand-out, then neither will your audience, bloggers, journalists, disc jockeys or anyone else; worse yet, they will brand you themselves and trust me, you don’t want that. There’s nothing worse than being famous for someone you aren’t. So, figure it 
out and let that brand evolve as you evolve. As your life changes and you change, so should your brand (consider Jarrard Anthony’s transformation from early 2000s lothario to spiritual family man), sometimes per major projects ala Janet. Then consider how that brand is relatable to your audience.
While we’re on the subject of things worth knowing, one needs to have a real come to Jesus conversation with oneself and ask: who is my audience really? Now we know artists like to think of themselves as having the universal appeal of a Beyonce, typically answering such a question with the response: “everyone is my audience.” But, that simply isn’t so. Even Mrs. Shawn Carter doesn’t appeal to everyone. Nailing down your demography can be tricky, but if your music is highly experimental electrosoul with deconstructed melodies and little reliance on hooks, chances are that you’re a niche artist whose base audience is equally niche. That’s not to say more mainstream audiences can’t appreciate what you do, but even elected officials know to secure their base and keep them happy before branching out to disparate, less sure audiences. This is after all your career we’re discussing.
Unbridled self-honesty is key here. If you’re strumming your pain with your fingers on the coffeehouse and NACA circuit with an acoustic guitar and a reedy or gravelly voice, then maybe you should make plans for next year’s South By Southwest festival and bumrush every AAA radio station and blog site around to reach those crossover audiences that artists like Allen Stone, Jack Johnson and Anthony David cultivated for years. Retro-soul acts like Vintage Trouble, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings and even funky rock-ish R&B acts like The Endangered, Cody ChestnuTT and Martin Luther also have proven audiences in this young white alternative scene (note: all of these artists dress their brand).
If you’re doing a lot of gospel runs and rebel yells over a Fender Rhodes and the whole vibe just begs for incense, then don’t be mad when the crowds you survey are largely in, what is politely termed, their middle years. Don’t be mad that podcasts catering to electronic hipsters aren’t playing you and don’t waste your time pursuing the tastemakers gatekeeping those sites, zines, podcasts and internet radio stations. Work your urban adult contemporary, smooth jazz, soul circuit, cruise, and festival scenes both here and abroad (especially Japan, UK, France, and Germany). We’re talking the rule, not the exception. Some audiences are listening to Fun, Foreign Exchange, Rick Ross and Maysa back-to-back, but you will catch those chameleons by being so great that they’ll be seeking you out, not the other way around. So knowing the taste, culture, and demography of your audience is critical and then tailoring your visual, written, and verbal messaging to those audiences so that they know who you are, what to expect, and most importantly, that you are made for them. Then watch them tell their friends and fam about you.
If you don’t fit in anywhere and are as eclectically weird as Lady Gaga then you’re probably exactly what the hipsters want and that’s a scene among itself. But, Gaga doesn’t shop at Gap, and if you do, you’re no Gaga. Be real with you. Consider the possibility of other kinds of performance stages to get your music out there. I’ve worked with artists to re-consider their brand for the cabaret set and the live theater/performance art circuit as a one-man or one-woman show, because that’s a better fit. It’s worked for Bette Midler and Sandra Bernhard for decades now. Poetry and steppers’ scenes also pay.
.