Artist and Branding research

Research 

7 Musicians that nailed their branding campaigns 

01. Taylor Swift 

She is one of pop's biggest and most influential artists. Has been since the 1989's. Practically reinventing herself for each new album release, a lot of them containing polaroid-heavy and nostalgic themes, all created by boutique agency ST8MNT. According to the article Taylor received some black-lash in comments after being accused of being a "back-stabber", she then took action by deleting her Instagram feed and replacing it with images of snakes, teasing fans, letting them know that instead of being toxic she is plainly ruthless. 

02. The 1975 

British indie band. Their digipacks/album covers consisted of mostly plain and basic shapes Creative director, artist, graphic designer and photographer, Samuel Johnson is responsible for most of their designs. A lot of them often included a rectangle around their name making a statement that keeping things clear and simple can "work wonders". This has made for easy campaigning as fans started tattooing this simple design onto their bodies. 

03. Paramore

Paramore had a shuffle in team members. They released their 2017 album after laughter, which completely changed the band's image from pop-punk kids to a "glossy, 80s inspired group". After Laughter used a lot of different toned colours as well as clashing patterns amongst others, this was created by LA designer Scott Clearly. Much to die-hard fans' dismay, the group has completely changed their image to vibrant and radiant colours with bold actions carrying through into their music videos. This was to attack mental health issues which were very beneficial to them. 

04. Slowthai 

He titled his album 'Nothing Great About Britain'. This was a political statement and was plastered all over billboards in the UK. These had facts about the problems and hard issues that were happening in Britain, for example, homelessness, hate crime, mental health issues, etc. Encouraging fans to send photos of the billboards was a smart way to engage with fans and create buzz around the album before its release. 

05. Christine and the Queens 

Christine and the Queens kind of changed her name (branding image) as she then changed her name to just Chris a fluid identity. By releasing her first album with Christine and the Queens name scribbled out and had just the name Chris below, automatically creating a buzz. 

06. Ariana Grande 

Ariana Grande released her album 'No tears left to cry' with an upside-down image of her as the main image. Jessica Severn was the designer of this upside-down branding image that extended through her music videos. She also released her own Instagram filter for the branding campaign, which was a fun way to engage with fans. 

07. Ed Sheeran 

After taking a break Ed Sheeran came back to social media posting a picture of a blue square which sparked interest amongst fans. The use of one bold colour a long with a plain divide symbol became one of the singers most successful branding campaigns, designed by Adult art club.  

Branding Power 

The two main points are to make sure it is accessible and shareable

• Become more than just a 'singer' gain the public eye e.g. develop a well situated social media presence. 
• Portray an image they want to be seen as and a brand they created themselves 
• make public debuts, keep in the public eye for some parts. 

Accesiable :

• The accessibility of an artists music video or song is vital to their branding development and creates a longer lasting image in the public eye. 
• Use things such as the internet to their advantage, making sure they keep their fans updated.
• The internet can compliment artists that are constantly releasing new videos e.g. how Wiz Khalifia got 60 million views on a music video he shared. 

Shareable :

• the usage of social media has propelled the sharing views of music videos 
• Can be used to enter a new target audience e.g. how Justin Bieber wanted to evolve to an audience that includes adults when he released his video 'As long as you love me'. 

Demi Lovato digipaks' 

You can see over the years how Demi Lovato's imaging has evolved. She goes from being a teen friendly image, using pinks and 'girly' fonts targeting a younger generation. This may have been to entice girls that were in their adolescent years, she came across as a figure that they would someday want to be or be like. A common theme is the colour black and how it is represent through each album colour, it gives a mysterious vibe but may also indicate how some of her songs may be sad or meaningful looking into deeper or darker topics (depending on the age she is targeting in each album release). As we get to the more recent one there is a clear depiction of selling her body or body image rather than the songs themselves. You cans ee a clear social standing in how she is trying to conform to mainstream trends where in order to be successful asan artist or celebritity you have to show a lot of skin. She deems the album cover 'Confident' but people could argue that it may only make people of teen or young adult years more insecure in that to be confident this is the standard you have to live up too. She has changed with the years and the generations still trying to keep up with trends of teens, where before it was bright coloured lipstick and some type of jewelry with maybe a 'cool' top, nowadays selling 'sex' is the most relied upon way to gain hype or fame, conforming to the way in which teens in the 21st centuray dress with tank tops and short skirts. She is always the main feature in each cover, highlighting her brand image and keeping her face in viewers minds. This is almost a free way of publicity in a way that someone might rethink about the digipak cover they may have seen in store and follow up on that enquiry. It makes her easier to recognise, so people can put a face to the name, hence why she may be so famous now in regards to her being a prodominant face in the film and music industry.