Identifying Your Unique Selling Point as a Musician
Credit: RobStone/Flickr
Unless you were immediately snapped up by a manager and/or huge agency after graduating, the business of building your image as a freelance professional rests fairly and squarely on your shoulders alone. Please remember that image without talent is like a violin minus a string. Equally, an awesome artistic gift is severely limited in potential if you fail to develop an appropriate image to accompany it.
As a freelance musician, I’ve seen individual careers dominated by the image the musician cultivates. So what is image? In simple terms, your image is how you are perceived by others. This can refer to your public persona, private life or both.
The Traditional View
In the freelance music world, classic music marketing will advise you to break down that definition into “public” and “private.” In practice, this means it doesn’t matter that you have the personality and style of Lady Gaga; on the concert platform, traditionalists’ claim that you are seen as a professional only if you maintain the impression of an uncomfortable stuffed penguin.
Frankly, I’m not surprised that classical music has become an irrelevance to the majority of the populace, especially the younger generation. Neither does it come as a shock to learn that audiences are dwindling and average age increasing.
The academics in their scholastic towers seem largely unsupportive as they cling to their own educated egos, emphasis on paper qualifications and argument that classical music is “high art” which should not be “popularised and therefore debased.”
I argue that the industry is well overdue for an overhaul in the image department and I’m not alone.
The Innovative Approach
Mercifully for the general public, growing numbers of musicians are embracing the Internet buzz words “authenticity” and “transparency.”
Human beings are curious by nature – consider the popularity of TV soap operas. Dare to be different and assume for one moment that audiences are not only fascinated by the music you produce but even more interested in discovering more about the person behind the art – what makes you tick; your story.
Have you ever wondered why so many artists fall too easily into a life of alcohol and drugs? Unless you would prefer a recipe for potentially developing a damaging psychological disorder, I strongly suggest that your image is based on the real you. To my mind, it’s sheer folly to try and separate your character and life experiences from your craft. Your music reflects you; you are your music; ergo your image.
Discovery Exercises:
- Work through a few on-line personality type tests
- Ask your family describe your character in 100 words or less
- Look through your wardrobe as if you were a stranger. What sort of person do you see?
- What are your interests outside music?
- What emotional challenges have you had to face and how do you draw on these when making decisions on interpretation?
Your USP
USP is marketing speak for Unique Selling Point. You might like to think of this as your “X-Factor” – that additional “something” you can offer that enables you to shine above the thousands of others vying for attention in the marketplace.
Try these questions:
- What can you offer your industry that is unique to you?
- List the reasons why people should pay good money to come and hear you play as opposed to better known musicians.
- Define the demographics and composition of the type of audience you aim to attract.
- Can you offer an experience as opposed to a recital?
- Do you mix art forms in one event e.g., music, photography and food?
Working through these exercises, be sure to keep the answers safe. Your findings will become very important when considering branding – a topic I’ll discuss in a future post.
Photo credit: Some rights reserved by RobStone on Flickr
I volunteer at a community radio station in Tucson, Arizona.
A few months ago, a member of the paid staff and I were having a chat about the lack of unhappy people around the station. And this is a radio station with more than a few musicians in its midst.
Most of the station’s on- and off-air people are volunteers. And some of the volunteers have been doing their KXCI-FM thing for decades.
But you won’t meet a lot of people who are bitter because they didn’t get their Big Break in music or broadcasting, so, instead, they bide their time at Tucson’s community radio station. Where the rest of us have to put up with them.
Nor will you meet staff people who are glomming onto record producers and music promoters in hopes of getting That Grand Opportunity to Become a Star.
Instead, you’ll hear a lot of chatting and joking about being recognized in public places. Like the other staff member who told us about how someone recognized her by voice. In a public restroom, no less. We all got a big laugh out of that one.
Yep, around our station, you’ll just meet a lot of content, centered people. And don’t you go thinking that we’re some sort of cult or something. Heck, we’d make a lousy cult. We can’t even agree on pizza toppings. (Woe to the person who gets to call out for a pizza order.)
So, what’s my point? Here it comes:
When it comes to being successful in the music world, angst is vastly overrated. Instead, the successful musicians seem to be the ones who are content with their lot in life. Even if they have to work a day job.
Thanks for this interesting post! I think many of us creative types get a blank look on our faces when people start talking about USP… it can be really tricky, especially if you’re more modest than – Lady Gaga!
I’m a designer and artist and I’d love to read more about this topic both when it comes to creatives in general as well as in respect to artists.
Good article. The truth hurts. I agree and will go even further to say that music education institutions are self serving entities that are out of touch with the times. Going to music school to learn to play antiquated classical instruments that there are no jobs for on the outside and the general public doesn’t care to listen to is just short of criminal. Thank goodness for Berklee, U of North Texas and a few other forward thinking schools.
I am a professional musician and I recieved a great music education at my alma mater, without question as a classical percussionist but the odds of landing even a part-time salaried orchestra gig are astronomical. I make my living playing contemporary music on drumset and teaching private lessons. The drumset, by the way, was not on the curriculum for percussion majors, but you could elect to take private lessons on the side…wich is ironic because I made my living and paid my bills in college on the drumset gigging……not by playing timpani.
I do appreciate my schooling and it is helpful to have that knowledge but it’s I would have traded some of the stuffy antiquated material we had to learn for some business 101 classes, Entrepreneurship 101, Marketing 101, and the list could go on.
Anyway, just my hurried ramblings but I get and appreciate that you said what you said in this article and am glad to see another musician who feels similarly.
Thanks for your appreciation of the article, Toby.
Like you, I can’t fault the musical training I received at the RCM in London but at the time no attention was given to the actual business of being a working musician.
In the US particularly – where I’m planning to visit several times next year – there still seem to be too much emphasis on securing a declining number of orchestral jobs for players.
Having run my own company, IMO, education and academia in general is notoriously slow in reacting to change and change is precisely what the classical music industry needs.
I’m a big proponent for musicians creating portfolio careers and by that I mean other related activity outside of actually playing their instruments.
I suppose you could call my “day job” writing and editing for musicians, although being freelance does give me considerably more flexibility than having to adhere to set hours.
The concept of success is how you personally define it. Traditional classical music education is mercifully changing to move from the “perform or nothing” to “ensure your skill set is diversified”
Am I overflowing with angst? No – because I have chosen this path. Stress is caused by walking a road out of necessity and not choice so I’m a truly happy bunny. It is this that I want to encourage.
BTW: Much prefer live radio to TV
At least I can broadcast in my PJs 
Ha! You can tell that I don’t know my way round Freelance Switch yet – apologies to Martha for posting a comment as opposed to a reply.
Kate – I have loads of on-line resources on the subjects which you mention. I’ve spent the last week with head down editing a book for another clarinettist so haven’t the links to hand at this very moment but I will get back to you.
Email me a reminder if you wouldn’t mind – willing heart but head like a sieve!
I agree Marion. I just read an uplifting article about more and more music schools teaching a “portfolio”, as you put it, of skills lately which is encouraging.
Funny you should mention that because I make parts of my living doing photography which I learned to support my music publishing endeavors. Graphic design and web design also generate income for me as well but both also sprang out of a necessity to create my own publications and web presences to promote my music career. I also earn regular income as a recording studio owner/engineer as well as studio musician.
Diversity has been helpful to me and every “side” skill is directly or indirectly related to me being able to build a life doing music. Deciding to generate some profitability from those side skills is just a personal choice even though I don’t focus full time energy on those activities.
I am glad to have found your most helpful and inspiring website Marion. Best of luck and thank you for all the wonderful information.
We seem to be travelling along the same career path, Toby – lol!
One thought with your photography – is there not a niche for you to market to musicians? Same applies to web site design.
If you could narrow your focus in these areas you would truly be driving your living “full-time” from music in one way or the other and isn’t that our ideal?