1ns and 2s with DJ-Sticha - Effective music marketing and brand building.

Today, lets break down music and brand marketing.Marketing your music is the first step in brand building,give people a reason to buy your music let alone listen to you.

Just like a fruit vendor,give them a reason to ignore everyone else in your trade and give you their full attention,but first things first,how do you intend to do that?,use ikheme(umuthi wenhlanhla,juju or magic)?,well it doesn't work like that.Let's find another way.

Since the last article,I've had a few people asking me how effective marketing their music can really be.Is it worth putting time and effort into?

Well today I'm going to give you proof that music marketing is what is needed if you want to reach the peak of your music career.

While I can do this by showing you one of the many big-name musicians who have effectively promoted the music and became household names,instead I want to point out something to you that you may not have thought about before:

Record labels are effectively music marketing companies!

It's true, think about it.What do record labels do for artists? I'll tell you:

  - They get you gigs so you can showcase your music live.

  - They get you interviews in magazines,on websites and on TV.

  - They get you marketing materials such as original artwork,well written musician bios and the like.

  - They help introduce you to other people who can benefit your music career.

    And the like.

All of this is raising awareness of the artists they have signed.And raising awareness is marketing.So the record label's main aim after they've signed you is to promote you and your music.

If music marketing didn't work,do you think record labels would exist?These labels are good at what they do,that's why the majority of musicians topping the charts are signed.

Now don't get me wrong - I'm not saying you need to be signed to a record label to do well in music.Quite the opposite.

While record labels are still powerful,advances in technology have allowed the independent musician to get their music out there as well.No longer do you have to rely on a record label to get yourself known -if you have the motivation you can build up your name to a good level independently.If you have even a small budget to promote yourself on top of this,you've also got an advantage over the majority of other independent musicians who won't invest in their music career.

The only point is that if music marketing didn't work there would be no record labels. Just for the fact there is,you can see what a big impact marketing can have on a musician's career.

Need more proof that marketing works?Then have a look at any of the mainstream artists out there or even the bigger independent artists in your genre.Chances are they're regularly reaching their fans in some form or another on a regular basis.While perhaps not so much that fans get bored of them,any of these musicians do what they can to keep their face in the spotlight.

So,I hope this has shown how seriously you need to take marketing if you want to propel your music career.In the next article,we'll look at why many musicians fail so you can avoid the same happening to you.Let's meet again next week on Monday

Tell your friends to tell their friends-Sabelana ngolwazi.A big shout out to everyone who sent in Facebook messages nawe you can join in if you have any questions.

@DeejaySticha