Archives of Artist Branding

Matt Ellis - Singer Songwriter in California desert

Gigging in America –  Insights from an LA-based Aussie artist

We take a look at the career of Australian singer-songwriter Matt Ellis, who from his base in Venice Beach, California shares some insights on the LA scene and the recording of his fourth solo album, Births, Deaths and Marriages Checkout Matt via www.mattellis.com You have just completed your fourth solo album, Births Deaths and Marriages. With […]

Eleven Music Industry Trends for 2011

In changing markets there are always winners and there are always losers – the adversarial nature of capitalism demands it. While it is tempting to lean towards the negative –- to paint an apocalyptic future — we hope to highlight potential areas of opportunity in tomorrow’s music industry. ________________________ Trend One | The Three Bears […]

Rick Springfield is Marketing Genius

Remember Rick Springfield?   Probably not, right. Think 1982 and Jessie’s Girl, still struggling?  Well, it turns out that his fans remember him.  Rick is working on the Nine Inch Nail’s model of connecting with fans + reason to buy = $$$ (Look up Michael Masnick’s talk here if you don’t know what I am talking […]

The Dawn of the Independent Musician

2005 was the dawn of the new music industry. The old industry was a world where the corporate fat cats finally got so greedy that they actually started to devour themselves, but that left a space for everyone else. I think great music is finally back and the music industry is re-discovering its soul. All […]

Interview with John Watson – Music Entrepreneur

John started life in the music industry as a teenager working in an independent record store in Townsville.  After joining several bands and working as a freelance journalist he eventually was employed in the sought after job as A&R manager at Sony records.  In his role at Sony he discovered one of Australia’s most successful […]

USP: Are you only five minutes ahead of your competitor?

The term unique selling proposition (USP) is colloquialism created by advertisers to describe the process of finding (or creating) either a tangible or intangible benefits unique to a particular brand or business. It’s popularity amongst marketers is understandable given the individualistic nature of democratic economies in which the term emerged and flourished. If we are […]

Remaining authentic amid a sea of hype

Recently USA Today journalist Edna Gundersen characterised the career of singer/songwriter Jack Johnson thus: “unbending path of honest self-expression… in today’s spectacle-driven pop world, where artifice trumps art, that’s a non-conformist stance and one that has impressed legions of admirers”. So how, in our marketing-driven culture do artists like Jack Johnson remain true to their craft, […]

Interview with Emma Driver, Singer-Songwriter

Emma Driver is a Sydney-based singer, songwriter and guitarist who performs mainly solo on the Sydney acoustic circuit. She started performing as a busker before joining a covers band and, later, an original duo. She has been performing solo for about five years and in 2003 released a six-track EP of her original songs called […]