Artist Branding Quotes

I always hated how I looked on camera. I never put a face to my music, which actually made the music that much more mysterious.

In a way, the traditional album is no longer as important as it used to be. But at the same time, I don't want to be the kind of artist who just releases one song after another.

I had to put me foot down with the first record company. It was about 1975, when singers were being given names like Gary Glitter and Alvin Stardust, so they wanted to call me Benny Santini just because me dad's an Irish-Italian with an ice-cream business!

I want to build a fanbase. I want people to like my albums even more so than singles.

The whole 'enigmatic artist' thing, I just ran with it.

I wouldn't use a song I didn't think was my brand or image.

I'm really working hard at regaining Mannie Fresh as a household name. But for me, it's always been the long road. What the long road means is if I gotta go city to city, town to town or whatever it is, that's what I gotta do.

The people who go get an LL album want to hear LL. They don't want to hear LL trying to sound like DMX or whoever else is out there. That's not what they want to hear from me, because if they want to hear that they can go get the real thing.

I feel like the word 'influencer' is something that I've - I don't want to say struggled with, but I've kind of, like, expanded on that because I started as a musician. And my following came because of that, so it's always been, like, musician first and, I guess, social-media influencer second.

Well, I was making a record, and I had to choose a name, because they said, you know, you can't make a record under the name of Reg Dwight, because it's never going to - you know, it's not attractive enough.

Yeah, every artist I think should look at themselves as a brand because the more appealing your brand is, the more money you can make off your brand.

Half the battle is selling music, not singing it. It's the image, not what you sing.

Edible names are what drives me as a musician. My next band will be called the Hot Dogs.

I don't tweet very much. I still believe in the mystery of an artist. I believe in going out when I'm ready to sell my product. A lot of artists are out there every day. But I remember the Julio Iglesiases, the Jose Joses - and it was about the music.

I look at the artists as mini media companies, like if Beyonce is ESPN and Lady Gaga is Discovery.

It's all about knowing your audience. When I buy a record by a band and it sounds completely different, I'm just like, 'Why didn't you change your band name?'

I have my own marketing company, Always Civil, where I help artists create their online identity. I have worked with Lil Wayne, Young Jeezy, Mary J. Blige, Pusha T - the list goes on.

I understand that, because there are so many musicians, you have to make artists into brands, but I sometimes feel like I have to be some kind of non-human icon in order for people to listen to my music.

The possibilities are endless now, with performing, getting your music online, getting your own website and getting your music out there. I think that's very cool and amazing.

As long as it says Metallica on the record it's Metallica.

While working for Diplomat Records, I helped several artists with their online branding and social media. Once I left the label, I worked directly with artists and noticed many artists were overlooked and underrated if they weren't in 'XXL' or 'The Source.'

I'm not going to make a song just to make a song. The day that I make an album, it's so that people really know what Bad Bunny's about.

See, I have to do my best because I am not as glamorous or as well-equipped like a Beyonce Knowles or Michael Jackson, where their band members are close to 100-150 people. They even have great equipment which is flown along with the artists. They have a budget of around $5 million pumped in to make their concerts a hit.

We changed the name from Sex Gang Children to Culture Club because Jon Moss, our drummer, went to L.A. on holiday and took some demo tapes with him. -Everyone loved the music but nobody liked the name. I -remember getting a postcard from Jon from L.A. saying, "I don't think America's ready for the Sex Gang Children."

I don't mind doing publicity but I want to make sure it's the right type and it's about promoting my music and not me.