A Q U ICK INTR O

The music industry needs

reform... You probably hear
that 20/7. We all know it's
true.

Boost Collective (the authors

of this book) is here to bring
innovation and support to all
independent artists across
the globe.

Feel free to hit us up and

start a convo if you enjoy
anything from this book :)

Sincerely,
Ronan, Damian & Jabari
The Boost Collective Team
 I NT R O DU CT IO N
Whether it’s been producing beats,
doing shows, climbing in the industry, or
helping other artists get further, we’ve
been through it all, thick and thin .

We started Boost Collective with the

wish to help artists reach their potential -
the same way we wanted to reach ours
when we produced music.

Over the years we’ve helped tens of

thousands of artists in their climb to
music success - from the likes DJ Diddy
and more.
W E 'R E M O D E RN.
We’re built from the ground up for
the modern independent artist - to
give you all the tools you need for
music success as a DIY artist.

Save time and get further with the

help of Boost Collective!
TAP THIS FOR A
FULL BREAKDOWN
DOES YOUR
B R AN D ING W O RK ?
How can you tell if it's working? Simple
answer: results. Time is the greatest test of
success so you will recognize what truly
works that way.

People can lie (and often do) but numbers

don't. You're going to notice patterns.

Over time certain themes will show higher

results and traction than others, so you must
stick to that.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that you

need to totally sell out to the numbers and
likes.

The point is that higher numbers often mean

that there's a higher impact on your true
fanbase.
The "results" to look for are meaningful
interactions with your fans, such as:

People leaving deep and meaningful

comments
People DM'ing you to show love
People asking you to do collabs/projects

These metrics show that you are on the right track

because most 'followers' don't do this for everyone-
only real fans do! I mean, do you show this same
love to EVERY single person that you follow?

There isn't even enough time in your day to do

that so you selectively decide who to show love to.

As you put more stuff out there you can test it and
know what works and what doesn't over time.

Make sure that you put out different types of

content with your same brand a story, or even
communicate it in various ways. I promise that you
will notice the real effects.
W HA T E XAC TL Y
AR E CO L L A BS?
Music collaboration (or music collabs as the cool
kids will call it) is one of the most key aspects of the
music industry! Here is the definition of
collaboration:

Just apply that to your music and bingo! Here we

are. Sounds simple, right? That’s because it is.

Though, just because you know WANT music

collaboration is, does not automatically mean you
can easily obtain it.
Just apply that to your music and
bingo! Here we are. Sounds simple,
right? That’s because it is.

To attain these collaborations than

con potentially change your career
forever (I'll touch more on that later)
you must be able to a couple apply
specific skills that I mention in this
chapter
You may be thinking, “eh, I’ll skim this and pick up on
what’s useful then be on my way getting collabs.”

Sure, that may work out well for many other topics
but since collaborations are human-driven then you’ll
want to know all the micro details as well.

People are complex (not to mention sometimes

weird.) To avoid simple mistakes you must read this
and understand the concepts to see the best results.

But hey! With every music collaboration, you are one

step closer to collaborating with bugger artists.

Don’t expect to collaborate with Drake or Kanye

West just from this chapter - but you’ll be much
better off than before you read it.
P R O S VS CO NS
Life always has its ups and downs. Music
collaboration is no different.

The key to success is to know what you stand to

gain from it, that’s why I’m outlining the simple
pros and cons of music collaboration.

This can guide you into how you plan on getting

these collaborations.
C O LL A B O RATIO N
NE TW O R KI NG
Your network is your net worth. That’s nothing but
facts when it comes to the music industry - it’s
relationship-driven the higher you climb.

You want to be climbing up, no? Then you need to

play by the rules of the music networking jungle.

As you get more collaborations, your collaborators can

introduce you to more people. This increases the odds
of collaborating with artists that have much larger
followings than you. Woo-hoo!
CO L L AB A C C E S S
TO RE S O U RC E S
With more collaborations, you get more
resources for free!

How amazing is that? See, nothing sucks

more than using crappy tech.

Do you remember the days when you a had

flip phone and was required to walk around
for miles just to get a decent signal?

Nah, you don’t remember?

Just me?
I’m getting old…

My main point is this: with more collaborators

working on the project you’re getting the
chance to use some of their hardware and
software!
M O RE SA LE S
As you collaborate there is much more
promotion generally.

This then leads to a higher overall number of

streams for the collaboration projects!

As streaming numbers scale, so do royalty

payments - meaning that it pays (in dollars)
to have music collaborations.
S PL IT E A RN I N GS
Now, don’t think that the shared exposure
and promotion doesn’t come with a cost.

Since your collaborators worked on the

projects with you, they are entitled to a share
of revenue coming from it.

This is generally discussed before. (In reality,

this isn’t a huge problem because their fans
can listen to your other music too and thus
your royalties end up in a net positive.)
LO SE SO ME
CRE A T IVE C O N TR O L
Hate to break this one to you, I do.

Part of collaborations is teamwork AKA you can’t be

running the shots.

I’ve collaborated with a few over-arrogant artists and

as soon as they turn into a project dictator you know
what I do?

Run away at breakneck speeds. This con is the largest

one and can lead to sour relationships if you’re
butthurt (sorry, I’m just saying it as it is.)

However, if you can put aside your differences and

create a compatible vision this is easily avoidable.
TIM E C O N S U M I N G
Working solo is nice and quick. All you have to
do is deliver the project then ship it! In music
collaborations, there are many more steps and
people involved.

The added complexity means you need to take

more time to make sure things go right, such
as production, mixing/mastering, cover art,
general concept, etc.

Time is too valuable! Let us help you save time

and take some of the burden - our team can
help find collaborators FOR you. No, seriously.
So now the question - how do I finally go and
attain these collaborations?

There are effective ways and ineffective ways,

I’ll highlight it with this example:

One way to scout collaborations is to attach a

letter to multiple messenger pigeons and send
them to all nearby music studios.

Do you see the issue in this?

This strategy is expensive and inefficient (not to

mention PETA will shut you down before you
could even get the chance!)
CREA T ING A
CO LLAB ST RAT E GY
You need to know what you want and where you’re
going in order to achieve it. A simple plan is enough,
just having three main things: roles, mutual benefit &
process.

Feel free to use our free template below to create your

collaboration strategy. This is the easiest and clearest
way to structure it:

Since you are looking for people to work with, it is

almost like a resume but this time you’re the
employer. Boss moves, baby.
SELECT A SO C IAL
M EDIA PLATFO RM
Each platform is different, therefore you must
approach them differently.

With the different platforms there are certain

strategy to find potential collaborators.

Here are the main gist of each primary

platform:

Instagram Music collaboration Go on hashtag

search to find music artists that fit your
collaboration strategy criteria.
T O P 10
H AS HT A G S
T O U SE
#beatmakerz
#musicproductions
#audioengineer
#instabeats
#musicinfluncer
#musicmarketing
#newhiphop
#upcomingrappe
r#musicnetworking
#freecoverart
F A C E B O O K CO LL AB S
The biggest value you can get on Facebook in terms of
getting collaborations is through Facebook groups. These
grounds are generally filled with thousands of potential
collaborators!

This are my top 3 Facebook collaboration groups:

Boost Collective Fam
Music Networking and Artist Promotion
Musician and Artist Collaboration makes the world spin
around

All you need to do is join a group, find people then message

them. The best way to go at this is to interact with them on
a few of their posts and then later reach out. It’s really that
simple!
TW ITT E R CO L L ABS
This one is the simplest.

Since twitter is a search engine, all

you need to do is search what you
want to see and it will revival
yourself!

Kind of like The Wizard of Oz but for

music collaborations.
CO L L AB
TA KE AW A Y S
It’s all about being human. If you get that
right then the rest will go in place.

Reach out by providing value

The best way to reach out and get

collaborations is to not ask for it… initially.

The trick is to build some rapport first, then

once you and the potential collaborator
have a good vibe going on you’ll want to
bring it up. Going in cold can lead to
rejection. Ouch!

Execute collaboration!

Here you are! You finally made it to this

final step. Now that you created your music
collaboration strategy and got the
collaborators it’s finally time to begin!
CO L L AB
TA KE AW A Y S
It’s all about being human. If you get that
right then the rest will go in place.

Reach out by providing value

The best way to reach out and get
collaborations is to not ask for it… initially.

The trick is to build some rapport first, then

once you and the potential collaborator
have a good vibe going on you’ll want to
bring it up. Going in cold can lead to
rejection. Ouch!

Execute collaboration!
Here you are! You finally made it to this
final step. Now that you created your music
collaboration strategy and got the
collaborators it’s finally time to begin!
TAP THIS FOR A
FULL BREAKDOWN
B R AN D D E AL S
If you've spent some time in the music industry then there's
a good chance you noticed a few things that you never
want to be called. Some words so despicable it's pretty
much spitting in the face of your brand and artist image
you worked o hard to build. One of these words is sellout.
Y O U AREN'T A
SELLOUT
You might have read that word and felt disgusted,
but there is something that needs to be said.
There is a huge toxic mentality many artists have
that if you are super focused on getting money in
the music game you are some sort of sell-out.

I'm going to start by saying that this cannot be

further from the truth. Nobody can deny that
making money through music isn't just a positive,
it's one of the main goals.
Who wouldn't want to have a successful career in
the music industry?
I'm going to start this one off with a story. Let's
say there's a company out in the world that sells
producer drum kits, we will call it BoomBapz
(not related to any real company).

The BoomBapz company works day and night

to produce the best quality drum kits you can
find on the planet! Now they want to get their
sales way up but struggle to reach targeted
producers.

They're spending hundreds of dollars a month

on ads upon ads, but these campaigns never
truly seem to reach real purchasers.
W HAT IS A
B R A ND D E AL ?
In order for BoomBapz to get the sales and
proper awareness for its product, they decide
to pay producers online to market the kits to
their audience.

First they find influencers, then pitch the

opportunity to them (this doesn't happen to
producers with small followings)

Voila! What you have here is a brand deal.

The idea is that both parties are going to
walk out of the deal having benefited
since the artist (called an influencer in
this case) gets the chance to make some
money while also presenting a great
product to their community.

BoomBapz hires the influencer and gets

really targeted influencer marketing
which could mean a few extra sales so it's
a positive for the brand as well.

Also, don't worry about being called an

influencer- this is not a bad thing.

The first thing you think of when you

picture an influencer is a hot babe in
bikini pics, but a lot of influencers are just
people that are well-known in their niche.
W HAT TO E XP E C T
FR O M B R AN D D E A L S
The greatest thing about getting a brand deal is financial
compensation. Have you ever given your musician
friend's new music a shout-out or promotion on your
page?

I'm sure we've all done it. We just spoke a little bit about
the music to be released and tagged them. Now take
that to another level, picture yourself doing this but
instead you get paid money for it. Sounds like a pretty
sweet deal right?

That's because it is! As the influencer, you are going to

get paid for these partnerships. But that's not all that
happens.

When you do brand deals, it's so much easier to get

more and more brand deals since you now have the
sponsorship experience under your belt.

This will matter when I show you how to negotiate great

brand deals as you continue reading.
W H E RE D O BR AND
DEAL S TAKE Y O U ?
What if you woke up today, logged into your bank app
and saw $1'000'000 cash in your checking account.

ou would be the happiest artist on the planet! That's a

great sum of money.

If I asked you what the first thing you would buy is, you
might say a car, a house or even a trip to Gucci for a
spending spree (which really should be your LAST
priority.)

This is all fine and dandy for the average person but as a
music entrepreneur, you need to use your resources in a
different, more strategic manner.

Here are a few music investments that could be bought

with the million dollars:
Studio time
Better promotions
Props for music videos
Hiring managers
PR crew
A whole bunch more
Without the million dollars, you wouldn't be able
to buy any of this.

Now let's see how this can apply to you, because if

you're reading this you most-likely don't have a
million laying around, lets just be honest. We can
bring this budget all the way down to a thousand
dollars.

Although it's not as extravagant and as wonderful

as a million, there are still a bunch of ways you can
invest in your music career and see growth at a
$1,000 budget.

You're probably saying, "but I don't even have an

extra $1000".

No worries, this is where it gets really fun. You see,

the average brand sponsorship deal is around
$300 (there are many different factors at play).

That means if you do three brand deals you will

have roughly $900.
With that extra money that you can invest in your
music career and finally moved closer to seeing the
growth exposure recognition that you deserve.

That's the value in brand deals, it can work as a great

stepping stone to your music career.

Even if you don't think about the money aspect, you

get the opportunity to network and connect with
top brands in the music scene through a brand deal.

Many doors will open up for you.

I'm not against working a nine-to-five but if your

goal is to make music full time you 100% must look
into and consider it. There is a lot of money to be
made through these deals.
With that extra money that you can invest in
your music career and finally moved closer to
seeing the growth exposure recognition that
you deserve.

That's the value in brand deals, it can work as

a great stepping stone to your music career.

Even if you don't think about the money

aspect, you get the opportunity to network
and connect with top brands in the music
scene through a brand deal.

Many doors will open up for you.

I'm not against working a nine-to-five but if

your goal is to make music full time you 100%
must look into and consider it.

There is a lot of money to be made through

these deals.
H O W T O G ET
S TA RT E D !
Getting started is the easy part, the hard part is
continuing.

Getting a brand deal is not as easy as the average

artist thinks- there are many steps that need to be
followed successfully.

What generally happens it the unsuccessful artist is

this:

You go into the pursuit of a brand deals

You don't find any success initially
You decide to just give it a break for now
You say f**k it and forget about it
You start to hate brand deals
You tell others that brand deals are "corporate"
or "going Hollywood"

Before I get into it I should just warn you: it's going

to be a hard journey.

Fortunately, as soon as you get it going, it's all

downhill from there.
W HY W O U LD A B RA ND
W A NT T O W O RK W IT H
YOU?
No matter what you hear people say,
brands are not fundamentally evil.

I know there is a misconception that

brands are out there to use you.

Listen, they aren't out there to

dominate the industry and hold you
down.

The whole purpose of a brand is to

make money (I mean, it's still a
corporation at the end of the day, so
you must treat it like so).
That brings me into the next point: for a
brand to want to work with you it must see
that you conduct yourself professionally in
your music career.

The first place where a brand will

determine if they might want to work with
you is your social media profile.

If they just take a quick glance and see

things on your page that aren't up to their
brand's standard then you have no chance
at this.

The best and biggest social media

influencers have great profiles.

We are now going to get into the 14 steps

to getting a brand deal.
Try to create a consistent theme with all of your
posts and make it very distinguished. You should
have a set look to it. You can create a theme by using
certain color palettes.

For example, Boost Collective has green as the main

theme color. Another great way to set a theme is by
choosing a distinct filter or post style.

This is very important when it comes to getting

brand deals. What's your general posting style?
Mainly selfies? Photos of you in the studio? Or just
photos of you just enjoying life?
B U ILD AN A ESTHE TIC
Having a proper aesthetic
is super important. A good
aesthetic means that
there's a general
look/appeal to the page.

All top Instagram

influencers know this. You
can develop this by
presenting the appeal of
your specific genre in your
posts.

A good example of different aesthetics

would be like New York in comparison to
LA. Different types of artists, thus different
aesthetic.

Music is an entertainment industry so

keeping things appealing is the name of the
game. A good aesthetic strikes a good
impression on your page visitors.
You must fully understand your audience.
By 'audience', I mean your following as a
whole across all social platforms.

You need to really dig deep and see exactly

what kind of people are following you and
classify them.

This is an important step when you are

pitching your deal proposition to the
brands; they will want to know what kind of
audience you have.

Some key demographics that you should

take note of are:
The age of most of your followers
Where most of your followers are
located
Certain tastes and preferences in your
audienceInstagram analytics
We included this in our sample Media
Kit, you should look at it as a reference
when making your own media kit.

TA P H E R E !
Also, please don't buy a bunch of bots
and fake accounts to follow you and drive
the numbers up.

There is a site called Hypeauditor that can

check if there's bots being used. Check it
out for your favourite artist's profiles.

The misconception artists have is that

bots are going to help them by giving
higher numbers and more respect.

It actually has the opposite effect; when

the brands see that your engagements
are disproportional to your following
they'll see right through your plan.

It's always better to have highly engaged

but fewer followers rather than millions of
followers but no engagement.
PR O P E R T AG GI N G
We go over this many times in our fan
interaction guide because it is that important.
You must be using tags in your posts.

Make sure that you include a tag mentioning

that it's a sponsored post.

It can look very dishonest if you are promoting

something and not outright saying it. Plus, you
look more official and entrepreneurial by having
these paid promotions.

The great thing about Instagram is that it

already generates a "paid sponsorship" text for
brand deals.
PRO P E R T A G GI N G
There are three types of tags that you should be
using:
Account tags
Hashtags
Geotags

Geotagging is really important if you are

pitching a deal to a brand that is location-based
(such as a recording studio).

Geotags allows you to tag locations so that

others exploring the tag can see your ad know
that the brand is located nearby.
BRA ND R E S E AR C H
Most people that go
looking
for brand deals often skip
this
part and lose deals because
of it.

You need to make sure

that
you truly research the
brands
you would like to work
with.

You should find a sponsor

that matches you well. There
are a few things that you should be looking into during
the research part, such as:

What are similar brands in your genre that people are

already promoting
What are the important brands to your audience

Go on Excel spreadsheets or Google Sheets and write

down a big list of different brands in your niche that you
can pitch to.
When you're looking for sponsors try to keep the spreadsheet
as general as you can. The goal is to get as many names on
that list as possible in the beginning and eliminate most later.

It can also help if you reach out to a fellow influencer and

kindly ask them for some tips and general questions. They
will often be more than happy to help you out in many cases.

It's all right to search for small brands, oftentimes they are
looking to expand and would be interested in doing brand
deals as well.

Make sure that you check out their website and social media
profiles.

Find out what types of posts they have and what their brand
value is. If you notice that a lot of the brand's posts relate to
you then you know it's a good fit.
It's all right to search for small
brands, oftentimes they are
looking to expand and would be
interested in doing brand deals
as well.

Make sure that you check out

their website and social media
profiles. Find out what types of
posts they have and what their
brand value is.

If you notice that a lot of the

brand's posts relate to you then
you know it's a good fit.
B RAND D E AL
GU IDE

TAP HE RE
There are different types of brand sponsorships and
depending on the type you choose you can negotiate
a higher rate.

There is a basic deal where you simply mention the

brand in the post.

You can take a photo/video and highlight the product

in the caption, explaining the value and benefits of
the brand. There is also a review type of brand deal.
Here you talk about the product and your experience
with it.

In review brand deals, you discuss how the product

helped you and how it can help others. Since this is
more in-depth than the basic brand deal, you can
expect a higher rate for that.

The third type of sponsorship is by having it in the

post and tagging the item itself without being too
specific or too detailed in explanation. This is the
cheapest brand deal.

As long as you understand the product and brand,

you can easily decipher which type of sponsorship to
pursue.
B RAND
SPO NS O R SH IP
P RO P O SAL
Now that you
finally know
which brand to
reach out to,
you're ready to
optimize and
create the
proposal.

The best way to do it is to write a

formal email that's highly professional
yet short.

Getting this email right is super

important because if poorly done, your
chances of getting the deal can go to
0% instantly.
Make sure that the proposal is
truthful, impeccable and keep
everything on the table.

Don't lie to get the deal, brands can

see right through it and it ruins your
reputation and future chances of
getting the deal.

The proposal email should have a

media kit and explain your key
information such as who you are and
how you can be a valuable asset for a
brand deal.

The media kit is essential since it

allows the brand to get a look at your
brand and increases the chance of
hearing back from them.
This part requires you
to do a little bit of
design work.

The media kit is super

important because it
highlights everything
about your own brand
in a small, neat deck of
slides.

The brand can then just look through the media

kit and see if you're a good fit.

Download the sample media kit here!

Some things that your media kit must include:
Audience/demographic data
Important metrics (engagements, followers,
etc.)
A look into who you are
Your website/contacts

Don't forget to tell your story of how you became

who you are today and how it relates the brand.
SH AR I NG TH E
PR O P O SAL
Great! We're all up and ready to get the
brand deals started. The next thing that
needs to get done is collecting the contact
info (phone number and email address).

Introducing yourself through the phone is

a whole lot better than email because it
has a personal touch and gives you a better
chance of expressing who you are to the
brands.
As a whole, it's a more memorable
experience for both sides. If a phone
number is not available, emailing works
just as well.

Checking out the website contact info or

their social media platforms 'about us'
page to find this.

Try to contact the right people that are

relevant for the brand deal (think of the
marketing or PR department), through
LinkedIn or Twitter you can get the right
contact information.

By checking the website you can also see if

they have an established process for
sponsorship and follow through with that if
they do.
If they don't necessarily say anything about
sponsorship it's all right because as long as
you have the email you're still able to pitch
to them.

Make sure that your social media bio is

optimized with your contact information as
well.

This way if other brands happen to stumble

across your account and decide they want
to do a brand deal with you they'll have
direct contact.

There are a lot of companies that work to

help artists get brand deals so it's worth
checking out.

Platforms such as Famebit is great for this .

N E G O T I A TIN G
T H E DE AL
This is where your business skills are put to the test. Here you
get to negotiate your prices, rates and responsibilities in the
brand deal.

If it's your very first brand deal you can't expect too much
money but you still have some room to negotiate. Try to keep
your fare similar to what other people with your level of
following in your industry are charging (this takes a bit of
research to find out).

The regular standard in the marketing industry is $10 per

every 1,000 followers but you can throw in bundles of a few
Instagram story posts as well as linking your bio to the brand.
July we could do $130, then months later we can do $180.
THE FOLLOW UP
Remember that a lot of these big brands
are super busy dealing with their day-to-
day operations, so there's a chance that
they may not even see the email in the
first place.

This is a great chance to go ahead and

follow up if you didn't get hear back from
them.

If more time passes and you still didn't get

a response you got to follow back up after
a couple of days or even a week again.

Also make sure you reach out to them

through different media (phone, social
profile, website, etc.)
NE T W OR K I NG
You're a busy artist... Let’s skip the bulls**t and dive
straight in.

I'm sure you already have a pretty basic

understanding of music networking so I’ll skip all that
jazz and won’t bore you with a long explanation.

Here is the simplest way of understanding it: music

networking is building connections and relationships
with people in the music industry.

This involves you reaching out and building rapport

with:
Artists
Record label Executives
Promoters
Bloggers
Producers
Audio Engineers
Beatmakers
Graphic Designers
Whoever else is involved in the music industry.
We are currently in one of
the greatest but also one
of the most difficult times
in the music industry.

Your ability to network is

critical to success, without
it you're toast!

You're already fighting a

losing battle... the music
industry's competition is at
its all-time highest!

Here's the hard truth: No huge big

record label is looking to sign
unknown artists these days (the chances are next to
nothing).

The worst part is: as a music artist you're still on the

hook for the label's essential responsibilities!
See, this is where music networking comes in. To
overcome this mountain-worth of tasks and to
blow up at large scale, you’re going to need the
help of other people.

You can't avoid this! Networking will expose you

to the right people who will help you out with
these difficult tasks!

This way, you can put your primary focus back on

the main thing: creating good music.

For this reason alone, you can’t afford to miss out

on good music networking!
They say "you get back
what you give", and that
is the truth when it
comes to music
networking.

Talent and skills aren't enough (not for

networking at least) I don't want you to be an
artist who messes this part up.

Many label executives and large music industry

figures won't care how good your music is.

They want to see what real benefits there will be

by working together and forming a connection
with you.

When you have something of value, people are

more than happy to connect with you.
WHO'S YOUR
NETWORK?
VALUE O F
NETW ORK ING
Don't skimp out on networking in your local
area! Do you want to supercharge your music
career? Think locally.

Let's kickstart your music network by attending

all the local music industry events! Not only are
these fun to attend but also beneficial for your
career in the music industry.

These events can range from restaurant music

nights, open mic events, nightclubs, etc.

As long as you go to where music is, you'll have

the opportunity to network with the correct
people. The closer the network, the easier it is to
collaborate for:
Venue placements
Music video recording
Professional studio recording.
This is much easier in a large city but also attainable
in small towns as long as you're networking the
correct way.

Not to mention, face-to-face interaction leads to

deeper connections!

I recommend that you put as much energy into local

networking as you would online.

If I Can Do It Since 2012

So Can You!
NICHE NETW ORK I NG
Not all music networking is productive.

As a musician, you have your own goals so

you must only network to fulfill that goal.

Talking to 100 niche-targeted people is

better than talking to 1000 people that aren’t
in your niche.

If they aren't the right people for you, you

won't receive any benefit!

You must target the right people for your

network to see results that matter!

This allows your music career to leap to new

levels.
N ET W ORK
P L A N N I NG
If you fail to plan, you better plan to fail.

The truth is, most of your network strategizing isn’t

done during the reaching out, it’s done in the
planning.

What's the reason for this?

If you can align your networking goals with your

career plans, you will have a better sense of
direction.

Also, it gives you control to increase the chances of

attaining the results you desire.

Your first impression matters the most in

networking.

You may not get a second chance, so you better

get it right the first time around!
M USIC
N ETW O RK ING
SE CRET S

T AP HE RE
THE BA SICS TO
LIV E GI GS
Getting a gig is not as complex as you think. Trust
me.

That being said, there are a couple of short steps

involved when you’re ready to attain these
wonderful gigs.
Finding a venue is on the simpler side of the gig
attaining process.

All you need to do is scout and compile a list of

many venues you can potentially perform at.

These can vary a lot: indoor gigs, outdoor gigs,

corporate events, etc. (we’ll touch on that more
later in this article).

Venues don’t look for you.

Though, it sure would make your job a helluva

lot easier if venues looked for you!
Arguably, pitching is the step that you do not want
to screw up at.

If your focus is how to get gigs as a musician, this

step cannot be overlooked.

This is the crucial step because it’s so competitive

and everything needs to go perfect for you to find
gigs for musicians.

No, seriously. There are so many artists competing

to find local gigs so why should the venue go with
you?

Ahh, they will. Why? Because you read this article

and understand the ins-and-outs of getting gigs!

Pitching is the act of reaching out to the venue to

communicate that you want to perform with them.
Your businessman (or businesswoman) skills are put
to the test here. What's your potential pay from the
venue? Will you even be getting paid? Who is in
charge of billing?

You need to make sure you negotiate the rates and

so that you can get a good deal.

It isn’t always about direct payment, sometimes the

better deal comes in the long-run, which is a key
aspect of your negotiation strategy. You will read
more about this later in this article.
Execution is what gives your gig efforts meaning. Yo
must hit the stage with the passion and expertise of
the finest acts of all time.

Does this sound like too much pressure for you to

handle? You’re going to practice in advance so that’s
not a large issue.

When your gig is executed perfectly, you can expect

repeat gigs at the same location while building a
great reputation among local acts.

This has the potential to go so far in your music

career.
K EY P R INC IPLE S
T O M U S IC GI GS
These are the key principles related to getting gigs.
You must remember them.

If you can make this a core component of your

music career values then success is right around the
corner.
S T A RT S M A LL &
BU IL D U P
The common, confused artist thinks like this: “Let me
reach out to the #1 biggest nightclub in my area, that
would be such a grand place to perform at!” Ah, how
foolish.

Please, let’s not let this be you. Sure, it does sound cool
but… what are your chances of getting in?

Established places have their tightly-knit roster of

artists to choose from. This does not include you, I
know it hurts to learn this.
RE L A TI O N S H IPS
M A TT ER
Similar to a family, the music industry as a whole
is running purely on relationships.

This is especially important for you getting gigs,

and this is why: Local venues (regardless of how
big or small they are) don't want a list of 500
artists to perform for them.

That’s just too many to manage. Instead, they

have three to five repeatable acts they choose
from.

We need to make sure you’re one of them! To

capture this opportunity relationship-building is
a must.

These top venues pick not only based on musical

skill but how much they like the artists
themselves.
O V E RP E R FO RM
T O GE T GI G S
You need to-over perform on your acts like crazy!

A sloppy performance can turn into you never

hearing a call-back from the venue again.

Remember, you aren't the only artist that's reaching

out to these gigs.

At a minimum, there are thousands of artists

working day and night to take these gig
opportunities away from you for themselves!

"I want to find gigs in my area" is on every other

local music artist's mind! You must never forget for
a second that this is a competitive landscape.

You’re in a constant battle with other music artists.

When you're fortunate enough to secure a music

gig, it’s time to show them that you're worth
keeping around.
F ISHING FO R
GI GS
Many artists go for the big fish first, mess up
somewhere and end up on the discarded pile. To see
success in fishing (gig hunting) you must go for this
small fish.

This is why:
They are more attainable, giving you confidence
You can perform in a pressure-free environment
There is a lot less work involved in attaining them
You gain industry experience and the stakes aren’t
too high

If you can crush a smaller gig, then you should be able

to crush a large one too.

Use your smaller gigs as leverage when scouting for

larger paid gigs for rappers (and another genre of
artists).

Slowly but surely, you will see your gigs ascend both in
volume and in value.
GIG M O NE Y
M A TT ER S
Royalties don’t come fast enough.

If you've been uploading and releasing music on the

top streaming platforms such as Spotify and Apple
Music then you most likely already noticed…

Royalties don’t amount to very much as you launch

into your music career.
It can take time to grow your streaming
numbers. For a long-term approach, it’s great,
but you want to be earning from your music
today!

This is why gigs are so crucial to your transition

into full-time music. With gigs, the event
coordinator pays you immediately.

This means that if you have a variety of consistent

gigs lined up, you can expect consistent
payments. Woo hoo!
NE TW OR K I NG
B EN EFI TS
IN M U S IC G IG S
Want to know a killer music industry secret? The
secret is: nobody likes to tell their secrets.

A lot of the time you have to discover it yourself, there

isn’t a website that lays it all out for you.

Boost Collective is your closest bet but even then - the

industry changes daily.

There is always a lot to learn from other music artists.

Who else better to learn the music gig secrets than
from artists who gig frequently!

Now the question you’re probably asking is, “great,

now where can I find these artists and learn from
them?”
Do you remember that feeling where you finally reached a
milestone for your Spotify streaming numbers? It’s quite a
glorious occasion. So much bliss, pride, and joy.

Now imagine that… but 100x stronger! That’s the feeling of

performing live. All DJ's should look to find DJ gigs. See, when you
get 10,000 or even 50,000 streams you’re feeling a humble pride.

You don’t get to feel the raw energy that comes with performing
live in front of an audience! You need to know how to get gigs as a
singer!

Watching people vibe and dance to your music is a whole other

feeling that cannot be matched.

As a music creator, nothing is more wholesome of a feeling than

to witness your fans to enjoy something you worked so hard to
create. To fully grasp this, we need to get you playing gigs asap!
The answer: at gigs. Most sets include multiple artists.

This is an amazing opportunity to network and form

connections with these frequent performers.

If you play your cards right, the networking alone may

lead to you getting future gigs.

Since relationships matter so much in the music

industry, a referral from an artist friend to a venue has
limitless value.

It’s time to get some experience under your belt! Are

you thinking, "hmm... I'm looking for gigs near me."

If that's the case tap the button right below this and
see how we can find gigs for you!
LO CA L E X PO S UR E
Your ability to amass local exposure is crucial. This
local exposure opens up the pathway to more gigs.

Let me explain: Imagine you’re performing at a

wedding for a close friend. Sweet, you’ve already
secured a gig! That isn’t all.

There is potentially somebody in the audience that is

getting married soon. That person is going to want a
live DJ, performer, or band to play.

Since they already had the pleasure of experiencing

your performance you’re going to be their go-to
music artist.

All you need to do is hand them your business card

and social media, then you’re all good!

These may not happen suddenly, but the audience

becoming your clients should be an increasing trend
and you perform more gigs.

The trick is to market yourself correctly.

HO W T O F I N D A V ENUE
This is very obvious but you may not understand its
significance just yet: you need to know where you're
going to perform. What does this mean exactly?

Don’t just pitch anywhere all willy-nilly. You must

have a concrete strategy to accomplish your music
gig goals.

Here I show you the #1 proven strategy to get you

music gigs and find the right venue.

You would never show up to a random event and

start playing an instrument on stage. Security will
kick you to the curb faster than you can spell “gig.”

You need a decent-sized list of venues to

systematically approach. Here is the strategy:
THE GOOGLE
SE AR C H M E T HO D
What can’t google do at this point? Google is the best
friend to all musicians looking for gigs.

Just open google.com and type in “events near me." As

smart as Google is, it will retrieve a list of events and
the venues hosting them.

If these other musicians can get gigs then there's a

chance that you can too. If you're ever wondering "how
to find gigs near me", then re-reread this section.
T H E SP RE A D S H E E T
M ET HO D
Here are the simple steps for this method:

Take the name of each venue from the google

search (as well as local promoters who host big
parties)
Take the email address and phone number of each
venue
Put all this info on a spreadsheet

The bigger the better! Add as many names as possible.

You can’t get them all so it’s important to start with a
large number of venue prospects.
T HE REF E R R A L
M ETHO D
Considering you’re a music artist, I believe it’s fair to
assume that you have music artist friends as well. Have you
tried asking them for referrals yet? If not, go take a shot.
They can help you find singing gigs.

Ask if they have a couple of good places they like to

perform at and if they don't mind referring you to the
venue. Their referrals mean much more than a cold
outreach so make sure that you can at least give this an
attempt.

It’s not 100% going to happen every time but there is no

risk and all rewards.
PR IV AT E V S
C O M M ER C I AL GI GS
No two snowflakes are alike, the same applies for gigs. That
being said, the industry has two basic standards for gigs:
private and commercial.

A private gig is one that’s hosted by a non-business. You

want to know how to get more gigs in the private sector.

Examples of private gigs are:

Weddings
Bridal parties
House parties
Etc.
CO M M ER C I A L GI GS
The main difference you should know
is that commercial gigs give you
higher earning potential yet they
take an insurmountably high amount
of work needed to attain.

Also, private gigs generally have less

competition because the information
of them is generally hidden from
other music artists.

The goal is to have a good balance

between the two, slowly transitioning
more towards commercial gigs.
HO W T O PI TC H T O
GIGS
Unless you started just recently, you should have an EPK by
now. If you don't then I have two things to say to you

Make one ASAP, it’s crucial

Your electronic press kit is a small document (generally a
PDF) that gives a full summary of your music career.

Your EPK includes the top highlights such as:

Streaming numbers
Past venues played
Industry Experience
Anything of value in your career
General booking rates (keep it general, there is more
negotiation involved)

Your EPK is significant when pitching for a gig since it allows

the venue to get a bigger picture of your music career.

They can evaluate if you’re a compatible match for their

establishment. With a good EPK you’re standing out heads
above the crowd of lazier music artists who don’t even have
one.

(There are many of them.) Utilizing your EPK is very simple: All
you need to do is attach your EPK in the email pitch. It's that
simple, honestly! To claim your free EPK template, tap here.
#1 - FAC E T O F A C E M ETH O D
Venue promoters and hosts are humans. Human beings are
naturally wired to remember faces, so if you want to be
remembered, get your face out there dammit!

The best practice is to walk right into the establishment and

request to speak with the manager or person in charge of
booking. (You should already have researched them based on
their website and LinkedIn).

Face-to-face is the optimal way because you can start a good

vibe connection.

Relationships matter most and this is the easiest way to get it

started. Build a strong rapport and get an edge above your
music artist competitors.
# 2 - PH O N E CA L L M E T H O D
Equally bad is calling them right before they close up shop for
the night.

They’re tired from a long day of grinding, the last thing they
want is some random artist preventing them from going home
early because they want a gig.

That’s the fastest way to lose a gig opportunity. Don’t believe

me? Just try it. (just kidding, please don't.) The optimal way to
approach this is to google their business hours.

Another superpower google has is that it tells you what time

they are most/least busy.

Call when they are not so busy but not before closing hours.
This is the proven best way to get the call set up for success.
This method is not as simple as it may seem at
first.

A lot of things can go wrong really fast, so you

should be careful and know when to retreat from
using this strategy.

If you keep persisting with calls you’ll become a

nuisance to the venue at best, and a blocked
number at worst The trick is all in the timing.

This is the secret for how to get music gigs by

phone. See, the last thing you would want is to
call them during their busy work hours.

How can they Serve you while dealing with busy

operations at the same time? They won’t
multitask - instead you, and your potential music
gig opportunity will be dropped.
# 3 - S O C I A L M E D IA RA PP O R T

A lot of your music business activities happen online in

the modern-day.

It’s the same for these venues. This is how to get gigs as a
band.

Almost all venues have some sort of social media they use
prominently to promote their events and keep their
following up-to-date.

This means if you can build rapport by communicating

and engaging with these accounts, they are quickly going
to notice you.
This attention you’re sparking through social
media interaction highlights you as a music artist
of choice.

A good way to bring the possibility of gigs up is by

commenting/messaging them for info on
upcoming events.

As you get more information from the venue,

you’ll begin to understand what their goals are.

All you have to do is find a way to align your goals

with theirs then the rest is history!

Warning: don’t be too hasty with getting gigs.

Gigs are not just a one-time thing. It's best to play

it cool and take your time instead of messing up
your chances due to short-sightedness.
# 5 - C ON T ACTING
PRO M O T E RS
The idea isn’t to get in contact with the venue owner. No no no.

You'll want to find gigs online as well, the business owner generally
isn't involved with this. Rather you want to get in contact with the
person who is directly in charge of bookings.

They can sometimes be the owner (depending on the scale of the

establishment) but not always.

Here is a formula to find promoters:

Hashtag + Location + “promoter” = your best promoters.

A good place to search is Instagram and Twitter. Here is an example

of me searching for a Toronto promoter for a club venue:
BEC O M E A FO L LO W
UP M AC HI NE

The thing that can make you a successful artist

in terms of gigs is: following up.

There are so many places where the gig pitch

can go wrong. Here are common examples:

Your gig pitch email didn’t reach their inbox

They did not pick up the phone
All the promoters are busy
The manager wasn’t in when you came
Infinite more reasons

Unless they tell you NO, then follow up.

It may be the 4th, 7th even 20th approach but

you may still get the gig.
BEC O M E A FO L LO W
UP M AC HI NE

The thing that can make you a successful artist

in terms of gigs is: following up.

There are so many places where the gig pitch

can go wrong. Here are common examples:

Your gig pitch email didn’t reach their inbox

They did not pick up the phone
All the promoters are busy
The manager wasn’t in when you came
Infinite more reasons

Unless they tell you NO, then follow up.

It may be the 4th, 7th even 20th approach but

you may still get the gig.
To start things off: music artists aren’t known for
their savvy negotiation skills. If this isn’t your
thing no worries - you’ll become skilled enough
to negotiate gig deals in no time.

You need to be able to negotiate so that you

walk out with a fair rate (there’s more to this than
the dollar amount).

You’ll find that in many deals you won’t have the

upper hand in gig deal negotiations, especially as
a beginner.

Still here are a few concrete negotiation

principles that will help you walk out with better
deals, without coming off as stingy:
P RO VID E I M M EN SE
VA LU E
If there is only one thing you remember from this
entire guide is: provide as much value as possible.

When reaching out to your first couple gigs to get

your foot in the door there isn't much experience
you can dote on as your value proposition.

At this early point, think of different things you can

use as leverage. Having a decent local social media
following is a great example of value.

Key tip: Don’t bite off more than you can chew.

That isn't how to get your first gig (or any gig for
that matter). Armature artists don’t see the big
picture so they demand high contracts for a gig…

When they’ve never performed a day in their life.

Don’t be this guy. With this, you’re a walking lead
magnet for the venue!
PR ES ENT YO UR GIG
VA L UE PRO PO S ITIO N
Most venues you reach out to have only one goal: sell as
many tickets as possible.

This is their bottom line. When you approach them with

a value proposition (essentially, the benefit you’re giving
the establishment) remember to relate it to this one
goal.

Try to show them different angles and how you can

assist them with this. Show them how much growth
potential you have (as well as the number, potential
doesn’t mean squat without the numbers).

Present how you will bring in more ticket sales to them

over time. Every business at the end of the day is
thinking of the long game.

You must go ham with this, always reiterate how you’re

going to promote it across your social media profiles and
invite your network to come to attend.

If you can show them how you’re going to potentially

bring in future cash flow, they may give you a chance!
Most artists are selfish and think only of their interest,
you’ll stand out like mad.
CO L LE C TING YO UR
GI G PAYM E NT
Don’t be shy to talk about money. You're wondering
how to get PAID gigs, no?

You’re dealing with businesses so money talk is not off

the table.

Venues are generally credible and pay all their dues on

time so this isn't a concern. Make sure that you specify
these essential elements:
To whom the venue must pay
Chequing or banking deposit information
Total amount pre-tax

Don’t forget to send them an invoice as well. Claim

your free gig contract template here!

Claim your gig invoice template here! A key tip is to

leave a paper trail for all transactions. Albeit rare,
sometimes a venue can refuse to pay for any reason.

If you have a paper trail (either physical documents or

email archives) you’re fully covered.
E XE CU TI NG THE G IG
S U CC ES S FULLY
Getting the first gig is only 50% of the battle. Having
the venue keep you in their roster of consistent acts is
the hard part (it’s also the fun part!

Because of this, I want to show you a method I've

personally used, it’s helped me so much over the years
and I know you’ll benefit as well.

You should write a “thank-you” letter to the venue

(include the names of the owner and who helped get
you booked). It doesn’t need to be a poetic piece like
Shakespeare.

Just thank them for the opportunity and wish them

goodwill in their business. At the bottom of the letter
attach a gift card. Don’t stress, It does not need to be
$1,000 even a $50 gift card works.

It’s the thought that matters anyway. This is just to

show the venue that you appreciate them so much for
the opportunity. They will remember you for this, I
promise 100%. 95% of other artists wouldn’t even think
of doing this.
The most important aspect of
everything. You need to give a show that
blows the audience’s minds!

The more effort you put into this, the

higher results you will get back in return.

Key tip: It's better to fill up a small venue

than to go halfway with a large venue.

The promoters analyze you based on

ticket sales, if you’re doing good then
they’re doing good.

This is part of the reason why it's good to

start small as you're still building your
local fan base and getting gig
experience.
C O M M U NI CA TI O N I S
KEY
You need to keep steady communication with
everybody involved in the gig. This can include:

Backup dancers
Backup singers
Drummers
Producers/DJ
Etc.

I advise you to create a text group-chat so everyone

can stay-up-to-date and on the same page.
Inconsistencies and stupid mistakes are avoidable, the
accountability is on you to manage it.

Making stupidly avoidable communication mistakes

damage your reputation and potentially your further
chances of getting gigs at that venue.

You should also make it a priority to communicate with

the venue themselves! They can help to correspond to
your activities and get set up. Remember, venues are
on your side unless you give them a reason to not be.
PRE P-W O R K
They always say that practice makes perfect. If you
happen to have a spare garage then you should
practice your entire set from beginning to end there.

This lets you discover any kinks and problems early

on.

There is sometimes a lot of logistics involved.

There’s the microphone, instruments, transportation,

speakers, etc. Who’s going to carry all of that? How
will you transport it?

These are just a few of the many problems you’re

sure to face. This is why it’s essential to have a
checklist. Simply jot down all of the critical tasks and
systematically go through it one by one.

You must be a perfectionist with this checklist

because if something doesn't go well it has huge
negative effects.
THE
SE CRET I NG R E D IE NT
I S B RAN D ING
As strange as it sounds, to be a real player in the music
and brands game you need to be out of the game.

Let me explain: If you take a careful look at the industry,

you will notice that the top 5% of artists aren't even
playing on the same level as the bottom 95%.

They have may more money and bigger followings than

the remaining 95%.
Why? How? Let me tell you the REAL reason behind this
phenomenon.

See, this is simply because everything these top artists

do is for the purpose of standing out as much as
possible (in the right way.) Now you may be thinking,
"that's cool, they stand out. But how can that help me?"

This is actually the thing that can get you from being a
nobody to an accomplished artist!

But before I actually get to that I want you to ask

yourself this question: Have you ever had those
moments where it seems like a lot of people are
checking out your stuff, but nobody really stays?

Damn, it's the most so frustrating feeling in the world!

Looking around, it doesn't seem like the top artist were
facing this issue while coming up, what gives?
Fortunately, there is a solution to this problem.

It just may not be what you think it is. Well, actually

there are two types of solutions. There are quick fixes
(promotions) and long-term fixes (music artist branding
and interactions).
I want you to be aware that these two solutions are
equally crucial for music and brands career success.

For example, I can easily give you a strategy that can get
people to land on your page and check out your sweet,
but... what's next?

How can you actually get them to stay as fans in the

long-run? That's the hardest part, but also the most
rewarding - the only solution to this is branding.

Think about it, how many social media posts and profiles
do you scroll past every single day? Do you remember
every single one?
If you said yes, then you're just capping! It
isn't possible to remember everything you
see, your brain just isn't wired for that (it
would be so dope though.)

That is the reason why music artist branding

is so important.

Our minds are selective with what it chooses

to keep in storage so you must stand out in
order to be remembered.

This is where branding comes in. It's the

long-term solution to this problem.

Music is way too competitive so in order to

have a long, fulfilling, rewarding career in the
music industry you can't skimp out on this.

Your great brand will have an X-Factor:

Something that sets you apart and leaves a
lasting impression.
YO U NEE D AN
X-F A CT O R
I know this is going to sound horrible to hear
this but without branding, you won't get any
type of lasting success in the music game.

I'm going to touch on this further in this article

but I really want to get this out there first. '

As soon as you realize this, you'll be able to work

on it and grow as an artist!
50 % O F
B R AN DIN G I S
C O M M U NI CA T IO N
Let me explain this to you as simply as possible:

Communication is the art of getting your

message across to show your side of the story.

See, when you master communication, you can

then express your brand image in the perfect way
and your audience will be able to digest it.

Communication is the true path to getting your

artist image noticed and recognized. Now that
you have communication in mind, let's hop into
putting your brand story together.
L E T 'S P U T YO U R
B RA N D S TO R Y
T O GE T HER !
Right now, you're way ahead of most artists.
You are about to learn the foundation behind
getting real recognition.

Firstly, I really urge you to fully read this article

and follow these steps I'm laying out for you.

It will give you opportunities you never would

have thought of.

There is so much importance in successfully

putting your brand story together.

It needs to distinctively stand out because that's

what everybody looks at when they sniff out
"star talent".
To tell your story you must first know your story,
that's how you get music recognized.

That starts with knowing yourself-

understanding who you are, is the base that
your artist career is built on top of.

To get things started, let's take a little trip down

memory lane. Think back to the very first
moment you either heard your favorite artist or
made your first track.

Channel back that rush, excitement, and

emotions that made you who you are today.

They say when you write something down you

understand it better so I really want you to write
this down, don't just keep all the good stuff in
your head.

Not only that, writing things down will keep you

more accountable and urge you to stay focused
on reaching your goals.
Stop reading this right now!

Go grab a piece of paper or use your phone's notes (I

prefer paper though) and just take two or three
minutes to write down three things:
Who you are as an artist
Who you are as a person
What you define as "greatness".

Make sure that there is an overlap between these three

topics.

At the end of the day, your music and brands are just
mere reflections and expressions of who you are as a
human being.
Ask yourself what your 'why' is.
Why are you in the music game? Is it...

To get music recognized?

Fame?
The money?

Or is it just the fact that you can express yourself and

influence the world in a better way? Of course, every
artist has a different 'why'.

So long as you deeply know your 'why' you can

express yourself nicely and target your audience a
million times better.

This 'why' will give you a powerful look into what

type of vibe and aesthetic you should go for.

Overall, the sooner you know your 'why' then the

sooner everything you build can go in one constant
direction.

(It's more apparent later in this blog.) So you have

your 'why', lets now get your 'what'. As in, what is
your story?
L O O K IN G D E E PE R AT
YO U R B RA ND S TO RY
The best way to communicate is through
stories.

Back before reading and writing were invented

(before practically anything was
invented)Humans would communicate
concepts and information through stories.

We have a natural built-in tendency to follow

stories.

This is crucial for your music artist branding

because your 'brand image' is simply your story.

When we dissect a story down to its main

components, we think of the emotional journey
and themes that come at play.
CASE S T UD Y - T HE W E E K ND
The Weeknd is an amazing example of great
storytelling.

The Weeknd's story is of a soft-hearted man

expressing his emotions about his love,
passions, and tragedies.

Both his older and newer works tell the story

but keeps building on top of this. This is why
people really connect the Weeknd's brand
image.
He was able to build a strong and loyal fanbase
through his brand story. You can do the same!

You just need to follow the very basics of your

storytelling: Just think of what you value most and your
ideal music subject matter.

Keep this consistent and really dig deep to show your

side of this and progress with it.

Bam. That's your story. There are many things you can
include in your brand story, oftentimes it's your ideal
lifestyle living through your art.

A cool way to tell your brand story across is by

discussing your views on the music game and life as a
whole.

Think Joey Badass - his entire career is essentially just

this type of storytelling.

You can also use the successes and failures of your past
and (potential) future as the candle that lights up your
story. The sky is limitless, and so are the ways you can
portray your story. .
Now that you wrote down your 'why' (or at least I hope you
did) you must now mix it together with storytelling and that
becomes your main artist brand concept!

This is what people refer to when they say 'artist image.' Since
your artist image is a reflection of yourself, you'll find it easier
to stay authentic if you actually live your brand's message.

It's a great feeling too because your personal story is being

appreciated as well.

A question to ask yourself is: what makes you

different/unique while keeping it authentically YOU?

Here are examples of things that can stand your brand

apart:You play musical instrumentsYou have a great singing
voiceYou have other skills are unrelated to music
(design/visuals, videos, etc.)

These things grab a butt-load of attention and create an

attractive element around you that will make people want to
stay.

Be relentless! Keep the brand-building going and don't let

the hate or negativity wear you down. 100% of artists face
brand criticism at any point in their careers so you must find a
way to use that as fuel to keep going.

It's not easy navigating through the music industry jungle,

but these obstacles will stop bothering you over time.
Welcome to the jungle, baby.
P R O M O TI NG THE
BRA ND I M AGE
At this point in the guide you should:
Know your 'why'
Understand the importance of
communication
Have your brand story together

There are many no-name artists that don't

have a single story and because of that aren't
worth a damn cent.

It's harsh to hear, but that's the cold truth of

the industry.

The value your brand story is shown when

somebody sees. Now only do they see your
music but also see the 'why' and will resonate
with your concepts and values.
This connection is what will turn followers into
fans.

XXXTentacion, Tupac, and Playboi Carti are three

great examples of artists that properly
communicate their brand story. In everything they
do/did, there is always the aspect of their brand.

Due to this, they have (arguably) some of the most

die-hard cult fanbases!

You must always include your brand touch when

you're promoting anything so that you're
maximizing the full effects.
 C LA R ITY
How easily is your audience able to understand
exactly what your story is?

If you're making it overly complex and there is too

much clutter then people will have a hard time
finding the deeper side of you.

Make it clear so you can

communicate your story
better.

A good way to do this is

just focusing on one main
brand message in each work
you do and double own on
getting that across.

By doing that you can save

your time, energy, and resources
to perfecting that image.
 C O NSISTE NC Y
When you discover that higher results are achieved
through a certain communication style, keep going
that way.

If you're changing up every 5 Seconds you're not

going to get a long-term fanbase.

Just imagine if J.Cole started making country music

songs and his music videos were of him vibing in
Kentucky. Strange, to say the least.
CO NS TAN C Y
Constancy is similar to consistency but the only
difference is that it's within all your platforms, not
just in your music.

keep it constant in your visuals, social media, etc.

That way anytime somebody sees it they will see

your brand immediately.
U S IN G SO C IAL M E D I A
F O R Y OU R B RA ND
We really could not have been born in a better time than
right now. The amount of reach you can get on social
media today is absolutely unthinkable in the past.

There has been no other time in history where you can

get your story shown to many others with very little
work.

You have the potential to reach hundreds of thousands

of people- and you can do it absolutely free.

That being said since it's so easy you can expect your
competition to get tougher every coming day. That's why
you need to stand out through branding to get music
recognized.

Not using social media to your advantage is pretty much

the same as shooting your music career in the foot.

Ouch, that's a lot of damage to your career! To prevent

you from missing out, here are great tips to help keep
your social media in line with your brand
BE A PP E A L I N G
You can't polish a turd.

No matter what you do to improve something, if it's

fundamentally crap then you need to cut your losses
and start back at square one.

See, the music industry is just one part of the

entertainment industry so you need to keep it
entertaining.

of the ways you can increase your appeal are by

having higher resolution photos, , adding nice visual
effects, and adding an emotional touch to the posts.
If you have to I strongly suggest that you remove all
your boring/unnecessary content and keep all your
future posts interesting and appealing.

Make sure that you throw in different types of posts.

Don't be the person that posts the same thing over,
over, over, and over again.

When you look at top artist profiles they have a variety

of different types of posts because it keeps things
fresh.

The fans know to expect something new and

interesting every time.

Even psychically looking unique can score you some

points. Some artist look so unique that you can pick
them out from a crowd.
Themes and captions are great for personalizing your profiles.
Try to keep a consistent theme in all your post so it matches
your brand story and your artist's image. Travis Scott does a
great job at having a brand theme.

Not to mention, your captions should reflect your personal

story as well, so keep it engaging. Sometimes it's okay to be
controversial in your captions.

I'm not saying turn into a full political spokesman or saying

foolishness for controversy, but stick up for what you believe in
and fight for your beliefs.

So long as you do this in a way that nobody's reputation gets

hurt it can bring a lot of attention to your page and make you
stand out. It builds an artist's image of a great personality!
T A R GE T Y O U R
PO S TS
This by itself is probably one of the biggest
things that artists mess upon.

Make sure all your content targets your exact

demographic; the people who really support
your brand and help it grow.

You may be thinking "if I target more people

that means more fans, and more success!"

If it was that easy then anybody would have

G.O.A.T status by now.

Instead of trying to hit a brand new

demographic all the time you should focus
on what you already have, you'll find more
success through just growing in one niche.
CU LTU R E
TA R G E TI NG
There is a culture surrounding your brand so
really dig deep in that culture and find the
right people who fit that culture.

Some examples of the 'culture' are:

The hypebeast culture in Playboi Carti's
brand
Alternative culture in Tyler the Creator's
brand
Woke culture that follows J.Cole.
Something so simple yet so forgotten. Don't
ever forget that you need to interact with your
followers because your followers turn into fans.

It sounds so foolish, but there are actual artists

that think ignoring their fans makes them look
more "official". Some more fitting words for
this are dumb and inconsiderate.

By interacting with your page visitors

consistently they will get to know you better
and be more willing to check out your other
music and platform.

Remember, this is a marathon, not a sprint.

Build meaningful connections rather than just

a following.

There are many different ways to interact with

your audience,

Some ways could be through live streams, DM,

Snapchat, etc.
Our fan interaction guide digs deep on how
you can interact with people to turn them
into fans, so go read that for a full
breakdown!

Showing gratitude and love back to other

artists in the music industry can also turn
them into your fans, don't overlook that
part!

Part of networking is forming the

connection- it goes a long, long way.

Try not to just spam comment three fire

emojis; it doesn't cut it as an acceptable
response.

Do you remember the last time somebody

left " " under your posts? Probably not.
HO S T A G IVEA W AY
Most artists don't invest very much in their
careers.

I mean at all! Simply hosting a giveaway will

make you stand way ahead of the crowd.

A great example of this was our Boost Collective

Mega Giveaway.

This allowed us to gain over 4,000 new followers

to our Instagram account!
People forget a lot of things, but the chance to get
free stuff isn't one of them!

The whole idea with the giveaways is that the

reward has such great value that people will pay
extra attention to it.

Many of these followers stayed in the long-term

because they got the chance to experience our
brand story.

(Heck, that's probably the reason why you're

reading this right now!) You want people to see this
type of dedication in your brand.

You don't need to give away $8,000 prizes, even

small things of great value will set you apart from
the average artist brand.

A few things to give out are:

$20 amazon gift cards
Your own free beats or buying them a $20 beat
Writing them a bar or giving away verses
Any other skills you may have (cover art design,
mixing, reposts, etc.)Be creative, it's a lot of fun!
CREA T E AN
A RTIST W E B SIT E
"Why should I create a website- my social media
showcases my brand already!"

This does not cut it. Why do you think Kendrick Lamar,
Kanye West, and Eminem all have websites?

It's a professional industry standard to have your own

live artist website if you really want to be taken
seriously.

All the top music executives or labels that you will

want to work with in the future are going to take your
music brand much more seriously when you have a
website.

Remember: your fans aren't the only people your

brand needs to stand out for! The Boost Collective
website is a great example.

How many of you would take us seriously as a music

branding agency if we decided to not build a website?
Whether you're selling music or other products,
websites are essential to branding.
GIVING BACK
Fundraising and giving back is an amazing thing. Life
isn't always about taking, taking, taking.

Every now and then you should give back, it's one of the
most epic moments ever.

You will feel so good and it truly shows your appreciation

for others.

Look at it from the viewer's perspective: there isn't a

single person that sees a fundraising event and hates the
brand. You will find that nowhere on this earth.

This really helped to repair Xxxtentacion's brand. X's

fundraising events really show this amazing branding
effect.

His fundraising events made his emotional and

humanitarian image much more memorable. This was so
remarkable even after death he is remembered as an
overall good guy despite his edgy history.

Fundraising events give your brand a good type of

influence and make you more trustworthy. Helping
others is a win-win situation.
USE A
CO NTE NT STR ATE G Y
"By failing to prepare, you are preparing to
fail." -Benjamin Franklin.

That's the exact same approach when it

comes to putting out content.

Do you honestly think that your posts

mean anything if you just do whatever,
whenever?
I really want you to adopt a different mindset
towards everything you do in your career.

You gotta plan this sh*t out! Some artists don't

even put out regular content aside from the music
itself.

Simply posting isn't enough to gain sufficient

traction on your songs, there needs to be some
sort of content to introduce a visitor to it first.
Think of a content strategy as a really strong
magnet to attract fans.

It takes some time to learn magnificent strategies

for successful content releases but as you get
better over time the process with become easier
and streamlined.

Just take a look at Boost Collective's content and

you can clearly see that there's a strategy behind
our posting.

We go deeper with strategies in our fan

interaction guide, you should use it if you want
better results on your posts!
Q U ANTIY M A TTER S.
Gary Vaynerchuck says put as much
content out there as possible, and as you
put more and more content out you're
going to discover what really works and
what doesn't.

After testing this, I was able to grow our

Instagram to 13.7k+ followers as of April
2020.

Just look at the numbers I would really

follow this. The best tool at your disposal is
analytics because it adds up the numbers
and directly displays results.

These results will help you find out how to

proceed in your future posting for
maximum results.
Over time you can adjust and change up the
type of content posted so that it fits your
audience better.

Go out there and start making content in a more

strategic manner! These constant changes and
improvements in posting strategies are the
reason we are able to put out so much fresh new
content and really build our following over our
social media profiles.

We really urge you to go and do the same thing

if you want to stand out and grow in the industry!
U SE BR AND D E AL S
I spoke about brand deals before in our guide showing
how you can get a brand deal.

These deals are amazing because not only do you get

paid, but your brand takes the next step into looking
more official.

By having other companies willing to do deals with you

shows it that you have an entrepreneurial brand and are
ready to take your music career up to professional levels.

Even if you don't get a brand deal it's important to have a

media kit to show others.
W AN T
MORE?
This concludes our e-book
(for now..) If I put any more
pages then you'd be eading
into the next century haha.
We do have more resources
for you tho
LE T 'S
RE CAP
So far you learned about:
Branding
Marketing
Collaborations
Networking
Brand deals
Getting Gigs
much Mire
L ET 'S K E E P
I N TO UC H
Tap any of these icons and
conenct with us:
BR O W S E
O UR
S ER V ICE S !
Will you become the next Drake?
Probably not. Will you get a larger
fanbase and more streams?
Absolutely! Tap in and join the
ranks of successful artists :D
S EE YO U S O O N !