Topic
Brand and Storytelling
Branding, PR and storytelling for music companies and artists. 11 conversations with founders, investors and experts, newest first.
Episodes (11)
Jenna LoMonaco, head of US marketing at ONErpm, explains how she turns a viral moment into a lasting artist career and why consistent branding builds fans.
Erik Herrström of Studio Herrström explains why music tech brands look alike and how founders should test a brand before pitching it to investors.
Takayuki Suzuki of MusicTech Japan discusses Japan's CD dominance, fan club monetization, tiered storytelling, and what Western artists can learn.
Christopher Wieduwilt, the AI Musicpreneur, explains how musicians can pair AI tools with storytelling and automate content creation to build an audience.
Daniel Rowland of LANDR explains how AI mastering grew into a full creator platform and why he thinks AI will assist producers instead of replacing them.
Christopher Wieduwilt, the AI Musicpreneur, explains how musicians can use AI tools to automate content, amplify storytelling, and build new revenue streams.
Rosanna Connolly, founder of Morena Coms, explains why a strong why and impactful storytelling are essential for artist branding and PR.
Mathilde Neu, founder of Resonance Agency and co-founder of Music Tech France, explains why founders must adapt their message to reach the music industry.
Dmitri Vietze, founder of Rock Paper Scissors and the Music Tectonics Conference, explains why music tech startups struggle to attract investors.
Turo Pekari of Music Finland explains why music runs on personal relationships, how he built his own network, and why Music Tech Europe is launching.
Josh Greenberg, founder of Green Mountain Lodge and former Red Bull and Spotify executive, traces how technology took over the music industry.
Questions these episodes answer
How did Jenna LoMonaco help break Shawn Mendes?
She says his campaign worked because he already had a rabid fan base, so her team built everything around getting those fans involved rather than following a generic playbook, and she cautions this approach cannot be copied for an artist without that kind of existing fan intensity.
From: Building a Music Career Fans Can Emotionally Invest In
How proactive versus reactive is artist marketing?
LoMonaco says it comes out to roughly fifty-fifty: an artist needs a proactive plan and steady groundwork, but also needs to recognize a rare spark, like an organic celebrity co-sign or sync placement, and move fast, because these moments are rare and unrepeatable if missed.
From: Building a Music Career Fans Can Emotionally Invest In
Why is YouTube still valuable for artist marketing?
LoMonaco calls YouTube a wildly underrated platform, noting it is literally how Shawn Mendes broke through, and says people building marketing strategies today often forget how much success is still available there compared with newer short-form apps.
From: Building a Music Career Fans Can Emotionally Invest In
How does ONErpm's deal structure differ from a major label?
Services are offered on an a la carte or full-team basis, priced through splits and licensing periods rather than a standard label contract, so an artist can choose just DSP and advertising help or bring on the whole team depending on what they already handle themselves.
From: Building a Music Career Fans Can Emotionally Invest In
How does Jenna LoMonaco think artists should balance novelty and consistency?
She says the amount of novelty is up to the artist to decide for each phase of a career, since musicians can reinvent themselves release to release the way Taylor Swift does, while still keeping fans engaged through recognizable branding and consistent messaging within each era.
From: Building a Music Career Fans Can Emotionally Invest In
What is a brand, in simple terms?
Herrström defines a brand as a feeling, the way a company acts, talks, sounds and looks, much like the way a person expresses themselves. He says a brand only works if the people you are trying to reach can genuinely connect with that feeling, rather than admire it from a distance.
From: Use Branding to Attract Tech Partnerships and Customers
Why do so many music tech company brands look the same?
Herrström says founders often assume a music tech brand has to look duotone or use cutout artist imagery because that worked for Spotify years ago, so many startup websites end up looking nearly identical. He argues that sameness is exactly why they fail to stand out, since standing out requires looking and speaking differently from the market leader.
From: Use Branding to Attract Tech Partnerships and Customers
Should a startup invest in a polished brand before pitching investors?
Herrström says he watched founders at a recent pitch event whose slide visuals, wording and spoken pitch all pulled in different directions, which made it harder for investors to trust the underlying idea. He suggests it can be better to pitch with plain, honest slides than to present a disconnected, half-built identity.
From: Use Branding to Attract Tech Partnerships and Customers
Will AI replace the need for professional branding?
Herrström says AI is simply another tool, similar to the arrival of the computer, but generating a brand is not the same as connecting with the small group of people who actually care about it. He points to a SoundCloud study showing under 2% of fans can generate over 40% of an artist's revenue, arguing that concentrated loyalty is exactly what a real brand has to earn.
From: Use Branding to Attract Tech Partnerships and Customers
Why does Japan's music market still rely heavily on physical CDs?
Japanese CDs are priced high, around 3,000 yen or 20 euros, and come with extra value like bonus artwork, lottery tickets for handshake events, and early tour access. This keeps physical revenue at roughly 70%, though streaming is much cheaper.
From: Superfans and Strategy: How Japan Is Monetizing Fandom
How do Japanese fan clubs work?
Fan clubs are monthly or annual paid subscriptions where fans get early ticket access and exclusive content. This acts as a basic income for artists, letting them focus on creativity and live entertainment quality, which Western artists often lack.
From: Superfans and Strategy: How Japan Is Monetizing Fandom
What can Western music companies learn from Japan about superfans?
Western artists often maximize reach, but Japan shows that fan clubs and tiered storytelling for light, medium, and core fans can create deeper engagement. The low-hanging fruit is adopting the fan club framework and matching storytelling to monetization.
From: Superfans and Strategy: How Japan Is Monetizing Fandom