How-To: Building a Brand Reputation as a Record Label

First, let’s start with some definitions. Don’t worry; we will try to keep it short and sweet.

Brand reputation can be defined as the overall perception that internal and external stakeholders — including customers, employees, partners, and others — have of a brand. The stronger the reputation, the more people trust and advocate for the brand. With that said, knowing that a reputation is fleeting and can change over time, being shaped by both direct and indirect influences and experiences, is essential.

People’s perception of a brand can often be formed by factors beyond user experience and the company’s main focus. For instance, nowadays, many people care deeply about a brand’s social responsibility, that is, the company’s activism and volunteerism, environmental contributions, and ethical hiring practices. The reputation of a company’s partners or the opinions of friends and family can also influence a brand’s reputation.

On the other hand, brand identity refers to how a brand deliberately presents itself to its stakeholders, influencing their perception and helping the brand stand out. Typically, a brand’s identity comprises a set of elements, both tangible and intangible, that work together to create a cohesive image.

These elements often include visual components like the company’s name, logo, color scheme, and overall design. However, brand identity can extend beyond visuals, including the company’s internal culture, vision and mission, advertising, public relations, communication style, and more. Notably, while brand identity helps shape brand perspective (reputation), reputation is also vital to a brand’s identity.

Carla Harris, a Senior Client Advisor at Morgan Stanley and author, famously said: “Perception is the copilot to reality.” While she spoke about personal perception, this principle applies equally to businesses, including record labels. Before you begin shaping your brand’s reputation, you must ask yourself: How do I want my business to be perceived?

Defining the reputation you strive to cultivate is essential. This isn’t just about aiming for a positive image (that’s given) but rather about how others describe your label when they talk about your brand. What specific qualities and values do you want to be associated with it?

A straightforward approach to this is listing the adjectives and attributes you want to be linked to your record label. Avoid getting overly specific — instead, focus on broader qualities that capture your essence. Additionally, consider writing down what you want your label to be known for and the milestones you hope to achieve. This clarity will serve as a foundation for building a strong and intentional brand reputation.

Monika Illieva, founder and CEO of a North Macedonian record label and artists management agency Cafe De Anatolia, shared in Forbes that aligning your artists’ brand with your label’s identity can be a powerful way to boost the impact of both.

As mentioned earlier, a brand’s reputation is often influenced by the reputation of its partners and stakeholders. This holds for record labels too. A strong artist brand can enhance a label’s identity to attract and maintain fans, increase sales, and establish an overall reputation for delivering quality music.

While this approach may not be immediately feasible for all labels — especially newer ones with limited resources — it can be highly effective. Building and managing an artist’s brand requires time, capacity, funding, and collaboration, particularly since every artist will likely have a unique vision for their brand. However, investing in their brand also invests in your label’s long-term success.

You can start by formulating a clear branding plan for each artist. Discuss their music goals, identify their unique selling points (USPs), and define messaging that reflects who they are as artists. You can also continue to outline the key branding elements, such as visual identity, tone, and values, and manage their branding efforts if your resources allow. At the same time, they are signed to your label.

There’s nothing worse than inconsistent communication regarding your reputation and identity. Consistent branding, messaging, and behavior over time reinforce a strong and sustainable brand reputation.

This consistency should extend across all platforms — whether digital or interpersonal. Your communication should reflect a unified and cohesive brand identity, from your website and social media to email marketing and interactions with clients, employees, and other stakeholders.

One way to achieve this is by creating clear brand guidelines (and timelines) that include your messaging, tone, visuals, and best practices. Everyone in your organization can follow these protocols and standards, maintaining a consistent and professional presence across all channels.

Visual storytelling can be a powerful tool for shaping and reinforcing your brand, especially in today’s social media-driven world, where visuals dominate. A compelling narrative draws attention and leaves your audience wanting more, making storytelling a key strategy for influencing your brand reputation.

Brand storytelling aims to evoke emotional responses, fostering more profound, personal connections with your audience. At its heart, compelling brand storytelling communicates your values, USPs, and brand personality authentically and engagingly. When done well, storytelling offers several benefits, such as:

• Making your brand more relatable and memorable,

• Evoking emotions like empathy, compassion, and feeling understood, which help customers connect and stay connected with the brand,

• Building credibility, which can translate to trust and loyalty in the long run,

• Boosting engagement, and

• Differentiating your business from its competitors.

The music industry is made to create captivating narratives — after all, making and releasing music is a deeply emotional process. In the face of intense competition, crafting a compelling story for your record label may seem challenging, but it is achievable. The key is to focus your narrative on your customers — the artists — rather than on your label itself. As Illieva says, “Your customer will only believe in your story if they are one of the characters in it.”

Now, you might wonder, ‘How can I tell a story that represents my label’s values and brand personality without making it about my business? This is precisely where the challenge — and the opportunity — lie. By crafting a narrative highlighting your uniqueness while concentrating on your customers, you can create a story that deeply resonates with the artists. Remember that to make your story successful, it must be relatable, memorable, and emotionally engaging, forging a valuable connection between your label and your audience.

Reviews have become more influential than ever. Plenty of review sites like Google, Trust Pilot, Amazon, Bing, Yelp, and social media allow businesses to interact directly with the public.

Actively engaging with reviews about your business is a key aspect of reputation management, a strategy aimed at influencing stakeholder perceptions and guiding public conversations and discussions about your business and brand.

You can use your business account on these platforms to respond to reviews, comments, questions, or complaints transparently and thoughtfully. This approach will help you maintain and enhance your reputation and discover and seize opportunities to strengthen it further.

Being responsive goes beyond addressing people’s reviews and comments — it also means taking ownership of your actions and their potential consequences.

Not all comments and complaints may feel justified — and frequently, even when they are, responding in a kind and authentic way can turn a challenging interaction into an opportunity to learn and grow.

However, a different situation occurs when a grave mistake happens — then your response becomes critical. Often, it is not the mistake itself, but how you handle it that can cost your business its hard-earned reputation.

Dedicating time to acknowledging an error, taking proper steps to address it, and offering a sincere apology to affected customers can be crucial for your business’s survival and future. Hiring a crisis management professional or team can provide valuable guidance in such a situation.