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Why The Truth About Money in Music is a Reflection of Brand Equity Theory

This video, detailing the ‘The Truth About Money in Music’, perfectly describes the truth about brand equity theory when it comes to music. It does so by (1) highlighting the importance of a band’s identity, (2) demonstrating the importance of purpose and meaning for musicians, and (3) describing how the majority of profits for artists are made from live shows, which consolidates intense and active relationships between producers and consumers of music.

1. How is the importance of brand/band identity reflected in the video?

The video opens with a question asking artists to provide a history of the band and their biggest milestones to date. The answers to this question reflect the base of Keller’s brand equity theory: brand salience. The video creator does this to create cues used to describe the brand’s identity for the benefit of the audience, which ultimately creates brand salience by promoting awareness through accomplishment association. As is demonstrated in the video, having a strong brand identity does not always lead to profitability as a musician. This is consistent with the theory of brand equity, which details how brand salience is an essential but weak aspect of brand equity.




2. How have artists created brand/band meaning? And how does this relate to the truth about money in music?

In the video, multiple artists state how they would find it hard to endorse a product that is untrue to their history and image. I think this is perfectly reflected in the customer-based brand equity pyramid, where Keller explains how brand story, performance, and imagery are of central importance to the second and third steps of the customer-based brand equity pyramid. This demonstrates how musicians, as brands, want to tell a consistent story, and foster customer relationships by being transparent and trustworthy.

3. Is creating a strong relationship with the consumer the best way to make money in music?

I believe that the truth that live performance is the most profitable activity for musicians is consistent with the theory of brand equity. The pinnacle of brand equity theory details how customer brand resonance is created through customer relationships. From a musicians perspective, these shows are most profitable because each consumer pays to share an experience and foster a relationship with the artist. These customer relationships are most effective when they are intense and active (Keller, 2001), as is the case with live music.

Why brand equity is a reflection of the truth about money in music

Brand equity theory in the context of music was perfectly summarised by a comment made in the video that ‘the recording [of music] is your advertisement for your live show’. In this sense, releasing music attempts to create a sense of brand identity, the meaning of this identity is clarified by the artist’s subsequent actions and imagery of which consumers can appraise. Finally, live performance reaches the pinnacle of this relationship by creating intense and active relationships.


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