The Artist Rise #019

Welcome to your weekly resource for all things branding, release strategy, and overall artist development.

Every week I'll help you tackle brand-building and strengthen your artistry by asking questions that dig deeper into your true artist self. Let's get into it.

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The Question

This week's question: what part of being an artist means the most to you? Where do you feel you best represent or embody who you are as an artist?

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(We're gonna get deeper than just 'songwriting', I promise).

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Let's get into it.

The Importance

We all know that being an artist means wearing a lot of hats. Promotion, songwriting, production, performances, merch, you name it.

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And I know that most artists get into this crazy business out of a place of passion for making music (why else would you be here?).

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But let's dig a little deeper.

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If you take simply 'writing music' out of the equation, where do you thrive most?

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Are you someone who has a knack for TikTok? Do you also wear the producer hat and make some crazy arrangements? Are you one of those artists who doesn't release a song until it has a music video to go along with it?

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Set the songwriting aside for a moment- where can I learn more about you?

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It could be something as simple as "my merch designs are about as on brand as you can get".

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What medium are you most drawn to besides writing the songs itself?

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The reason why I ask this is because it helps you understand how you operate as an artist more and allows you to put your energy into a space where it can be best utilized.

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With that, it also points out where you might be a little weaker. If content isn't your thing, find someone who can help you out or try to learn how to get better at it (or more comfortable with it) from one of your peers.

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(We are a community in the indie world after all)

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If you can better understand where you are strong and where you are weak, you weed out any chance of letting yourself misrepresent your artistry and your brand.

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And I've said this before, you have to avoid spreading yourself too thin and stop trying to do it all.

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You can't wear every hat all the time.

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So, why not only put on the hats that work for you.

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Where your energy goes is where you'll get returns, so using it in the places that it is most efficient.

Your Task

Write out everything that you do for yourself as an artist (beyond songwriting, of course).

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Now add the things to the list that you want to add to the mix (aka the things you've been procrastinating but still say you'll do "when you have the time").

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Rank them in terms of what you do best to what you don't do that great (or just takes you more time/effort than you think it should).

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Now focus on the top 3-4 things. Identify how much you could cover effectively without burning yourself out. Know going in how much upkeep and effort each item takes.

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Then, with the rest of your list, figure out ways you can improve the middle items, and decide what maybe you could cut.

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For example, if you're not too hard pressed on having merch, drop it. If live shows aren't your thing, don't spend your time trying to land shows and make performing a lower-level focus.

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Start working on what you're focused on (what's at the top of your list) and see where it gets you.

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Add in the next item if you can manage it, but don't rush it. It's about the build.

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Time to get to work.

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-Ava

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Talk it out: As previously promised, I want you to provide the opportunity to talk this out and explore it further, so you're welcome to share your origin/growth story in a reply to this email, or chat about it with me.

That's it for this week! Hopefully this helped you take the next step in developing yourself as an artist and a brand. Stay tuned for more next week.

If you have any topics you want to see more of or any questions you'd love for me to answer, simply reply to this email.

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Keep learning and growing,

Ava Rose Lynch

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Book an intro call here​

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