Transcription
So, why is it that women in music and art just gained an insane advantage over the entire entertainment industry? A shift is happening right now that will position these women to potentially gain millions of fans, which in turn can shift the trajectory of their careers entirely.
As someone who's worked as a creative director in both the music and fashion industries over the last 20 years, there's a major change that I'm seeing behind the curtain right now, and I want to make sure other women in the industry building their brands have this information, understand their advantages, and know how to use them. Many women think the odds are stacked against them and the chances of success in music are extremely low. But from my view, this absolutely isn't the case for key reasons and new changes. And if there was a stock market of music artists and I could invest in the market, I'd be betting big on the next generation of women music artists, period.
Now, when talking about women in music and art, I realize I'm a man discussing this topic, but some of my favorite artists and favorite clients of all time are women. And the women in my life are some of the deepest relationships I have. And I also have a 5-year-old daughter who's getting into music and art right now. And I think I'm partially making this video for her. So, even if something happens to me, she'll have this information when she's ready.
So, in this video, I'm going to lay out your exact key advantages and specific tactics on how to utilize them. And then towards the end of the video, I'll talk about how to bring all of these together in one key strategy that can exponentially grow your audience if used correctly. But before we dive in, let's look at some facts.
When you look at a list of top performing artists in the world, and this is looking at audience size, streaming revenue, and awareness of the top 10 artists in the world, half of them are women. Then if you look at the top five, just in terms of net worth, three of the five are women. If you look at the top five in terms of follower count, four out of the five are women. Now, art isn't entirely based in numbers, but the scoreboard of the entertainment industry has women owning success across the board.
But why is it that the perception has so many women feeling like they're at a disadvantage? Well, to start, when you look at many of the music festival lineups, it's a much smaller percentage of women on the lineup. Where are the everyday role models outside of the superstars? And another reason, an obvious one, is so much focus being put on appearance. Many women feel they're judged through a lens of looks before talent, leadership, craft, or originality. So, this starts the journey in a skewed way because the conversation around their value becomes distorted from the jump.
Something I actually say to my 5-year-old daughter when she asks me if she looks pretty is I tell her, "You are beautiful. But not because of how you look, but because of who you are." I'll also tell her that being kind, helpful, and smart is better than being pretty. These are super dad things to say, but I am a realist and I know how society thinks and the world she'll grow up in. But I am trying to set her programming in a way that hopefully changes some of the view of herself from the start.
Which is also another issue with women artists is there's a double standard where men are often rewarded for confidence, ambition, and edge. And then women displaying the exact same traits can be looked at as being difficult, arrogant, or overall just too much. And that deeper psychological barrier can be everpresent because so many young girls are taught to value harmony, approval, being polite, and not being too loud or too bold from a young age. And this type of societal education creates inner conflict and programming that starts early. And sometimes this programming can feel almost impossible to overcome at later stages in life. So it makes sense why women, artists or not, would feel this way.
But I'm here to tell you that at this moment in history, women actually have some insane advantages that they may not be seeing. So if you can shift your perspective on some of the topics that I'm going to cover today, it can completely change how you move, how you build, and how you see yourself as an artist navigating the murky waters of the music industry.
And the first and most important of these advantages has to do with how fans experience music with the artists they follow. How they consciously and subconsciously transport themselves into the artist universe.
Advantage number one, a focus on world building. So we live in a time today that has many music artists sharing their stuff on different digital platforms. It used to be that artists would need a record label to get behind them and their project in order for it to take off. But now with the right strategy, anyone can build an audience of millions. There's definitely still gatekeepers, but there's more independence happening than ever before. By creating one's own content that lives on the digital platforms, this is where a relationship for a fan and an artist can begin. In my world of marketing, this is often called the top of funnel. And I personally don't love that these platforms are the primary way that many artists will need to connect, but it is a part of the current game where music artists meet audiences.
What's interesting though, and where the advantage for women comes into play, is what's happening on these platforms. All of these platforms are shifting what kind of content is being shown to audiences. We're in a new era that has creators at the forefront because the algorithms are now favoring connection over aesthetics. And this isn't by accident or for some altruistic reason. The algos are meant to keep people on the platform. And they do this by looking at the data of what kind of content is performing well with what audiences. The better something performs, the better the data looks, the more the algorithm shows it to new people. So the big change that's happened is we've gone from a social media era into an interest media era. If a piece of content is deemed to be more interesting, it's shown to more people. So with this change, these platforms are rewarding better storytelling and more intentional consistent content that strikes emotions in viewers. It's now who can tell a better emotional story. So, put simply, a good honest story, which includes branding and emotional world building plus good music plus consistency equals faster audience growth. So, it's finding the emotion, building the world, and then letting these algos help you find like-minded people.
And what I've personally found in 20 years in the industry is women artists are usually stronger in these areas. In my experience, when it comes to emotional connection, they think about it more. Now, I understand that these are blanket statements and every person is different, but generally women have strong emotional intelligence. They're consistent and they seem to understand 360 worldbuilding in a deeper way.
As an example of this, let's look at an artist like Melanie Martinez, a creator rebel archetype. From the beginning, every aspect of her brand had intention. The visuals, the performances, the content she's choosing to share on social, the styling, and her signature split hair look. It's all part of the world that she's creating. Her point of view as an artist is clear and consistent across all the touch points of her brand. Or as another example, let's look at country artist Kylie Morgan, an every woman archetype. She presents her life and her world in a relatable everyday way. She isn't above the audience in any way. She's one of them. She shows her family, her kids, the relatable world of being an everyday person navigating the country music landscape.
Now, the Melanie Martinez brand and the Kylie Morgan brand couldn't be more different. But what they both have in common is they're building clear worlds for the audience to exist in. There's specific taste and a specific point of view. So when it comes to making content that surrounds their music and art, there's now a greater chance of success because the new game is set up perfectly for all these elements. The audience needs more than just the music. They're now expecting to be brought into someone's story. The future superstar artists are going to be master worldbuilders and will deeply understand emotional connection with their audiences. The game is now set up for this. It's just leaning into it and doing the work to create the universe. And once you authentically showcase your world, like-minded fans start to identify and see themselves inside it. And even though it's your world, they feel like it's theirs.
And this plays into the next advantage.
Advantage number two, identity as connection. So now when we look at the modern success of music artists, it's more an exercise in community building than it is in music or streams. It's building many relationships with one's audience. Why some artists can get paid millions for a few hours of a performance is a numbers game. How many tickets can you sell? But the more important question and insight is why do people buy them? And one of the key reasons a fan bonds to a music artist, why they follow them in their career is because they see themselves in that artist. Subconsciously, their mind thinks they're just like me. They relate to the artists and their point of view. They subconsciously think we're seeing the world in the same way.
And this is where women have an advantage. When you look at the music offerings on the major DSPs, it's predominantly men. So, what's being offered is skewed towards one point of view and one perspective. A woman's life experience is fundamentally different than a man's life experience. Not a better or worse thing, but the experience is undeniably different. Different pressures, different expectations, different emotions, different realities. And these different experiences translated through various mediums create different kinds of art. It's a different perspective with a different kind of honesty which creates a different kind of truth.
So the advantage is that there's a huge gap in the market. When you're making your art, if you can be honest about your unique experiences and point of view, you have a greater chance to connect with other like-minded people or people that have had similar experiences. This is why when the media attacks Taylor Swift, her Swifties go hard back at the media. They're partially defending Taylor because they're fans, but often it's deeper than that. Because many of her fans see themselves in her. So, while they're defending her, they're subconsciously defending themselves. She represents them and their life experiences. So, if she loses, they lose. If she wins, they win.
So just by existing and experiencing life as a woman, you're sharing in the same experience with billions of people all over the world. It's then just bringing those experiences and point of view into your art and putting it out there for others to see and feel. And just through sharing alone, some people will not only see themselves in you in your art, they'll feel more understood entirely. One of the deepest primal human needs is to feel seen. In friendships, relationships, and fan culture, people bond when they feel understood. And that's the hidden power of being an artist. When you tell the truth about your life, you often end up telling the truth about someone else's, too.
So, as an example of this, let's look at an artist like Pink Panthers. Initially, she started sharing music online without showing her face. In the early 2020s, as Tik Tok became a place where young people were discovering music, she consistently released her ideas. As the project started gaining traction, she began sharing more of herself online. The audience realized she was speaking to many of the same experiences young people were living through in the early 2020s. By being honest and authentic, her audience saw themselves in her. As her profile grew, they felt like they were growing with her. They felt seen by her project.
As another example, let's look at an artist like Libbya. She described the mission with her music project to be one that heals the world by allowing people to accept themselves. She exposes her own vulnerabilities and addresses her struggles and experiences within her brand. She's an amazing representation of the concept of people seeing themselves in her. They can relate to her life and put themselves inside it. Her brand just in its existence makes people feel seen.
So the feeling of being seen is one of the strongest subconscious drivers for audience bonding. But on identity, there's another driver that deeply affects fans and that's aspiration. People follow artists that they admire or aspire to be like. Now, they don't always want to become musicians themselves, but they're inspired by artists who showcase traits that they'd like to embody themselves. These can be traits like confidence, freedom, rebellion, strength, honesty, creativity, or independence. Just by building and growing your brand as a woman in the industry, you're inspiring others. Because when someone sees a woman fully owning her identity, speaking her truth, sharing her art, and authentically building her world, it becomes bigger than music. These kind of brands mean more to the audiences that surround them. The audience is invested in a deeper story than just someone making music. And that story, that brand is where the next crucial advantage lies.
Advantage number three, women artists as brands. Music artists today should think of themselves as storytellers with many media companies. They should be programming their various channels with the stories and content that aligns to the values and beliefs of their brand as a whole. The value system and the art and content that surround it creates the brand. The brand is their story and the story is everything.
Now, in saying that, the brand side of things for women in music is very different because often with an audience base of women, there's an advantage to how women can use their brands to create more value for their fans. When a woman trusts another woman, that bond is significant. And it's been deeply researched, and it's a fact that women artists often build more meaningful connections and trust with their fans. This happens for a lot of reasons, but here's a few. One, because many women artists are often open and honest within their brands. When someone connects, it feels deeper and less service. And two, many women artists are more consistent in their brand narratives, so the audience expectation is met with the ongoing show that they love. And three, whether it's a man or a woman, when someone bonds to a woman, the bond is harder to break. This is part of our primal human behavior going as deep as early maternal relationships and subconsciously tied to our survival.
So audiences of women artists by default are more connected. And because of that connection, there's a greater opportunity for them to offer all kinds of value to their communities. This could be their own products, which could be a variety of things, or it could be other creative offerings. This is why the net worth of many of music's most financially successful artists, men or women, involve the product world and experiential. Fans want a piece of the world the artist represents. They don't just consume the songs, they join the world around the artist. They wear the merch, travel to the shows, create the fan pages, they make the content around releases, and they help push moments into the culture. One highly connected fan community can easily outperform a much larger but disconnected audience because real bond beats empty numbers every time. The artists who really connect have an insane advantage over the rest of the field. The audience trusts them, love their universes, and they buy into it with their time and money.
And women artists can have great success in this by owning their own companies around what they offer. But there's also an ocean of financial success for women artists with strong communities who get into brand partnerships and become brand ambassadors. Because modern brands are no longer just looking for someone famous to hold a product in a photo. They're looking for trust, community, taste, and cultural relevance. They want artists whose audience actually listen, buy, share, and identify with the lifestyle around their world. From what I see across the board in my experience is that brand partnerships and product offerings are currently more geared towards women with trusted fan bases. The brands are aggressively hunting down these kinds of artists. And that's why even women artists with smaller followings have a greater opportunity for brand collaborations because of how their audience responds to them.
For example, let's look at an artist like Peggy Goo. An artist that came from the underground scene, but through brand building and audience connection and growth, she positioned herself as a strong collaborator for product and apparel brands. She's done partnerships with Nike. She's been an ambassador specifically for Air Max, collaborations with Rayban, Louis Vuitton, Alpha Industries, Kieran, and then beverage companies like Don Julio. This is an entirely different side of her creative business that's semi- tied to music, but it doesn't need the music to drive revenue or awareness.
Or let's look at another artist, someone like Rey. Rey showcases her real life story and her tastes through her brand and music. She's an honest storyteller and she's tackled subjects like trauma and abuse in her music. Her authenticity and point of view earned her millions of fans all around the world and she's now collaborated with brands like Dyson, Nintendo, H&M, and Otmar PK. So, your advantage if you choose to go this route is there's simply more brands out there looking for good collaborators that are geared towards women with deeply connected audiences. These are billion-dollar spaces where fans are already conditioned to purchase through identity and recommendation. When an artist's authenticity fits those categories, opportunities will be abundant. And in today's world of music, it is unfortunately easier to build recurring revenue from products than it is from streams. And for the artists that understand this, their brands can become the engine that powers it all. These artists can build a much bigger sustainable business behind the music. Because like I said before, once a fan is truly invested, it's actually hard to break their loyalty. But this is the power of brand when it comes to women artists.
But what we've talked about so far only has us looking at the artist brand itself. But what about companies and brands outside of individual artists? There's another change and shift that's happening with many companies right now. That'll lead us to our last advantage.
Advantage number four, the rise of female-led organizations. So, another advantage that women artists have right now that people rarely talk about is the rise of women in decision-making positions across the creative economy. Creative companies, labels, talent agencies, marketing firms, fashion houses, media companies, music festivals, and brand partnerships across all sectors of creative. And obviously this matters because of who is making the decisions to shape opportunities. These women decide who gets booked, who gets featured, who to get behind, and which stories feel culturally relevant. It's a simple fact that when leadership becomes more diverse, opportunity becomes diverse, too. And this change is more powerful than just simple representation. Many women leaders in creative industries understand nuance, audience psychology, community, storytelling, and long-term brand building at scale. They're the ones that often spot new talent that the old guard may have overlooked or misunderstood because of their own life experiences. They can see the value in new voices, perspectives, and creative identities that in the past may have been labeled in a certain way. So, their perspective creates more pathways for women artists just like you.
So, if you are a woman building a music project today, understand that the landscape is changing in your favor. It doesn't guarantee success, but it does mean that the ecosystem itself is widening. And when more people inside the system understand you, your audience, your story, and your value, the typical ceiling on your project starts to disappear.
Now, something I mentioned in the beginning of the video is I was going to talk around one big strategy and position or mindset that combines all of these advantages together that can help you exponentially grow your audience. And that strategy goes like this. Don't hide. Let me say that again. Don't hide. There are millions of people around the world just like you that need real honest art in their lives. Now, I have a bias here, but I think connection is the greatest part of the human existence. And one of the best ways to connect with others is through art. You can connect with them directly and they can connect with each other all through your art. But when I say don't hide, I mean don't hide behind what you think you're supposed to be, what they tell you you're supposed to be. Be honest and be who you are. If you aren't an extroverted, outgoing, super confident person, don't pretend to be so. Be yourself. Or on the flip side, maybe they're telling you you're being too loud or controversial or this is not how it's done. But if it feels right to you, don't listen to them. Be authentic to who you are. Say what you want to say. Don't be afraid of showing how weird you are. The greatest artists in music history all have their eccentricities. Just go for it. Don't hide. The audience wants to see you however you are. the more real you are in your taste, your story, your point of view, and then you pair that with consistently putting out good work and getting better, it's only a matter of time because these advantages are right in front of you right now. You just have to lean into your honesty and go for it.
And again, I fully understand that I'm a man pointing out all these advantages, but we work with so many female artists at Colt and I'm having these kinds of conversations every day. So, I thought it might be worth putting some of these perspectives out there because this is what I'm seeing behind the curtain. We love working with our women clients. And when we collaborate with them, we absolutely approach branding and storytelling in a tailored way, keeping everything that I talked about today as part of our strategy. And should you want to collaborate with myself or the cult creatives, you know where to find us, all things the cultreatives, the colt creatives.com. But no matter what, I hope all this has been helpful. And just remember, sometimes the thing that feels like a disadvantage if you shift your perspective slightly can reveal itself is one of the greatest advantages all along. The shift in mindset is where the power is created. But good luck in all your artistic pursuits and we'll see you on the next one. Peace.