The work is the art. The personal brand is why people wait for the next release, share it when it arrives, and still know your name in between.
The Manifesto places musicians at every tier of the Hierarchy: the musician who plays local gigs as The Local Hero, the indie success with more than one or two albums and merchandise as The State Representative, and the world-touring artist as The International Icon. Talent alone does not move an artist up. Drawing may come easy, the Manifesto notes, and the craft still has to be honed.
Artists also work in long gaps between releases, and the Manifesto treats that silence as a marketing tool: mystery, used on purpose, builds anticipation for what comes next. Isaac Mashman managed musical talent and built a record label before he built a public relations firm and MCG, and several of the interviews below are about getting music heard.
Artists will go years without publishing a new work, and musicians can go as long as decades before their next album comes out.
Personal Branding: A Manifesto on Fame and Influence, Second Edition, 4.7
Many artists are known first to friends and family, and the Manifesto's Local Hero is the musician who plays local gigs. The State Representative, the indie success with a body of released work and merchandise, is the tier to build toward.
Where most stand: Tier 2, Friends and FamilyBuild toward: Tier 4, The State Representative
The tier measures how large a position is. How good it is, is measured by The Five Personal Brand Pillars. Read more about the six tiers.
The moves MCG starts with for artists and musicians, grouped by pillar, in order. Each one cites the subchapter of Personal Branding: A Manifesto on Fame and Influence it comes from.
Advice Isaac Mashman has given on his own shows and in interviews that applies to artists and musicians, from the same library MCG consultants work from. Each one keeps the words he said it in, and links to the transcript where there is one.
When people ask what you do, say plainly that you make music, art, or whatever your craft is, and put it in every profile with the same handle everywhere.
Read the transcript ↗ (opens in a new tab)“you should own up to the fact that you're an artist”
The Codependency Survival Guide, “How to Get Your Music Heard During Lockdown ft. Isaac Mashman”, May 30, 2020
When something you do gets a burst of attention, schedule the next six weeks of output right away: more pieces, more interviews, more conversations with the new people who showed up.
“you should have put out more music consistently”
Unrivaled Results with Mashman Ventures, “UNRIVALED: Personal Branding Training”, April 13, 2022
If you are an artist or creator, grow an audience you own and a brand of your own before you consider a deal that takes a share of your work.
Read the transcript ↗ (opens in a new tab)“succeed without ever signing to a record label”
Chase the Vision with Isaac Mashman, “The 4 Stages of Learning”, May 27, 2020
Engage with your fans in comments and messages so they feel part of the community and share your work with their own circles.
Read the transcript ↗ (opens in a new tab)“it's a spider web effect”
The Codependency Survival Guide, “How to Get Your Music Heard During Lockdown ft. Isaac Mashman”, May 30, 2020
All consumed media educates, entertains, inspires, or connects. The Skyline Strategy asks for two pieces about your work for every one about your life. Here is one of each, for each purpose.
| Purpose | Brand Post | Personal Post |
|---|---|---|
| EducateTeach something useful. | How one piece or song was made, start to finish. | The artists who shaped you. |
| EntertainMake it enjoyable to follow you. | A rough first take beside the finished version. | Your life away from the studio. |
| InspireShow what is possible. | The work that took longest, and why you kept going. | Why you started making it. |
| ConnectGive people a reason to reply. | Ask fans which work to perform or show next. | A fan's story about your work, shared with permission. |
Draw a Week
Two posts about your work, one about your life, drawn from the ideas above.
Plan the ratio with the free Skyline Planner (opens in a new tab).
Say plainly that you make music or art, on every profile, under the same handle everywhere.
Decide where the work will be found before it is finished. Work exclusive to one outlet never reaches the rest.
The Manifesto's example is a public stunt for a new gallery. Until a team can run the experiments, choose campaigns you can measure.
Twenty-five questions, about seven minutes, free. Choose Other on the intake, name your field, and the audit scores all five pillars, places you on The Hierarchy of Personal Branding, and returns the three moves that would raise your score most, each traced to the subchapter it comes from.
The firm’s topic guide on the subject, with the doctrine, terms, tips, and interviews in one place: Personal Brand Strategy.
Yes. A creator's work is the content itself. An artist's work is the album, the show, or the piece, and the personal brand is what carries it: the reason an audience waits through the gap between releases and shares the next one when it comes.
Not to begin. Isaac Mashman's advice to artists is to grow an audience and a brand of their own before considering a deal that takes a share of the work.
With mystery, on purpose. The Manifesto advises hinting at what is coming in media appearances, content, and messages before the announcement, and building suspense toward the launch.
A large audience is fame. Whether it buys, believes, or follows you to a new platform is influence, and that is the part a creator has to build on purpose.
A book or a talk is an extension of you, not the whole of you. Authors and speakers who are booked again are the ones whose name is the reason people show up.
Performance earns attention. A personal brand decides whether that attention is still yours when the season, the contract, or the playing career ends.
The last thing you want is to pour your effort into work no one sees. Distribution decides whether it reaches anyone.
A 2:1 ratio from Identity Positioning: A Macroscopic View on Personal Branding. For every two steps that grow the brand side, take one that grows the personal side.
The subtitle of the Manifesto names the two forces that decide what a personal brand can accomplish. Reach without trust is empty, and trust without reach stays small.
Chapter 2 of the Manifesto sets out four laws that build in order. Without familiarity there is no connection; without fame and influence, a personal brand has little reach or weight.
How MCG measures the quality of a personal brand. Five pillars, always in this order, weighted into one composite out of 100.
Engagements are accepted by application and seats are limited each quarter. Tell us who you are, what you are building, and the position you intend to hold.
Consultations are virtual or in person. See what each includes, and what is asked of you: Virtual or In Person.
