HEADS on: ALIGNING YOUR ARTIST CAREER WITH A MAJOR BRAND feat. Emily Wolfe

Photos courtesy of Whitney Hensley

With all of this newfound freetime stacking up at home during quarantine, you may find yourself re-thinking plans for future projects. But when was the last time you considered how your most-used gear brands could be utilized as marketing allies for your next release?

Artists are becoming increasingly more in sync with the gear they play—and more importantly, the perks that come along with signing on as an official brand ambassador. Take Emily Wolfe, for example—the Austin native and blues/rock guitarist found love at first sight with an Epiphone Sheraton she bought early on in her career. “What drew me to the Epiphone Sheraton was how much it looked like Lucille [the nickname for legendary blues guitarist B.B. King’s Gibson guitar]. I've always been a huge B.B. King fan, so that guitar grabbed my attention immediately.”

Just a few years later, Emily would find herself not only signed on as an official Gibson/Epiphone artist, but also the designer of her very own mass-produced signature Epiphone guitar, modeled after the original Sheraton model she first fell in love with (coming soon!). She’s since inked deals with guitar accessories manufacturers Ernie Ball and Jim Dunlop USA.

How did she get here? And how can you get here? We asked Emily to share some words of advice on landing a dream sponsorship.

THE PERKS

If you’re a musician, the one thing you can seemingly never have enough of is gear. Whether producing, performing, singing, or some combination of all the above—each artist has their own personal arsenal of gear favorites. In Emily’s words, here’s what she enjoys most about working alongside her favorite brands:

THE GEAR: “I played Epiphone and Gibson guitars for about 4 years before I started working with the company. My former manager knew Codey, my Gibson rep—[we] ended up talking for 2 hours in the Austin showroom and hit it off. Codey loans me guitars for tours and studio use.”

PRESS + PR: “Free PR is another perk, which is honestly something a record label would do. I don't have a record label, so it's pretty great having Gibson to fall back on for promotion. Aligning with a massive brand has put me in front of different markets that would have taken me longer to reach without a company like Gibson.” (Check out Emily’s recent Homemade Music Sessions with Gibson here.)

NETWORKING OPPORTUNITIES + APPEARANCES: “I’ve been flown out to the NAMM Conference in Anaheim to perform and represent Gibson. I've also gotten to meet some of my musical heroes at NAMM, including Billy Gibbons, Peter Frampton, Nancy Wilson, and Slash.”

LANDING THE DEAL

In the digitized world of social media, there’s a delicate balance between keeping a conversation online and fostering that relationship in-person. For Emily, keeping her Gibson connections active has been the most rewarding. “I think the most important thing with business relationships is to see the people you work with as people and friends, and not as a means to an end.”

Once you’ve decided which brand(s) you’d like to pursue, here are a few great places to start:

Play the gear. This sounds a bit obvious, but remember that once you’ve signed on with a company, you may be asked to play their gear onstage and often. It’s key that you pick a brand that is most authentic to you, both in performance and personality. “I had my Sheraton in every live photo taken of me,” says Emily. “The thing that I love about Gibson and Epiphone guitars is that they're classic and iconic. I hope my music is described the same way one day.” 

Tag the brands. Do you live in a part of the country that makes it harder to attend major networking events in music hubs like Nashville or LA? Now that things have moved to the digital landscape, you might have it easier than before when it comes to getting noticed. Utilizing your social channels as tools for making virtual impressions is key. “I notice a lot of artists seek endorsements through social media, which can work. That's how I got my Ernie Ball and Dunlop endorsements,” says Emily. Think outside of the box, too—who makes the strings on your guitar? Your favorite straps? Your favorite speakers, or even keyboard stands? All of these companies are constantly seeking new ways to reach the musician market in an authentic way. Whenever you share content, do your best to both #hashtag and @tag the brands behind your setup.

Bonus tip: Go a step further and check the brand website to find out if they have an active Artist Relations or Press team—sending a DM on LinkedIn or Instagram might be just the thing needed to step ahead of your competition.

Keep your relationships active. Like any sales pitch, you may encounter that you can’t catch the attention of your favorite brand, even after tagging them and reaching out to their team. “If the people representing a brand aren't showing interest in you after you've really tried to make those connections, then that brand is probably not for you in regards to endorsements,” says Emily. However, if and when you do manage to strike up a relationship, it’s imperative that you stay genuinely active in reaching out when you have new projects or ideas to share. “It's important to figure out a way to be face-to-face with the people representing the brand and make real connections. I consider Codey [Emily’s Gibson rep] one of my closest friends and it's awesome that we happen to be working on big things together under the Gibson/Epiphone umbrella.”

GETTING STARTED TODAY

With the unprecedented cancellations of every major music event across the globe, brands are eager to stay connected with their artist fan bases while social distancing, and most importantly—they’re interested in keeping you creating.

“Aligning with Gibson has really put me into a musician's hemisphere,” says Emily. “I think the most important thing when seeking a relationship with a brand is to make genuine connections with the people who represent that brand. Don't see people as means to an end, see them as friends and allies. Think about what you can possibly do for those people, as opposed to what the brand can do for you.”

Emily’s newest live single “Rules To Bend” is out now, which you can listen to here. Plus, be on the lookout for her next album, on which Emily is collaborating with Queens of the Stone Age’s Michael Shuman.