The art of self-branding : Masked Dj’s Era

Every artist try to share and spread is work as much as possible, especially in music and of course EDM (Electronic Dance Music). If your track is played in the best and biggest parties and clubs in the world, you’re sure to be known and to sell disks.

But in the jungle of Electro, so many DJ’s are fighting to get the recognition they deserve, and it’s not always easy.

So today I’m not going to talk about an advertisement in specific, but about a phenomenon that fascines me. I’m talking about Masked DJ’s and how they self-brand themselves.

Nowadays, Masked DJ’s are countless, from the famous Daft Punk to the newly arrived Marshmello, they all have something in commun : We don’t know their faces. Instead, we know a fictional character, and weirdly thanks to that, we are more likely to appreciate them, because it creates something mystical.

If the biggest part of these artists tells that they cover their faces for self-preservation, to stay anonymous, I think it’s also a great way to sell themselves better to the public. 

I’ve selected a few DJ’s to talk about :

Daft Punk

Marshmello

 

DeadMau5

Bloody Beetroots

 

So yes, they all have covered faces, but not in the same way.

Daft Punk are one of the first to create original masks and persona, brand new characters. They started with bags on their heads, to finish with those robot masks made specially by a Hollywood special effects maker. As one of the member said : « One thing I like about the masks is that I don’t have people constantly coming up to me and reminding me what I do, It’s nice to be able to forget. ».

Marshmello takes the same idea as Daft Punk, he has created a funny character that people like to see, and as he said, He just want to play good music and we don’t need to know who he is.

Bloody Beetroots have the same spirit, but they’ve taken the Venom mask from Spiderman, so they haven’t created a new character from scratch.

DeadMau5 as an original character too, but compared to others, we know his identity and he doesn’t care. In that case, the self-branding is plainly assumed. His mask works as an alter-ego.

Alright so we get the point that it’s great to be anonymous, but, let’s face it, masks create mystery, and a sense of belonging for the listener. The fact that with that character on a t-shirt, you can know right away who it is. That brings me to talk about the merchandising. In fact, I think it’s one of the main points to wear that kind of mask, you can sell a figure, you can sell to your public merchandising that is graphic and that satisfies that belonging feeling need.

Here some images from their various online stores :   

 

In my opinion, it’s far more easy to buy merch from these artist, because it’s like merchandising from superhero brands like Marvel. You like the music, but also the style, what they’ve created around their persona.

Self-branding is know a clue to success for artists, in this world full of apparences, they have to sell « themselves » with their music, and creating a brand knew character for that is a really good idea.

 

 

So, what do you think about this ? Are masked DJ’s more likable than the others ? And if you had to to some EDM, would you create a fictional character ?

 

Valentino Di Nardo

References

Rolling Stone. (2013, May 21). Why Daft Punk Wear Helmets. Retrieved April 15, 2018, from https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/why-daft-punk-wears-helmets-20130521

Tarr, M. (2018, March 08). 19 DJs Who Wear Incredible Masks Better Than Any Superhero. Retrieved April 15, 2018, from http://www.capitalfm.com/news/best-edm-dj-disguises-masks-2016/

Matos, M. (2016, November 29). A Brief History of Masked DJs-From Orbital to Marshmello. Retrieved April 15, 2018, from https://thump.vice.com/en_us/article/nzmqkk/masked-djs-history-orbital-deadmau5-daft-punk-marshmello