There’s a question I ask at the start of every coaching session, and it makes almost everyone uncomfortable: “If you had to explain your project to someone who doesn’t know you — in two sentences — what would you say?”

Most artists answer by talking about their musical style, their influences, their genre. Very few answer by talking about what they want to transmit — the message, the values, the artistic stance they have chosen.

And that’s where everything begins. Because a solid streaming strategy, coherent communication, content that actually connects — all of it rests on a single foundation: knowing who you are artistically, and knowing how to tell the story of your tracks from that place.

What Everyone Believes

“My identity is my music. The rest will come with time.”

This belief is extremely common. You tell yourself that if the music is good, people will understand on their own. That you just need to post consistently, pitch playlists, make Reels. That identity builds itself through volume and consistency.

The result is intense activity with disappointing returns. Posts that generate no real engagement. Generic playlist pitches that go nowhere. Growing frustration with tools that “don’t work.”

In reality, the tools work. It’s the foundation they’re built on that’s unclear.

What’s Actually Happening

A clear identity is the coherence between who you are, what you transmit, and how you tell it.

In my work with independent artists and labels, the projects that perform best on streaming are not always the ones with the biggest budgets. They’re the ones where the artist knows exactly what they represent — and can communicate it consistently across every touchpoint.

Building that coherence happens in two stages: first clarifying your artistic DNA, then learning to tell your tracks’ stories from that foundation.

1. Your archetype and artistic DNA

Before genre, before style, before visuals — there is who you are. Your artistic DNA rests on three components:

• Your values : not generic ones, but the ones that genuinely shape your project. Authenticity, freedom, transmission, courage, connection…
• Your artistic personality traits : how you exist as an artist: sensitive, powerful, mysterious, warm, provocative, poetic… These traits need to show up in your music, but also in your tone, your captions, how you talk about your work.
• Your message : the through-line that runs across your entire body of work. What you want to transmit, beyond the lyrics of any single track.

To these three elements, add one particularly powerful tool: your musical personality archetype. There are 12 — Visionary, Storyteller, Rebel, Alchemist, Outsider, Healer, Performer, Romantic, Prodigy, Collaborator, Craftsperson, Muse. Identifying yours helps you understand your natural artistic posture, and align your music, your image, and your narration around a coherent logic. I’ve published a full article on this: Discover the 12 archetypes →

Musical genre coexists with these elements — and it’s often a natural starting point. But without the DNA that feeds it, it remains a label that says nothing about who you are.

2. The artistic narration of your tracks

Your artistic DNA defines who you are. The narration of your tracks defines how you tell it. This is the raw material that will feed all your communication: your content, your pitches, your captions, and the way your audience connects with your music.

A track’s narration rests on three elements:

• The starting point : the emotion, event, or existential question behind the song. Not a plot summary of the lyrics: the creative context that gives it life.
• The message and emotion : what you wanted to transmit when you wrote it. What you want the listener to feel or understand when they hear it.
• The moodboard :  images that represent the world of the track: its symbols, its atmosphere, its emotional color. They must align with your overall brand book.

Key takeaway: Never tell everything. The story, the emotion, and the symbolism behind a song are the creative context that gives it life — and the raw material for your communication. But always leave space for the listener to project their own story into it.

3. From narration to content

The narration doesn’t just serve to fill a pitch text. It’s the source of everything you’ll produce around a track. From the identifiable sonic elements — the musical gimmick, the recognizable sound, the passage that sticks in the head, the melodic hooks — and the text elements — the strong lyrics that resonate, the message summarized in one sentence, the emotional moments — you build the building blocks of your communication.

These building blocks become your content concept: what format for which platform, what narrative angle, what audio or lyric excerpt, what visual setup, what caption. Every piece flows from the same narration. Nothing is improvised.

What This Means for You

When identity is clear, decisions become simple

I see it in every project I work on: the moment an artist clarifies their DNA and learns to tell their tracks’ stories, something unlocks. Not just in their streaming results — in the way they work.

They know which playlists to pitch (because they know where their track fits). They know what to post (because they have a narrative to unfold, not a void to fill). They know how to introduce themselves to press (because the message is clear). They know when to say no to an opportunity (because their values are established).

And on the flip side, when identity is unclear:

• Ad campaigns cost more for worse results, because targeting can’t be precise
• Playlist pitches are generic and go nowhere
• Fans don’t share, because they don’t know what to say about you to their friends
• Editors and press move on, because the project gives them nothing to hold onto

This is not about talent. It’s about clarity.

The exercise: build the complete narration of one of your tracks

Choose a track you’re about to release — or one that’s already out but that you’ve never really told the story of. Sit down with something to write on and work through the following steps. In writing. Not just in your head.

Step 1 — The starting point

What emotion, event, or existential question is at the origin of this song? This is the creative spark — not the “subject” of the track in a literal sense, but what set you in motion to write it.

Step 2 — The message and emotion

What did you want to transmit when you wrote it? What do you want the listener to feel or understand? One or two sentences maximum. If you can’t articulate it clearly, the narration isn’t solid yet.

Step 3 — The visual elements (moodboard)

Choose several images that represent the world of this track: its symbols, its atmosphere, its emotional palette. Check that they align with your overall visual identity. This moodboard will be the foundation of all your visuals: single artwork, video setup, the backdrop of your content.

Step 4 — The sonic elements

Re-listen to the track with a critical ear and identify:

• The musical gimmick : a recurring sonic element, an instinctive signature
• The recognizable sound : what makes it immediately and unmistakably yours
• The passage that sticks : the sequence people will keep humming
• The melodic hooks : the catch points that create connection

These will become the audio or lyric excerpts you use in your content to create instant recognition.

Step 5 — The text elements

From the narration and sonic elements, extract:

• Strong lyrics : the lines that resonate, that stay in the head, that hit
• The summarized message : a single sentence that captures the essence of the track. This is the core of your pitch text and your press introduction.
• The emotional moments : the passages that create connection and feeling. These become your Instagram caption.

What you’ve just built is the material for everything that follows: your Spotify for Artists pitch text, your captions, your press introduction, the concept of your video content.

This Week’s Action

Apply this exercise to your next track

Do you have a release planned in the next four months? Before thinking about strategy, budget, or tools — do this exercise. Write it down. Share it with someone you trust and ask if it matches what they perceive about your project.

That’s 30 minutes of work that can change the effectiveness of everything that follows. And if you realize the message isn’t clear yet, the moodboard doesn’t match your visual identity, or the text elements feel hollow — that’s a signal, not a failure. It’s simply the right place to start.

🎓 Want to go further?
If you want to build a clear artistic identity and turn it into a real release strategy, I offer tailored consulting and coaching for independent artists and music professionals.
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