 Oh, what's up everybody? Once again, it's Brandon man, Shawn and I want to talk about a problem that a lot of artists face when trying to figure out the audience they're trying to market to. And that's figuring out what do people compare the sound of your music to. Now first I got a shout out not one because she's the reason I'm doing this video. She took what I said in one of my videos and asked people who would you compare me to. But there was one problem that I know a lot of you guys probably face as well. She wasn't really getting answers that were straightforward. Most of the answers were something like, oh, you're unique. You're the only you. You created your own brand. Something along those lines. That's great and all, but that doesn't help you as an artist get what you need, particularly as an artist who's trying to lead your own marketing. So I'm going to give you some questions that are probably better to ask. But first, if you somehow still encounter the same problem after asking these questions, you have to be able to communicate to people that, A, this is not a low self-esteem moment where I don't think I'm good enough or I think I gotta copy people to be great and be successful as an artist. This is me figuring out who I sound most similar to. So I could better find the community of people that actually appreciate my music. I'm trying to keep myself from spending money in the wrong places and time with the wrong people. So here's my questions that hopefully avoid you even having to have that conversation. And there's three of them. First one is name three artists or songs that you think my music would go well with in a playlist. That was technically a statement, but you get what I'm saying. So you could say, Hey, what are three other artists I will be good within a playlist or three other songs that my music will be good within a playlist that should help them cough up some information that's actually useful to you. Now the second question is, what type of people do you think would listen to my music? Now this one would probably start a conversation. So you probably want to ask this one in person because most likely they'll say, well, what do you mean by most type of people? Then you want to kind of make them dig deeper and say, well, describe those type of people. What do they like? What do they wear? What do they listen to? What movies they watch? Whatever. What these people are essentially doing is helping you create a profile of your potential fans. And of course, Colary did a video on that. So I'll link that video in the description below if you missed his video on building your fan profile. And the third question is what other artists do you think people who listen to my music listen to? Hopefully you're able to use those questions and get some good information from them. And before I end this video, once again, when you're talking and dealing with people and asking them certain questions about your artistry and certain things you're doing, if they aren't able to help you, they might just be too close to you. So oftentimes, as I say, try to find people who are potential fans, who are new people, you might have to ask random people in public, but a lot of times asking people who are super close to you and your best friends, they have a hard time being objective or sometimes they have a hard time being straightforward and truthful. And then other times you just might be dealing with people who can't compare you to an artist because they might not know certain artists exist. They might not listen to your type of music. If y'all didn't have y'all's relationship, maybe they wouldn't be a fan. So they wouldn't even be an expert on that genre or space of music. But all in all, just keep in mind, as artists, I know it could be a sensitive subject comparing yourself to somebody else. The reality is we've all gotten inspiration from somewhere else at some point. We all have similarities to each other. It doesn't even matter what your race is, right? Technically, we all are humans. But at the same time, we're all unique just because you look like some of your relatives doesn't make you any less unique as an individual. You're similar to some of your friends that could probably be compared to them have the same thoughts about the same subjects. But at the same time, y'all aren't entirely alike. Telling yourself you're 100% different to everybody else gives you a false sense of self-value because it keeps you from seeing the things that actually make you unique. I've always heard that people with gifts don't recognize them. Well, everybody has gifts and the only way you can recognize those is being able to identify those unique things that aren't like everybody else. We'd love to know you guys' thoughts in the comments below. Other than that, if you liked this video, go ahead and hit that like button. If you like it, your minds will share it. And if you're not subscribed, you know what to do. Hit that subscribe button. But those of you who actually made it this far, I have a little surprise for you. I have a free guide out called Five Cheap Growth Strategies to Build a Fanbase. You can find it in the description below. If it sounds interesting, go ahead, check that out. And I would love to know your thoughts.