Importance Of Constructing A Narrative

Here Jake Udell reflects on how the non-linear nature in which fans often experience music differs from that of other media, and how this experience should inform the way bands and artists tell a story through their music.

Guest post by Jake Udell of Art of Manager

When we watch a TV series, we watch it sequentially. Our brains remember what happened in episode 1, 2, and 3, and all of those events provide context for future episodes and seasons.

However, in the digital world of music or creators, we often consume out of order – bouncing between songs or videos based on our curiosity level.

It’s rare to first discover an artist through their 27th song or video release and instantly feel compelled to go back and start consuming from the beginning… And even rarer to discover the talent on their first release since it takes time to build an audience.

Since we often consume digital content out of order, it becomes important for artists to recognize their core creative ideas (CCI) and the subsequent communication intelligence (CQ) they use to galvanize their fanbase must be present across every touch point they create. This way regardless of what stage of their career a fan begins to engage, the artist’s brand identity is still present every step of the way guiding the journey.

And regardless of whether a fan consumes backward or forward, the fan has the opportunity to witness the brand’s regression to a rawer state or its evolution.

As content is created and published, a story is naturally being told, but being aware of each piece’s of content responsibility to tell that story may enable you to create a more cohesive or interesting journey for fans.

Special thanks to Blake Cole at facebook for seeding the TV comparison in my head