ASPIRE MUSIC GROUP
CLIENT WEBSITE | DELIVERABLES
Aspire Music Group is a new branch of entertainment firm Aspire Entertainment, focusing on empowering artists, producers, and songwriters through music. They have a long track record working with some of the biggest names in the music industry dating back nearly 20 years, and are now stepping into the spotlight for themselves as an official management company. Ultimately, Aspire Music Group aims to reshape the music industry through new age and transparent business practices, a roster of the latest and greatest talent, and brokering deals for artists worldwide.
CASE STUDY
As the decision was made for Aspire Music Group to go official, it quickly became necessary that the entire brand and persona would need to be crafted from top to bottom. Aspire needed branding that would represent everything they have stood for for nearly 20 years. They needed a website with an original and eye-catching design, that was also a highly functional one-stop shop for everything concerning all avenues of their musical endeavors. They also had an uphill battle with SEO since 20+ years ago, a shell label named Aspire Music was associated with music superstar and mogul Lil Wayne along with his Cash Money Records imprint dominated all searches under that name.
THE OPPORTUNITY
WEBSITE
We had to design a website that was eye-catching but didn’t want to necessarily follow trends. It had to be unique in a way to stand out and represent Aspire’s unique approach to the music business and the relationships with their clients. So from the very moment you land on the page, you can tell you’re somewhere different. We opted for something beautiful and inspiring, an overhead shot of waves under the bold name ASPIRE in their bright gold custom font we designed. Functionally we kept the important stuff right up front with up to date news and content, as well as the latest music videos from the label.
Since the task was to make the site a one-stop shop for information as well, we opted to go the extra mile and build a page for every artist and producer (15) under the roster. And every artist got a highly personalized page that both matches their personal aesthetic and recent project motifs. The intent was, since many of the artists and producers didn’t have their own website, this would serve as home base for them and they could easily use it as a 1-page site for all their links and information. We also added a discography page complete with active playlists of Aspire’s biggest songs, most recent releases, along with film & TV work.
Finally we added an about page to clearly define everything about Aspire and what it stands for. For partners and collaborators we also created a branding page explaining and providing all required logo and color usage for commercial works. The website is truly the place to go for anything concerning Aspire Music Group, and nearly any question you could have should be quickly answered within 3 clicks or less. A complete success.
LOGOS & BRANDING
Aspire Music originally tried to use AI to create their logo and colors, but it couldn’t nail down the message they were trying to convey. After getting a real feel and understanding of what Aspire needed to represent, we went to work creating them a logo. After many drafts and refinement, we settled on a design that was deeply personal to the founder, and subtly descriptive of their purpose.
The main logo we went with was modeled after a military emblem, but with a sweeping arm taking off like a jet which is a nod to the founder’s military service. We kept it with clean lines and minimalist so it would look good on any merchandise and at any size. Then we delivered a 2nd logo which is a hybrid wordmark to be used wherever the emblem isn’t preferred. The wordmark makes use of the same custom font used on the landing of the website. And by request, we made a 3rd logo, an insignia to be used for special occasions combining the wordmark logo with large wings, a banner, and drumline fanfare around it. It’s the bold and boastful logo you’ll see at some of their activations in person.
But equally important to the logo designs themselves, were the colors used on them and the website and merch. In the music industry when it comes to colors, everyone typically plays it safe with some combination of black, white, and an accent color like red. Going from website to website, whether it be for artists, or the labels themselves, all blend together colorwise; dark, safe, uninspiring. We had to upend that. Aspire is bright, and bold, and uplifting. We went with a vibrant gold as the main color, with black as the safe secondary, and a dark teal as the accent. It’s a beautiful combination, but what it really does is emphasize that this is not your typical record label. It communicates that you should expect something different, something more inspiring. Something better.
SEO
One of the steps we take in a brand consultation is to survey the competition on search engines. We like to know what our clients goals are as far as search rank, or if they even care about where they rank. This is all part of determining whether SEO services are necessary for them or not, and what challenges may be present to achieving their goals. For Aspire, there was a previously established shell record label tied to mogul Lil Wayne and his Cash Money Records imprint. It was involved in a heavy lawsuit nearly 15 years prior before being disbanded, and this caused all searches for Aspire Music to default to that defunct record label. Taking the search back from them would require a steady stream of new content and write ups and information all linking back to the current Aspire Music Group. So our team provided a full suite of content write-ups, SEO-optimized pages and mobile design, accessibility options, and utilized back-linking from other websites to pull the algorithm behind Aspire. We did that for all of their artists and producers as well. It’s a time consuming process, but a necessary one to achieve search engine dominance.
CONTENT / COPYWRITING
As a required step to search engine optimization, we had to create and compile content frequently to become an authority on any search related to Aspire Music Group. Whenever there was a big show, award, or musical release, we would write up a 500 word minimum article. We followed established SEO protocol to continuously prompt Google and Bing to push our new content to the front page and over time became the authority, dethroning the Aspire Music team from over a decade ago. When you search for artists under Aspire Music Group, their main page and articles we have written come up. The articles are being shared naturally by readers which increases our authority in search engines, as well as provides an invaluable resource for everyone on Aspire to have their content compiled in one place.
THE RESULT
For Aspire, their trust in us to handle their web design, logo & branding, content writing, and SEO has immediately paid dividends. Not only were they given a top notch website to call home for their roster of artists, songwriters, and business portfolio… but we handled the pain point of taking over all relevant search terms as well as making it the go-to place for news and future business transactions. And now, what began as just an idea, is a lead-generating, interest-cultivating, one-stop shop for everything in their foreseeable future.
