Gear makes the musician – there’s only so much you can do without it. As you start making a mark with your music it could be time to look at a sponsorship.

Brand sponsorships are a great way to take your music up a notch. They not only give you a great connection in to the music industry but also often result in donations or discounts on the best music gear around.

Any musician knows how expensive top quality gear is and an endorsement from a brand allows you to take more opportunities with hardware and instruments and often earns you some promotion from an established brand.

What can you get from Brand Sponsorships:

  • Discounted or donated gear to keep
  • Discount or donated renting for tours/video shoots
  • Featured on brand artist pages
  • Use of brand logos and content sharing
  • and more

What they might ask in return:

  • Use their equipment when performing live with their logo/branding clearly on display
  • Share some content of theirs or tag them on social media
  • Access to your content or permission to capture you on video/camera
  • Mention the brand in interviews or posts if appropriate
Arturia midi and synth controllers

Lets talk a bit about the steps you can take to find a gear sponsorship for yourself.

Reach Out

Nothing ever came from being silent. Reaching out personally to music companies that you like is a great way to start a conversation and gain some appeal.

Get in contact with them, preferably through an artist/endorsement contact which you should be able to find on their website.

Tell them about yourself as an artist, what you do, how big your following is, why you want to partner up with them, any details that will help them decide you are a good endorsement. If you have links to your music and social media include them!

Perform Live

Performing at gigs isn’t for everyone, we get that. But if you’re looking for a brand sponsorship then you’re going to find it very hard if you aren’t playing your music live.

For a start a lot of brands endorse you in return for using their gear at gigs as promotion.

Gigs are also a great place for scouts to turn up, check out some acts and talk to any artists they think would be good to team up with after the show.

Festivals are especially a hotspot for representatives from music companies to explore the stages and listen out for up-and-comers they think have potential. This applies to record labels and managers as well.

Music Conferences and Exhibitions

Wouldn’t it be great if you could be in a room surrounded by loads of music companies that you could talk to face to face. You can!

Look out for big tech conferences and music exhibitions. There are a bunch all over, every year and they are the perfect place to meet industry executives and gear companies of all-sorts.

Talking face to face is the best way you can discuss the potentials of a partnership, and sell yourself whilst finding out more about brands and what they can offer.

Remember when you’re deciding to partner up with companies that you want to team up with brands that fit your music. If you’re an acoustic folk singer then a heavy metal distortion pedal company isn’t going to work.

Find the brands that suit YOU and hook yourself up with great equipment and valuable friends.

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