How does the idea of 'identity' link to artists/brands and their audiences?

Fundamentally, music and the world of brand marketing are both tools of communication, by which emotions, intentions and interpretations can be shared.

It is the idea that to market something successfully, identifying your audience and thus their identity is a bold factor and the most significant component. Without it, in terms of a Marketing Mix, the 'product' has no direction in which to be fully advocated and cannot reach it's target demographic.

Identity naturally comes with a product, because to create something, you have found a requirement for something somewhere that is otherwise not currently existent. You would not simply write a piece of music without knowing your audience, because it is necessary for it to accompany a genre of familarity which you as the songwriter have purposely identified for it to fit into; done effectively enough, other people are able to categorize your music into this suited genre and make these ties between similar artists alike.

Teen pop sensation 'One Direction' are a perfect example of present-day music marketing. 

If we consider social groups, stereotypically a genre of music should portray a particular attitude, appearance and have its own placement within society, for an individual to partake in. There is a direct link between a genre of music and what the representative social group should adhere to, because of the pressures society has put in place for us, (i.e. www.uktribes.com illustrates this perception on youth culture, how social group categories have come into existence and the necessity for having them.) What is interesting is UKTribes' reflection on brand marketing and how a particular 'dress sense' is automatically presumed and manipulated to be part of a 'Tribe'. The Media of circa 2003/4 were quick to latch onto the term 'Emo' (referring to Emotional) from the 'alternative category', which gave youth a bad name, often 'ones to watch out for' because they were viewed as being 'prone to self-harm'. Blown out of proportion, these remarks left a grey area shadowing on youth culture and created a scope of what would come of people belonging to this particular tribe. Like this, the derrogatory term 'Chav' created as an acronym for 'Council House Asbo Vermin' and other similar phrases, was very quickly given negative connotations by the Press and left youths or 'hoodies' with a bad name. These examples of having identity allow connotations to arise that can completely reinstate the public's perceptions of them.

                       An internet post that played on the press' intentions
                        of giving this tribe a negative public perception. 

                                                                              Scene from the London Riots during November 2011

To give a brand identity (You should consider an Artist/Band to be a brand), means to have separated it into a classification. Marketing a brand in a certain way helps decide and reach the suited demographic and this can be done by finding the key factors. To best advertise your 'brand' it must follow the main components of a Marketing Mix: The Product, Placement, Price and Promotion. Ultimately, everything comes down to marketing. Identity is the most crucial factor of a brand because without it you would not know to distinguish the four P's. Identity simultaneously comes with a brand; marketing helps to set it aside from other brands and give it selling points.