Utopia Music

Utopia is a fintech platform that will make the backend processes of the music industry easier, faster, and better for everyone. The company is born out of a true passion for music, out of the desire to bring more music to more ears, fairly and efficiently. Driven by their ambition, they intend for the music industry to be 4x bigger than it is today. They came to Character for help building a brand that reflected this grand vision for the future of music.

After digging into the space, I learned that while music is thriving, the industry supporting it is stuck in the past. Payments for artists can be delayed years, and inefficient processes are in place for everyone else in the business. Utopia set out to heal the industry with technology that serves the entire music ecosystem through their seven different business solutions.

This balance between Utopia’s bold vision and real tech solutions had to be crucial to the story.

Since they had audiences sitting in all areas of the industry, the positioning had to speak to a mindset that resonated with everyone. Informed by stakeholder interviews and additional research, I built out a persona that encompassed this mindset:

The Discerning Optimist
— Hopeful and excited about the future, about growth for both themselves and the industry as a whole
— Curious and inquisitive about new tech, skeptical of “disruptive” big tech, are seeking solutions from within, by and for, the music industry 
— Motivated by revenue and success: utopia’s tagline of ‘fair pay for every play’ deeply resonates with them
— Passionate: will believe in, buy into, and rally around an inspirational ambition

After much discussion with the clients about the delicate dynamics of the music business, I knew that in order to be accepted and adopted by the industry, it was important that the positioning expressed how Utopia will fundamentally change the music industry for the better — by becoming essential to operation, streamlining and organizing information, and eventually serving as the foundation for the entire industry. The metaphor of Utopia serving as the operating system of music brought this idea to life for the clients and creative team.

My role: Lead strategist // Led discovery phase, developed and led full brand positioning, partnered with senior clients and creative directors

This brand positioning work informed the new verbal and visual identity, snapshots below.

Agency: Character