Without listening to the music, or being that familiar with the artist, the USP seems a bit confused to me. Remember, the job of the USP is to communicate the unique selling proposition of the artist. In that, we mean the unique reason someone might want to listen to this artist's music. It's not just about being unique, it's also about tapping into the desire of an audience. What I see here is a bit all over the place.

It feels like he is a roots rock artist, yet there are other references in here that confuse that. And while the headline conjures a number of images that are consistent with roots rock, it doesn't do enough to connect those images to my desires, or to drive me to understanding what he is offering. That's my personal impression anyway.

I definitely don't get the vibe that comparing him to sexually ambiguous musicals is the right move for him. But I could be wrong.

I also don't care for the apples in the design. I understand that they relate to his name, but they look a bit cartoonish and don't reinforce the brand I think you are ultimately trying to create.

I hear a lot of the artists you mentioned in different tracks, but ultimately I'd personally sum it up as Roots Rock, and I'd compare him to John Cougar Mellencamp, only louder. Particularly with the first song, Casualties of War. The Mellencamp comparison gets less and less with each track, but I still hear it in all three aside from the last one. Bob Seger and other similar artists come to mind as well, but again, he is much louder.

What is most important is that you decide on his strongest, most overriding quality and then build a USP around that. And then picking the tracks that most align with that and give them away as the freebies. You can also do the reverse and figure out what the USP is for a similar artist like JCM, and then assign something similar to Andrew. 

But it's not essential that you come up with a USP that covers every aspect of his music. Only that it's consistent with the freebies, and is not contradictory to the remainder of the album. I say this because people will buy based on the strength of the freebies.

One other challenge I think you might have here is that I personally don't think the production is as good as it could be on the music itself. Those recordings do not sound "radio ready" to me, and if I had just received them as a free download, I might question the professionalism. I'm not trying to be critical of the artist. I believe a better producer could get those songs and his voice sounding really great. But I don't think they are there yet, and I think you might run into some issues there. But maybe I'm wrong, and that's just me.

Well, as I see it, the problem is that the artist is set on presenting himself the way he wants, regardless of how strong the USP is. That is a problem in my opinion. While I still see that collection of music as a basically Roots Rock Singer Songwriter who is covering classic songs, it is definitely more diverse. And in my opinion, there is little value in listening to covers unless you are either so dead on, as to be a Tribute band (and even then, that's more of a live thing), or if you have a very unique sound that makes the experience a special one. I'm just not hearing, or seeing, much that is that unique here.

We can only sell something to people that want the thing we are selling. If the music is not original, nor does it have a cohesive or exciting sound/brand, and the imagery is associated with apples more than the experience the music opens, then who is it that we think will respond to this? I'm not saying that to be a jerk or anything, only to point out that there really does need to be something remarkable about the project in order for us to attract an audience. That is why a good USP is so important. It's not just about coming up with a good USP that fits the music. It can also be about fitting the music with a good USP. It's sort of sounding like the artist is just set on doing what he does, and that's that. I'm nowhere near as familiar with him as you are, and there may very well be a great USP there. I'm just not hearing it in what you're telling me, nor seeing/hearing it. You kinda went from vague roots rock, to less specific covers, which is really hard.

So from my perspective it sounds like you are looking for me to spot some unique angle here for a really enticing USP. But I'm seeing it the same as you are. I think the selection of music, the image, and tone need to be refined until there is a solid USP or you will struggle. 

Thoughts?

Sounds good. I should add that it may be possible that he has a personal story that is interesting enough to build a career around, but I've seen no sign of it. And like you say, by re-framing the song choices and design, you may be able to position him effectively as a roots rock artist. But he's need to be on board.

You may find that you are able to get traffic and even leads, simply based on the love of the original songs, but sales will be hard if people don't ultimately fall in love with this artist, in his own right.

I also wanted to say (and this is gonna sound funny), it's not that there is not a USP. There is a always a USP. There just isn't a very good one right now. If I listened to those tracks and someone asked me what I thought, I'd say he was "a straight down the middle singer songwriter who covers a wide array of songs in a competent manner." The problem of course is that it's just not compelling. But it's still a USP. I mention this for clarity, for anyone else reading. Because I didn't want people's take away to be that there are times when there is no USP. But rather, some USPs are for more compelling than others.

Good luck and let me know how it goes.

Hi Anthony,

Would you mind riposting this as a new thread, rather than in this existing one? I have a few questions and there could be some back and forth required. It's always best to start a new topic whenever starting a unique conversation. Sorry for the hassle.