Jackson Free Press

If I say, "I'm an avid news reader," you might expect that I have substantial opinions on the country's economic state, political problems, or other significant yet dreary information from sources such as CNN, Fox or NBC. Not exactly.

"I'm an avid entertainment news reader" sounds much less impressive. I may not know about the latest scandal in Washington, D.C., but if you need to know which comic-book characters will be featured in "Avengers 2," I'm your man.

Two or three times a day, I find myself perusing the Internet for briefs on which bands burned out, which album is out next and which singer left to pursue a hip-hop career. Typically, I read Alternative Press (altpress.com) if I want to know about pop-rock or metal, Under the Radar (undertheradarmag.com) if I want to know about the independent sector, and SPIN Magazine (spin.com) if I, for whatever reason, want updates from people who think music peaked in the '90s.

While on the Alternative Press website, I unearthed a band that looked intriguing: a quartet called The Ongoing Concept. Maybe it was the hand-drawn cover of its newest album, "Saloon," or maybe it was the fact that the band members dressed like extras from the musical "Newsies," but my hopes skyrocketed. I was soon disappointed to discover that The Ongoing Concept was quite different than their presentation would suggest. Now, I don't dislike metal or hardcore, but I realized that I placed those genres in a specific corner, like badly behaved kindergartners. Dressing like a turn-of-the-century paperboy and exuding a tasteful, homemade vibe seemed completely contradictory to the band's chaotic tunes. Immediately, I turned "Saloon" off and went back to my newsfeed with a bad taste in my mouth.

A few hours later, I thought about my reaction to The Ongoing Concept's music. It unnerved me that I hadn't given it a proper chance. I couldn't even recall what the group sounded like.

Branding works in music just as much as in any other market. We all know that Starbucks has a giant green mermaid and McDonald's has arches that look like they might be formed from the restaurant's artificially yellow French fries. In the same way, we know that heavy metal uses fonts that look like barbed wire, fierce-sounding band names and, generally, anything that can be described as "brutal." For better or worse, that's the power of brand image.

The issue with placing such unwavering restrictions on a band is that music isn't a morning coffee or a slice of potato confused about its country of origin. It's an art form, and a single image, name, or the way that the band members dress shouldn't define it.

Unfortunately, we live in a world where the clothes make the band. We've seen elaborate costumes do wonders for a career. Lady Gaga had a rather bland reception before she took up the almighty "Freak Flag." Most people are aware that the largest difference between pop artists is in our perception, but that doesn't apply in independent music, does it? After all, indie is a "more mature, more advanced" genre. But imagine the members of Youth Lagoon or even Arcade Fire shedding their plaid pelts for a go at Jimmy Buffet button-ups and cargo shorts, and it'll get easier to see where you draw the line.

Careful brand image and strategic marketing are criminally sad necessities of music, as our consumer natures can't handle freeing music to flourish or fade based completely on merits. To an extent, there's nothing wrong with having a specific ideology for what you believe is acceptable for a genre. But a preconceived, exterior expectation should not affect your ability to appreciate a musician's creative expression.

If we want to lessen the death-grip that brand image has on the music community, we're going to have to think bigger than those factors. However ingrained image-based marketing may be for music, ask yourself what you're more likely to remember—a great brand or a good band.