By: Ivania Del Solar Alfageme

Introduction

Over the span of the last year, the development of the artist known as KIYARA was planned and carried out. In Semester 1, our group created a strategy to try and focus on the development of her image, audience, and artistic identity. Throughout Semester 2, the plan was put into work, allowing us to see how effective it was in practice.

Kiyara is an indie/R&B Portuguese artist based in Leeds. Her soft vocals and relatable image create a sense of authenticity for her audience through both her lyrics and style. Because of this, we believed that she had strong potential to grow online, especially with a younger demographic. This is because younger audiences value emotional connection and relatability, and will engage with artists on a more personal level and stream music if they feel represented.

My group researched and developed key areas such as marketing, branding, audience targeting, and even arranged some financial elements we thought to be associated with a successful artist debut. We centred around her social media for the majority of the plan, as we considered the fact that she hadn’t released music and wanted her to grow a fanbase before any music was released. This would help her gain exposure and build an overall niche online. The aim of this was not only to create a plan, but to attempt to carry it out to the best of our ability, learning and analysing its effectiveness and ability of execution.

This assessment will focus on my personal contributions to the project, including market research, branding, and marketing strategy. It will also review our group work ethic and project management throughout the process. This will be used as a reasoning on if the work was successful and what mistakes and complications may have affected the final result.

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PART 1: REVIEW & ANALYSIS OF STRATEGY OUTCOMES

Artist Identity / Target Audience

One of the main areas I contributed was defining KIYARA’s identity and position within her target audience. We originally established her as an emerging indie/R&B artist who would focus on making content and music that seemed relatable, emotional, and that suited this “girl-next-door” image we had in mind. This was intended to appeal to a Gen Z audience, as their social media presence is one of the largest in the media. Sprout Social (2025) states that “41% of Gen Z turn to social platforms first, making social now the #1 place they search, ahead of traditional search engines”.

I focused on this strategy after researching current industry trends. “Social media was/is understood as a means through which musicians can build and maintain audiences” (Haynes and Marshall, 2018), meaning appealing to specific audiences creates a platform and a niche for the future releases and identity of the artist. The word niche refers to “a particular genre or style of music that appeals to a specific group or audience” (Music Gateway, 2025). From this information, KIYARA’s identity was built around approachability and relatability with her audience, something she explained she’d be comfortable with as a “persona”, which can be seen used by artists like Ethel Caine and Chappell Roan, wouldn’t match her songwriting styles (Appendix 1). Additionally, this identity aligns well with the identity of smaller and newer artists, as they can develop their image more as music is released and they find who their real audience and fans are.

However, in Semester 2, the execution of this was heavily affected by the artist’s own ability to post and engage with audiences. She expressed that she felt “uncomfortable sharing her music publicly and performing live” and how she had never “posted regularly on social media”. As a group, we made the mistake of believing this wouldn’t be an issue and that we could instead push content from her that seemed “unpolished” and lean into the relatable side of the content creation. In reality, she just felt insecure about posting on social media, especially TikTok. This created a significant challenge, as the original plan relied implicitly on visibility and consistent audience engagement.

Despite this, there was a specific moment where this strategy could have been seen as successful or promising. After some additional pressure from the group, KIYARA posted a video on Instagram (Appendix 2) that reflected the “girl-next-door” concept with a focus on her Portuguese roots, something I had originally planned to attract a niche audience. The content was simple, not overly produced, and aligned with the branding. This post performed well, reached around 4,000 views, and gained over 100 likes. When looking into her Instagram Insights (Appendix 3), it was also easy to see how her target audience was between the ages of 18 – 24, as expected based on the research. This suggests that the original audience targeting and planning were accurate and would have been successful if followed properly. By continuing this strategy, we could have even changed from the awareness stage of the marketing funnel strategy into the consideration category before releasing the EP and making people interested early (Sprout Social, 2025).

According to Marc Matthews (2025), “To succeed, artists must adopt a brand mindset.” This means looking at the investment of time and effort for your identity as an artist the same way it would be done for a brand. If she had been prepared to consistently post online and, on the other hand, if it had been kept in mind when generating our plan, it may have been possible to work around it. While the idea itself was strong and supported by market research, it did not fully consider the artist’s personal limits and readiness to commit to social media. From a project management and marketing standpoint, this teaches the importance of creating plans that match the capabilities and mindset of the artist being worked with. In terms of commercial application, the lack of consistent engagement with her audience impacted her overall ability to position herself in the market, which could possibly damage her long-term success as an artist.

Overall, the strategy was successful in theory and even showed clear potential when tested, but did not create a long-term impact due to a lack of interaction between the artist and her social media audience.

Music Release / Social Media Editing

Another key area I was focused on was the development of KIYARA’s visual identity, specifically when it came to the release of music. In Semester 1, I created some mood boards and visual concepts (Appendix 4) to try to pinpoint what image she wanted to portray in her music release. We decided on simplistic imagery of everyday life with a combination of performance content. I also believed it to be a good idea to not focus her aesthetics on colour and instead to “feel”. This stops her from being limited to any music releases in the future, and instead created more flexibility as she develops as an artist.

In Semester 2, I decided to plan her social media presence to “reset her image”. Coco Mocoe, a trend podcaster, explains that “Beyond wanting to generate attention, artists see their social media as a blank canvas” (Schofield, 2024). By having a starting baseline and archiving images, it can be moulded to show who the artist wants to be seen as. With this, we convinced KIYARA to archive unrelated posts that didn’t feel “personal” and instead possibly replace them in the future with images taken by us. We set up a photoshoot soon after to take images (Appendix 5) that could be used for any future releases or posts. I also designed a “future Instagram page” design that would be implemented by the release of the EP or single that was planned (Appendix 6). This design was chosen to improve engagement and likes, as “everything post(ed) should add some sort of value” (Aspire Digital Marketing, 2022). Because KIYARA was hesitant to post content or share her music, there was less of a chance to have the entirety of the profile represented in real life, but we did archive some images to ensure engagement for future posts (Appendix 7). This also allows for future audiences and viewers to see her curated Instagram feed and have more of an inclination to follow her.

I also generated an album cover idea for a song she was developing called “Handle with Care” (Appendix 8) that matched both the single and worked with the pictures taken by my group. This album design leans into the relatability by having her read a book with the song title on the cover. This part of the project, while not put into action just yet due to some delays in the original schedule (delay explained in the Reflection section), is still meant to be implemented soon. This part of the plan seems to be successful so far and follows the research from the social media planning.

From a project management perspective, this shows the importance of adaptability and planning. By planning out the future images that will be used for releases and ensuring ideas and drafts of album covers, we can help mould the music release from the outset and make social media and music releases more effective. In terms of commercial exploitation, branding and media release is essential to gain recognition as a creator and gain audience loyalty/a fanbase. While there is a lack of consistent output at the moment, if the content that has been prepared is released in the proper manner, it can help KIYARA create an identity and audience for her music release, allowing them to know what to expect before the music is even up for streaming.

EP Release Plan / Music Creation Team

Another section of the project I focused on was the EP release plan and the coordination of the music creation. I worked directly with some producers, which I connected with Kiyara to ensure she had assistance in areas she’s unable to do herself. I also planned a release schedule (Appendix 9) with my group and events that were meant to happen within the span of the year. In Semester 1, the goal was to support the making of a 3–4 track EP meant to be released April/May of 2026. This would be done within the conservatoire, having free access to any resources needed for recording, production, and mastering. The plan also involved the use of resources, such as the accommodation of my group member to have a release party.

As part of the process, I spoke with two producers, Zayn Yousaf and Lucas Szaniecki, who I believed matched the style and background of the artist. While “there are many different types of producers all with different ways of working” (The Motor Museum, 2017), it was very important to make sure we’d be able to hit every area of KIYARA’s songwriting style. Lucas works with music coming from Brazil, understanding the Portuguese background and connecting with the lyricism and songwriting style, while Zayn is more centred on the digital production and composition side of production. With the combination of both of these producers, there is also the possibility of “dividing and conquering” the work in a timely manner, something we as a team essentially were counting on based on our schedule, who were both brought into the project to collaborate with KIYARA on her music development.

Throughout Semester 2, both producers communicated with me and updated me on any work that had to be done and the development of the individual tracks, allowing me to gain insight into the production process and their support in the songwriting at times. This was done as a way of ensuring work was done consistently without having my group interfere in the creation process. It is a known fact that “whilst the creative process requires trial and error for the creation of the ultimate output, business relies on certainty to maximise profitability” (Leal, 2022). Artists such as Halsey, in a recent interview with Apple Music (2025), explained that she feels like she’s “melting down every day” from the stress of her label and creating music that was up to their standard. When controlled by managers or labels, artists can feel “the loss of autonomy and control” (Gitlin, 2025) if not handled properly. That direct pressure and communication can create a wall between the artists and their management, so to ensure this wouldn’t happen, we gave up control in the music creation process and instead checked in with the team periodically.

As assessments and external commitments came forward near the middle of the semester, both producers began to lose focus and move to work towards their own projects. This was also seen with KIYARA, as our group kept getting fewer updates from the music creation team and overall leaving us in the dark on any developments that have happened. This changed our original timeline, creating delays in the project. Ultimately, the EP release was pushed back from the original date of April/May 2026 to a “to be determined” (TBD) date. From a project management perspective, this shows how these creative projects rely on their collaborators and how, as priorities change, timelines may need to adapt.

While the EP was being worked on, our team developed a financial and logistical plan for a successful EP release. We decided to include a release party in Leeds for when the EP was done. These work as a form of connection with superfans, as “(the) current market realities have put superfans back to centre stage as a vital lifeline for artists and music corporations alike” (Hu and Walraven, 2024). By creating an event and promoting it, there is a possibility for more pre-saves, pushing algorithms from Spotify and Apple Music to promote the song on playlists such as Discover Weekly. “(Fans) want to see the artist deliver to the fans in the community or mailing list” (Hu and Walraven, 2024), which means that by creating a mailing list, we would be able to give local fans the option to attend the launch party. I created a Linktree with a mailing list section where anyone is able to sign up from a link on KIYARA’s social media pages (Appendix 10).

We financed the party by having a £5 fee for entry to help pay for the event and used any additional money gained to finance the recording expenses (Appendix 11), which had added up to be around £117. While this plan seemed to work, it was never put into action as the EP has not been released yet. We accounted for any possible expenses; it is still relatively complicated to correctly calculate the exact amount, as prices for different services, such as DistroKid and Instagram promotion, often increase over time. This planning helped understand the commercial side of music release but was unable to be put into practice as there was no product to release.

Overall, while the project was planned to the fullest extent, there is only a limited amount of work that can be done without a final project. The delays for the final project affected the schedule we had originally set and restricted us from working on the promotion and the release party.

PART 2: REFLECTIVE EVALUATION

TEAM WORKING

Throughout the project, the work within our team played a leading role in shaping KIYARA’s artistic identity and strategy development for the EP release. My involvement in artist positioning, branding, and marketing strategy meant I often worked with the creative development and strategic decision-making to ensure things moved smoothly.

Throughout the entire process, Nana, my teammate on the business side of the project, and I communicated efficiently and had aligned ideas on how to move throughout the entire process. When asking her about our strengths and weaknesses as a group (Appendix 12), she explained, “One weakness of (ours) is we both really function in the same area… I think that’s a strength but also a weakness”. This made sense, as we both worked really well together, as our strengths were in the same areas of marketing, branding, and promotion. This allowed us to quickly organise what seemed to be KIYARA’s image and develop a plan we both could agree on. When speaking with KIYARA, we both heard her ideas and came up with ways to implement them into the plan, and usually agreed on the best way of implementing them into our plan. She did explain that having people with opposing views also can, at times, “push you forward and make you work a bit harder”, allowing us to fully focus on different parts, especially considering we were both relatively uncomfortable or insecure about the financial aspect of the project planning. We also were unable to focus on some sections of the project due to a lack of an EP. Nana explained (Appendix 13) she wished we were able to “apply some marketing theories that we had learned and studied”, as, again, the majority of our project focused on theoretical aspects of planning and began to show results when implemented into the social media aspect of promotion. In addition, within the early stages of the project, team communication was effective and structured, but as time went by, we both became focused on additional tasks of our day-to-day lives and reached out less.

When it came to our ideas, there was a clear sense of direction regarding KIYARA’s artistic identity. We both brainstormed artists to select for the project, agreeing on KIYARA, as we both had a similar approach on having her as an emerging indie/R&B artist with a “girl-next-door” aesthetic. According to MIT Human Resources (2022), Tuckman’s forming stages involve the process of Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, and Termination/Ending. We started at the forming stage, which is known as the initial stage of the process. As a team, we established roles, expectations, and goals to help with the success of this project. At this point, collaboration was strong, as it only required the insider team selected for the project, relying solely on our ability to correctly plan for the long-term goal. As the project progressed, we found ourselves stuck at the Norming stage, as there was a lack of implementation (MIT Human Resources, 2022). While we knew exactly what we wanted to do and how to support the release of the EP, without the final product, we were unable to do much apart from push and wait for the external collaboration to develop. Specifically, the involvement of producers created what originally was a source of communication but then changed into an additional person who had to complete their own task. As discussed in the previous section, both Zayn Yousaf and Lucas Szaniecki slowly stopped engaging in their tasks for the project due to having additional things to do in their personal lives. This created a division between the creative and managerial teams. We did, at some point, ask KIYARA if changing to a different producer might be beneficial to engaging with the EP at a faster rate, but she declined, as she had already bonded with her producers. While our group attempted to move past the Norming stage, it seemed to slowly become something we had no control over and instead had to work around by ensuring our team, excluding the external collaborators, could work as efficiently as possible. The lack of consistency created uncertainty rather than conflict, impacting overall work efficiency.

As a team, we discussed the challenges that arose between what was planning vs. implementing (Appendix 14). We came to the conclusion that our team worked in a “very theoretical” way, as we had predicted, based on research, what would be successful instead of planning based on the reality of what was currently happening. This resulted in the remaking of our plan multiple times and an extended timeline we consistently edited based on updates from the creative team.

Looking back, we also noticed that our original SMART goals (Appendix 15) should have been edited to allow for more flexibility from the start. We agreed that our “timetable was very rigid” (Appendix 14), and we could have instead tried to work around a more extended time period, making our final goal for the semester something that could be easily done. A great example could have been a single, which we talked about possibly releasing in advance of the EP, as it would create anticipation (Murphy, 2023) and set KIYARA’s tone as an artist before the release of a later EP.

Our team’s work was most efficient during the planning stage of the project, but became challenging to execute due to external dependencies and a lack of a final product (EP). This shows the importance of consistent communication and keeping both creative and managerial teams accountable for their work.

Conclusion

This assessment developed my understanding of how an artist and a music project is professionally developed. Both the creative and strategic aspects of a project are essential to the success of an artist, as without both can crumble and divide to their own sides instead of working together to produce the best result. My understanding of branding and marketing was also expanded, as I now understand that it goes beyond visual consistency. Instead, it involves evaluation of engagement on social media and building an artist’s identity based on audience behaviour and the artist’s comfort zone.

Working within a team was also helpful and shows the division of tasks to create an efficient environment. If everyone works towards a common goal there is the possibility of overall success, but if there is lack of initiative and work ethic from even a single individual, it can bring the project down or delay any planning.

Despite the challenges, this project was a great example of how artist development operates and the importance of adaptability, communication and research. By preparing contingency plans and ensuring consistent progress over time it is possible to have a successful project, past the planning stage. In conclusion, the project was beneficial in KIYARA’s development at a theoretical and conceptual level, but due to the final product being delayed there was a failure to experience all stages of the process. With that being said, it provided a realistic example of how artistic identity can be shaped based on market research, collaboration and project management.

Appendices

Appendix 1 – Meeting Recording

Appendix 2 – Kiyara Reel

Appendix 3 – Instagram Insights

Appendix 4 – Moodboards

Appendix 5 – Photoshoot Pictures

Appendix 6 – Mock Instagram Profile

Appendix 7 – Real Instagram Profile

Appendix 8 – Mock Album Cover

Appendix 9 – Release Schedule

Appendix 10 – Linktree

Appendix 11 – Finance Sheet

Appendix 12 – Question 1 – What do you believe were our strengths and weaknesses as a team?

Appendix 13 – Question 2 – Looking back, what were some sections that we should have focused on more? (Marketing, finances, promotion, etc.)

Appendix 14 – Question 3 – What were the differences between our planning and the implementation of the plan? Was one easier than the other?

Appendix 15 – Original SMART Goal

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