Music as a Branding Tool is Evolving

Music, totally mobile and appealing to extensive demographics, has always been a preferred target of sponsorships and branding among major consumer product companies. In our recent Trends newsletter, we wrote about W’s Global Music Director and hotel companies that grew about of music brands (Buddha Bar, Hard Rock Café).

Now, we’re seeing the an evolution in musical branding: The New York Times reports that Converse (of the sneaker fame) just created a new 5200 square foot recording studio called Rubber Tracks in Brooklyn, NY where bands can record for free. As the traditional music industry is in turmoil, new businesses are becoming the new patrons of musicians, the new “rock n’ roll Medicis”, referring to Renaissance art patrons.

Other forms of music patronage include companies, which have created their own record labels (Red Bull and Mountain Dew), commissioning emerging artists (Nike, Bacardi and others), and in the hotel arena, Motel 6 launched the “Rock Yourself To Sleep” campaign that provides free lodging to bands on tour.

Besides the benefit of brand association and the hip factor, these new creative alliances provide original website content for a brand, it attracts young consumers through involvement with music and builds goodwill. It makes a lot of sense and at the end of the day, it’s not a major investment compared to other marketing channels. On the other hand, indie bands not only receive funding to make a record, but gain access to a brands global marketing muscle, taking advantage of numerous marketing and retail channels.