As I’ve said here, here and here, there is radical change going on in the music industry (in all of The Arts for that matter). And in those posts, I’ve stated my belief that the traditional music industry businesses have totally missed the boat. This leaves a giant void that will be filled by anyone who figures out the next music business model. I personally think there will be many, many business models and I appear to not be alone.
At FC Now, (the blog of Fast Company magazine), Danielle Sacks asks if brands are the new record lables.
“Check it out. In the past few years, Toyota Scion launched its own
hip-hop record label. Starbucks co-produced and exclusively broke the
band Antigone Rising. Retailers from Old Navy to Restoration Hardware
are hawking their own brand of CDs and game developers like
Take2Interactive are licensing hundreds of songs for videogames, giving
indie artists the opportunity to reel in some cash and insert their
music directly into the ears of teenage boys everywhere.”
You bring the talent and they bring the money
In a broad general sense there are two things needed for a successful music career: great music and people. This is why musicians sought contracts with record companies. By signing a deal, they were immediately given access to millions and millions of people at the end of vast networks of marketing (print ads, radio play, TV, movies, touring deals, etc.), production (recording studios and manufacturing plants for records, tapes and CDs) and distribution (wholesalers, relationships with stores, record clubs, etc. and radio play, TV, etc., etc.). Artists got an expectant audience lined up waiting for what the company brought to them next. Record companies were masters at creating and sustaining the attention of the audience through their channels, but…..
Now that music is digital information that can be moved anywhere for zero cost and the market of music lovers is scattered in a million directions (the music companies lost control of their audience, so they split), the whole equation has changed. Which brings us back to Miss Sacks. By its very definition, a brand is all about people, and perhaps more than ever before, people want to be entertained. So it’s the logical perfect marriage to join artists with brands.
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