“Le Monde” of 24 December featured a fascinating article (the title of which I allowed myself to borrow) on the new relationships that are being formed between certain brands and musicians: true partnerships are being created that allow both parties to innovate in a musical world that is quite inflexible.
1. Brands are producing albums AND creating real events around the launch of the albums: musicians who create original songs for the Converse centenary, Cassius creating a "jogging mix" for Nike, and Procter & Gamble offering the latest album of "Kool and the Gang", "Still Kool", with the 90 dose packs of Bonux laundry soap without a change in price (consumers buying smaller sizes of laundry soap may download a free song from the Universal catalogue). On this occasion a private concert, an exhibition and a competition were held: it was therefore more than just a "sponsorship" or a simple "product placement".
2. The brand becomes a real financial player in the category. I refer you to my note of 5th July 2008 in which I analyzed the music strategy of Starbucks in the USA: brands and trademarks have realized that music is one of the socio-economic tendencies of our society and the proximity to consumers is through it today.
3. An opportunity for the major record companies to regain control by creating "Broadcast to Brand" divisions in the company: it is a new metier that could take the form of real internal agencies, comprehensive service providers for brands and trademarks.
4. The musicians have access to a new distribution channel: at a time when trends in music are changing radically (drop in CD sales and growth of "free" and "peer to peer"), the question of distribution of music products and related revenue has become crucial.
We are witnessing a major innovation:
- When AC / DC gave Wal-Mart exclusive distribution rights to its latest album, after a week Wal-Mart announced that it has sold 780 000! "Black Ice" immediately became the first album of the group to be ranked at the top of the U.S. charts. Of course the purists screamed: "Youngsters will never go to Wal-Mart to buy this CD!!". The results are out: Wal-Mart is seeing a spectacular increase in record and derived product sales AND AC / DC gets exceptional exposure in the No. 1 music market, the USA.
- When the dance music group Groove Armada signed an agreement with Bacardi offering it the exclusivity on its concerts for one year, the brand became an organizer of concerts (which is entirely consistent with its positioning).
All this seems very promising, we are witnessing a real revolution of the "music" category which is regularly presented as a disaster and which is, in fact, constantly reinventing itself.
