Last week I popped down to London Calling the annual music industry jamboree that takes place at Earl's Court. I attended two interesting sessions, both of which were concerned with creating value, but in slightly different ways.
The first was a panel of agency people talking about examples of great music / brand tie ups. There were some fairly well known examples, such as Bacardi and Groove Armada, but perhaps the most interesting was Absolut Machines. This campaign involves two groups of musicians building sound installations, which people can go online and have a play with; the machines are also part of a touring exhibition. Someone made the good point that brands often forget about their heritage when they get into music. Absolut Machines is a good example of a brand staying true to itself.
Brands also need to convince people that they have a genuine passion for music, Red Bull, through their Music Academy, have achieved this. For the last ten years they have been helping artists get started in the business and now they are setting up their own label to leverage the position they have created. An interesting example of a brand's passion giving rise to a new business opportunity. The only criticism of Red Bull was that they had kept their activity in music too quiet.
The second panel looked at mobile music and asked the question; what is the value of music in the digital age? For handset manufacturers the value is in the user interface and adding extra services. With a ratio of 20:1 for illegal to legal downloads, tools such as Sony Ericsson's Track ID which helps people find out the name of a track they are listening to their mobile's radio and then purchase it are the kind of tools that will add value.
For both brands looking to engage consumers through music and mobile operators looking to make money through music the key is finding new ways for people to access music.
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