Recently, I took the opportunity to look back at the major deals 2022 has yielded thus far and highlighted some of the relevant trends. Every month I deep dive into our industry for an Adweek column I co-author with Clayton Durant; we get insights from some of the top players at the top companies to help tell the key stories of the moment. Check out the full article here.
We did see a couple of key themes emerging in 2022 that are worth paying attention to –
The LatinX Market Is Fertile Ground – This market is exploding. The artists are on fire and selling tons of tickets all across the road. Bad Bunny sold-out stadiums and arenas in a matter of minutes this year and brands are lining up to get into this space.
Nostalgia Drives Brands to Legacy Artists – With 60,000 new songs being released a day on Spotify and even more on YouTube, consumers are overwhelmed with new music. Mix that with the boom in catalog spending and publishing companies as well as VCs looking to extract profit, this is the first time in my life where new music is not driving listening habits. There is more and more energy going into legacy music and brand deals. It’s exciting to watch.
Artists as Corporate Brand Executives – The best way to bring attention to a product or platform is with big marquee influencers. Orange Theory did it at the start of the year with Steve Aoki’s partnership and so did Virgin Voyages when they named Jennifer Lopez its Entertainment & Lifestyle Chief.
Hip-Hop Continues to Dominate – Hip Hop artists really changed the tides of brand partnerships and artists. It dates back to Run DMC holding their Adidas sneakers up at Madison Square Garden and thousands of kids doing the same… and that momentum has only grown as these partnerships get more elaborate and intricate. There is no faster way into culture right now.
NFT Mania – It’s great to see more and more brands embracing Web3. Everyone involved right now and testing the waters needs to remember it’s still very early but the companies that are here first and do it right, will be rewarded. Figuring out NFT strategies should be on every marketing executive’s roadmap in the next few years.
To wrap up the story, we pointed to some bonus 2022 Quarter 2 Predictions as we head into Music Festival Season and Summer release schedule.
We hope you enjoy. Let us know your thoughts, what we missed and what you think we should focus on for our May column.
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