It’s Advertising Week in New York, so you can imagine how busy it is. It feels like every brand marketer in the game is in town. Everyone has their agenda and is pushing their current platform or thesis. I’m listening, taking notes and, of course, hustling on behalf of our clients.
But it feels like music is way undervalued — and definitely underrepresented — in the conversations this week. At Nue, we believe that every brand should have a music strategy. That clearly is not the case. Advertising Week’s official programming barely touches on the power of music and all of its impactful verticals.
There’s no question that having a robust music and culture strategy makes a brand stronger. Since these spaces are consistently underleveraged, there is a big opportunity here. Unfortunately, there is no clear way to create a music strategy that works across all of the DSPs, labels, and agencies.
Sure, you can call Spotify and get a music strategy that works on Spotify or dial something in for one major labor or a specific talent agency. But how can brands easily buy into a robust strategy that is transparent and all-encompassing in the always-expanding music space?
Drake himself can sell out basketball arenas, yet the brand money invested in music pales in comparison to what is poured into the NBA. That’s dissonance. It’s a lot easier and cleaner for a brand to invest in the NBA or All-Star Weekend than in Drake or OVO but music, in my opinion, is more impactful than basketball. That, too, is dissonance.
Part of the problem is labels not recognizing the tremendous value in brand partnerships. Their brand businesses are growing but still represent a small piece of overall revenue. They remain focused, too focused perhaprs, on hit records and recorded music. I think their respect level will grow as a system is built that more easily funnels brand dollars into music, the impact of which will make a clearer mark on their bottom lines.
We need a programmatic solution. We’re constantly batting ideas around and would love to hear your thoughts. Let’s keep the conversation flowing so together we can fill this value vacuum.
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