Groove ADmada
Thanks to the death of the retail music experience, the advent of totally self-published works by major artists, and the all pervasive presence of iTunes, it’s no surprise that bands have been challenged to rethink the way they release albums. But brand sponsorship? This is a new beast altogether.
Big beat Brits Groove Armada have teamed up with Bacardi Live to release an EP completely funded by the brand (and 100% free). What do you think- solution or sell out?
Thanks to Creative Review for inspiration.
EDIT: Drummer Josh Freese takes freemium to eleven, baby. My favorite purchase perk? For $500, 15 lucky fans will float with Freese in a sensory-deprivation tank and get dinner at Sizzler along with the album.
Tags: Branding, music, new business model
This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 24th, 2009 at 10:34 am and is filed under Trends. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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March 24th, 2009 at 10:36 am
Cashmusic is on the other side of the spectrum. Music funded by fans. http://cashmusic.org/
March 30th, 2009 at 3:25 pm
You know I am not at all bothered by product placement when the actual property is entertaining. That’s the fine line that’s been balanced well here with Bacardi. Otherwise, it’s just annoying.
April 22nd, 2009 at 1:13 pm
This same format (sponsored music distribution) is being atempted by brazilian record label Trama – http://www.trama.com.br – for a few years now.
Can’t say however how the results really have been for those sponsors.