From Ring Tones To Bling Tones
Modu, Universal Music Group Announce Customizable Phone

Posted by Mike Tunnicliffe in Ad Age Songs For Soap on 02.08.08 @ 03:05 PM

Start-up mobile company Modu unveiled a new phone today that will allow people to personalize it by sliding a "Jacket" over the body. Simultaneously, the handset maker confirmed a partnership with Universal Music Group to create artist-specific jackets, which will be designed/inspired by the musicians and include pre-loaded content and even music subscription offerings.

This could be a very smart move, as it takes the record label right into the heart of iPhone territory and also gives fans a way of getting an added value service and product that creates greater affinity with the artists.

The Modu phone is the brainchild of Dov Moran, who made his name as a pioneer of USB flash drive technology through his company M-Systems, which was sold to SanDisk in 2006 for $1.6 billion. SanDisk are backing this new company, which is promising to deliver big revenues and an innovation that allows consumers to cheaply transform phones into anything from a messaging device, a music player or a hand-held gaming console.

'Stand Up' and Support Bon Jovi and Friends
Stars Come Out to Support Inaugural Charity Event

Posted by Mike Tunnicliffe in Ad Age Songs For Soap on 02.07.08 @ 02:03 PM

On Feb. 12, Bon Jovi will launch the inaugural Stand Up For a Cure performance series in support of lung cancer research at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. The band's concert, due to take place at New York's Hammerstein Ballroom, will be dedicated to Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora's father, Adam Sambora, who passed away last year from lung cancer.

According to Billboard.biz, the upcoming benefit concert has already raised $1 million and will be sponsored by CityView Racquet Club, with AEG Live donating production help. That money will be used to fund three mobile hospice units -- named after Sambora's father -- that will service low-income neighborhoods in New York.

Jerry Seinfeld, ex-Beach Boy Brian Wilson, acclaimed Italian "Operatic-Pop" singer Andrea Bocelli and others will also perform in various New York City venues throughout 2008 for Stand Up for a Cure. These will include a stand-up performance from Seinfeld on June 2 at the WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden, a concert with Wilson and special guests at the Hammerstein Ballroom on July 11 and a Bocelli performance later in the year. The organizers are still looking for other artists to support the initiative.

Over the years, Jon Bon Jovi, owner of Arena Football League team the Philadelphia Soul, has been a visible supporter of charitable groups like Habitat for Humanity, where he is the first Founding Ambassador of the Habitat for Humanity Ambassador program. On several occasions, he's even drawn from his own deep pockets to pay for homes in his adopted home of Philadelphia.

Yes We Can' Reach a Million Views
Obama Gets Support From Star-Studded Cast of Musicians in Big Viral Hit

Posted by Mike Tunnicliffe in Ad Age Songs For Soap on 02.04.08 @ 01:36 PM



In what is fast becoming a viral smash hit, a new music video for Barack Obama called "Yes We Can" hit YouTube this Saturday, with one copy racking up 700,000 views by the time the Super Bowl was over.

The video was conceived by Black Eyed Peas frontman will.i.am and director Jesse Dylan and features a star-studded cast, including John Legend, Herbie Hancock, Common, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Scarlett Johansson, Tatyana Ali, Nick Cannon and many many more. The song's lyrics are adapted from Obama's post-New-Hampshire "Yes We Can" speech, which was based on Cesar Chavez's motto during a United Farm Workers hunger strike in 1972.

According to Dylan and will.i.am in an interview on ABC News, the video and song were put together out of their own volition and not in concert with the Obama campaign. According to ABC "the filmmakers said that they weren't even sure if Obama [was] aware of the video," though by Sunday lunchtime the Obama Website featured the video on its official blog, where dozens of his supporters were urging people to pass the video on and make sure that "the entire world sees this video."

At lunchtime yesterday, 85,000 people had seen the video on YouTube, by 5 p.m. more than 153,000 had seen it, and by the time the Super Bowl had finished, it was at 700,000 views. Between two uploaded copies of the video, more than a million people have seen it so far.

This has all the signs of becoming a massive viral hit and a piece of communication that shows the increasing power that musicians have to influence the public, particularly through social networks where musicians and celebrities are the most popular subjects of interest.

Tim McGraw Cooks Up a Deal for the Summer
Kingsford, KC Masterpiece Support Country Star's Live Your Voice Tour

Posted by Mike Tunnicliffe in Ad Age Songs For Soap on 02.01.08 @ 11:45 AM

Barbecue sauce KC Masterpiece and leading charcoal manufacturer Kingsford are sponsoring country superstar Tim McGraw's 2008 Live Your Voice tour this spring.

McGraw's return to the road as a solo act comes after two years on the road with his superstar wife Faith Hill on their Soul2Soul II tour, in which they had a very impressive deal with Jeep. The partnership was the winner of Billboard's inaugural Billboard Concert Marketing & Promotion awards in 2007 and featured in our year-end review of best brand-music tie-in's for 2007.

This new partnership seems to be designed with a similar principle of giving plenty of opportunities and unique interactions to the fans. According to Billboard Magazine, "The two brands will present the VIP Pre-Show Party where McGraw performs a private acoustic set prior to each show. Fan/brand site EchoMusic, a division of Ticketmaster, will integrate the sponsorships through online fan and brand initiatives."

Additionally, Fritos will be the "Official Snack" of the tour and the presenter of the StyleSonic Stage, which will feature artists chosen by McGraw who will perform prior to the start of each concert and have their music made available for free download via the McGraw website for fans that purchase tickets.

All sounds rather tasty!

Peter Gabriel Takes 'Sledgehammer' to Old Music Models
'Personality of the Year' Shows Hope for Marketers, Artists

Posted by Mike Tunnicliffe in Ad Age Songs For Soap on 01.31.08 @ 12:20 PM

Music veteran Peter Gabriel was lauded as a visionary this week when he was named "Personality of the Year" during the annual MIDEM international music conference in Cannes.

Gabriel has invested significant sums of money and energy into various forward-thinking new ventures and business models, including a joint venture with leading UK VC Ingenious Media, who will finance his future albums and receive a share of revenue from his back catalogue.

His latest venture is the recently launched the We7 internet service, which allows consumers to access free, legal music downloads by inserting ads ad into the start of each song. Whilst ad-supported download models have sailed into stormy waters in Cannes this week, Gabriel's We7 has been received favorably by the advertising community. Gabriel also acknowledged that art and commerce will be inextricably linked in the future.

From the LA Times:
"It's climbing in bed with the devil," he said shortly before the award dinner at the Carlton Hotel. But the day of keeping the two-segregated may well be over.

"I'm a big fan of Neil Young," Gabriel said, "but the artist who has complete control of his music and keeps his music completely apart from advertising is probably a thing of the last century."

Toyota Helps Self-Made Musician Break Through
Pete Droge's Career Blurs the Lines Between Ads and Popular Music

Posted by Mike Tunnicliffe in Ad Age Songs For Soap on 01.31.08 @ 10:54 AM






Artist: Pete Droge
Song: "Going Whichever Way the Wind Blows"
Marketer: Toyota

Sometimes a song in a TV commercial sounds so familiar that you stop what you are doing and find out more, which is what happened when I saw the new Toyota Sequoia spot featuring "Going Whichever Way the Wind Blows" by Pete Droge.

The independent producer and singer-songwriter has been cleverly getting a number of songs from his self-released album "Under the Waves" into all sorts of TV shows and movies lately. In the last six months, the song that Toyota used has appeared in "Grey's Anatomy," "Men in Trees" and the movie "Feast of Love." Other tracks off the album have appeared in movies including "A Lot Like You," "Solstice" (directed by Daniel Myrick of "Blair Witch" fame) and the title track will be featured later this month in "Bonneville," starring Jessica Lange, Joan Allen and Kathy Bates.

When he's not writing and recording songs in his Puzzle Tree Studios on a remote island outside of Seattle, Droge is playing shows and producing for other people, including Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard's 2001 solo debut "Bayleaf."

While Droge's career is not totally unique, it nicely illustrates how commerce and art can come together to benefit one another and how the lines are becoming increasingly blurred between advertising and pop music. It's safe to say that he has achieved more fame and income by licensing his songs than by selling his records, but that ratio may soon change as Droge continues to work his way into America's pop consciousness.

Panic! at the Auto Show
Pop-Punk Band Headlines the Greenest Honda Civic Tour Yet

Posted by Mike Tunnicliffe in Ad Age Songs For Soap on 01.24.08 @ 04:48 PM

Honda has announced a tie-up with platinum-selling -- and now punctuation-less -- pop-punk band Panic At The Disco in the automaker's eighth consecutive year of music patronage through the Honda Civic Tour. Starting April 10, the show will make over 40 stops before it finishes this summer.

In the early years of the tour, Honda linked up with headline acts that were breaking through at the time, such as Incubus and Good Charlotte back in 2002 and 2003, but lately they've been pulling in big-name acts such as The Black Eyed Peas, Maroon 5 and last year's headliners, Fall Out Boy. This has allowed the organizers to be able to afford to take multiple up-and-coming or under-the-radar acts out on the road with them, such as Motion City Soundtrack, The Hush Sound and Phantom Planet in this year's tour.

As well as providing funding, Honda will also be providing a Panic At The Disco-designed Honda Civic Hybrid that will be featured at each show and then put up as the main prize for a lucky fan to win. The Panic At The Disco design features an outdoor theme that helps to push a green message from the band and Honda. This Green message will be further reinforced on the tour with every ticket purchased being matched with a donation to non-profit tour partners Reverb and Global Inheritance, who are partnering to bring "interactive, fun and fan friendly exhibits" at each stop on the tour.

All in all an excellent example of a brand-music partnership that benefits the brand, the band and the fans, but also the environment to boot.