Groove Armada and Bacardi Sail Out of "Perfect Storm" and Hit the News Headlines in the UK
Posted by Mike Tunnicliffe in Ad Age Songs For Soap on 03.27.08 @ 12:31 PM
Last week, top British dance act Groove Armada and drinks company Bacardi announced their new partnership, and it's now hitting the mainstream television news in the UK. The deal is being hyped as an example of how the "perfect storm" engulfing the record industry can produce some ground-breaking new initiatives to keep careers alive.
Bacardi & Groove Armada sail in to new waters
The report on the UK's Channel 4 news yesterday, entitled "Goodbye Record Company, Hello Corporate Sponsor," highlighted the Groove Armada / Bacardi deal as an example of the "superbranding of bands" trend and also covered Madonna's recent deal with Sunsilk and her exit from Warner Music to a new 360 degree partnership with Livenation. The piece speculated on whether other super-acts, including The Rolling Stones, who are currently in danger of leaving EMI, would follow suit and develop new partnerships that excluded the traditional record label.
Explaining the decision not to renew the group's deal with a traditional record label, Groove Armada frontman Tom Findlay told Channel 4 that the new deal with Bacardi "will give them total creative freedom" while allowing them to retain ownership of their own music and "taking them to places that they wouldn't normally benefit from going to" because of limited funds.
As part of the one-year deal with Bacardi B-Live, the drinks company's global music platform, Groove Armada will perform live at various Bacardi-branded events, including the April 19 B-Live Miami event, part of a broader, international, 25-date dance music performance series. Bacardi will also finance and help release Groove Armada's record releases.
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