More Licensing Revenues Flow to Madonna
Posted originally by Mike Tunnicliffe in Ad Age Songs For Soap on 06.06.08 @ 11:45 AM
Madonna has gotten a lot of mileage
out of 'Hard Candy.'
Following a slew of recently announced licensing deals, Warner Music International has tied up a multicountry deal with Sony Ericsson whereby, according to a report in Billboard, Madonna's latest album, "Hard Candy," is to be pre-loaded or carried alongside Sony Ericsson handsets across 27 countries. This past April, Samsung pre-loaded content from the album in its devices for the French market, and the success of the roll-out seems to have peaked Sony Ericsson's interest in engineering a similar deal for themselves.
This latest agreement comes on the back of a huge launch campaign for the album in conjunction with Unilever's Sunsilk, which engendered the first ever co-coordinated global launch of a brand campaign with an album launch for a mega-star artist of Madonna's stature.
The release of "Hard Candy" has benefited from a string of international, multimedia initiatives, including wireless operators Verizon Wireless and European-based Vodafone, who teamed up to simulcast a Madonna performance live to mobile phones on their networks. A remix of the single "4 Minutes" has also been made available exclusively via Verizon Wireless in the U.S. and internationally through Vodafone. Overseas, Madonna also signed an exclusive deal with Fuji TV in Japan to license "Miles Away," the expected second single from the album, as the theme for the new drama series "Change."
SFS can only say "Wow, very impressive!" as these deals all appear to give dollars to Madonna but also deliver some significant value for the fans and brands involved. It certainly also sets some fertile ground for Live Nation to sow their Madonna seeds when Madonna joins the books as the first of their superstar signings later this year. Kudos to Warners though for a fine farewell effort.
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