Cross-Genre Music Partnerships
Brands often use music in their advertisements with the intention to broaden their market’s exposure and create a sustainable association of the consumer with the brand. But how does a collaboration of two artists from two very different genres affect the brand’s marketing results?
Awesomely in fact. Whether a brand licenses music as the beat to their commerical, or works directly with the artists to create a lyric in the song, or creates a product placement integration in their music video, it's a win. A big win in that the artist more aligned to the brand's typical marketing demographic acts as positive reinforcing reminder to current brand fans, and the cross over artist brings to the table an entirely new segment ripe for winning over and selling to. In this blog, Hollywood Branded looks at how brands gain new consumers by integrating crossover music genres in their marketing campaign.
An Expansion Of The Brand's Current Market
The most visible advantage a brand has when incorporating cross genres of music in their marketing campaigns is the simultaneous exposure to two entirely different markets, one from each artists’ fan base. Even though this could potentially be considered a risk - the artists have already bet on themselves, as has their monetary backing - their labels. And it's not something that is typically allowed to be a risk - they know their stuff and have done research to ensure that the majority of fans will enjoy the new outcome.
For the fans, these artists are influencers and they trust their judgment and musical collaborations, so if their artist partners with another artist, it means that they must be giving them - and their music - their thumbs up.
A Better Way To Convey A Message
Other than the expansion of the brand’s target market, a brand can also use the collaboration of two or more artists to enhance a message through their campaign. For example, the non-profit organization Stand Up To Cancer gathers a group of musicians from various genres each year to participate in a commercial as part of their campaign against cancer. In the 2016 event, you could find names such as Beyonce, Carry Underwood and Celine Dion who comes from diverse music genre streams to convey the same message, and reach more audiences by doing so.
This goes all the way back to "We Are The World" which was one of the largest and first cross genre music collaborations of the 80's, to support African famine relief. Successful? Yes undoubtably as it is one of fewer than 30 all-time singles to have sold at least 10 million copies worldwide.
Events Promotion Through Collaborations
There are many reasons for the entertainment industry to look for collaboration and events, including awards ceremonies, as they can create a buzz that would turn all eyes on them and the brands that are participating in the event.
Such an example can be taken from the CMA (Country Music Awards) where Beyonce took to the stage with the all-girls country band Dixie Chicks for a performance of her song “Daddy Lessons”.
Controversial? Yes. Attention getting? Yes. And will this open more doors for future collaborations between the two? Extremely likely.
Cross-Genres Collaboration Music Videos
We've put together a list of 12 cross genre artist collaborations to show you the power of these partnerships. Some had brand involvement - some were missed opportunities that are ripe for the picking for the future. Happy viewing!
Heard ‘Em say
Rapper Kenya West and Adam Levine (Maroon 5)
Stan
Pop singer Dido and rapper Eminem
Take Off Your Cool
Hip Hop due OutKast and smooth jazz singer Nora Jones
This Is What You Came For
Rihanna and Electronic DJ Calvin Harris
Side to Side
Pop singer Ariana Grande and rapper Nicki Minaj
Numb/Encore
Rapper Jay-Z and rock band Linkin Park
Four Five Seconds
R&B/pop singer Rihanna, rapper Kenya West, and pop singer Paul McCartney
Real Thing
Rapper Cypress Hill and rock band Pearl Jam
Superman
Country singer Willie Nelson and rapper Snoop Dogg
Body and Soul
Soul and R&B late singer Amy Winehouse and Jazz legend Tony Bennett
Starboy
Pop singer The Weekend and Electronic due Daft Punk
Baby It's Cold Outside
Pop Singer Lady Gaga and Jazz legend Tony Bennett - the king of crossovers for generations as well!
Ready To Start Working With Musicians?
Getting your brand into the lyrics of a song is one option, or being in a music video is another way to capitalize on these cross-genre musician partnerships. Take a look at our blog about music videos integration and lyric verbal mentions.
Is Product Placement right for your brand? Watch this video to learn more about how this marketing practice works, what brand categories it works for, and the results brand marketers see!
