Brand marketing, both direct-to-consumer and business-to-business, has hit a major bump in the road. “Influencer marketing" tactics are losing their luster and delivering less impact as social media begins to stagnate.Fred Wilson, one of New York’s top tech investors and thought leaders, calls 2019 “the year that VCs and startup founders began to sour on paid acquisition." Wilson hypothesizes that while the Google/Facebook/Instagram well has certainly not run dry, it has begun to feel like a box every brand must check, which means everyone is doing it and no one is differentiated.This got me thinking... if digital and social is now a line-item on every go-to-market plan, the new frontier is clearly what I have been evangelizing for years: a bespoke music strategy.What is a bespoke music strategy? It’s a way for brands to build meaningful relationships with consumers by leveraging the power of music. Music is the universal language. Music is the great connector. Music is the lowest barrier to entry into culture for a brand.This decade, every brand needs to think about what their brand sounds, looks, and feels like. Creating a musical brand identity plan can help them do that. I am not just talking about a jingle or overall sound, although that’s part of it (salute to Mastercard this week on their new sonic identity). I’m talking about intelligent artist alignment resulting in content and creative dissemination on the music distribution platforms where a company’s customers spend the most time.Many brands understand the power of music marketing (Pepsi, Coke, American Express, and Citi to name a few) but what most people don’t realize is that you do not need to be a massive brand to utilize an effective music strategy in this media landscape. Startups, D2C brands, and even B2B brands should be thinking long and hard on their music strategy. It is truly what makes the difference when it comes to consumer engagement and creating a community around your business.Music is the language consumers speak. I recommend you get fluent soon!
BEATS
Mastercard Is Dropping a Music Single In 2020, anyone can be a record label — really, anyone. Joining the mix of hotels, airlines, big-box retailers, and Build-a-Bear, credit and debit card issuer Mastercard became the latest corporate brand to release original music when it announced “Merry Go Round,” its first-ever music single, on Tuesday. (Rolling Stone)
Us Streams Topped A Trillion Last Year. But Is A Superstar Recession Looming? Yep: the Top 10 superstars in the world, according to our extrapolation of these U.S stats, may have generated less money from audio streaming services in 2019 than they did the year before.Meanwhile, in the same time period, Spotify’s ‘cost of revenues’ leapt up by $760m.Who obtained that extra money?Clue: Very much not the year’s biggest Top 10 artists. (Music Business Worldwide)
20 Music Marketers Share Predictions for 2020Artists and their marketing teams should keep all of these multimedia and storytelling elements in mind, as I would argue it's no longer sufficient "just" to release an album and hope people listen. There must be something deeper that can bring the album's story to life from an earlier stage, not months after release — both for fans and for potential business partners. (Cherie Hu)
The 23 Most Anticipated Tours of 2020: My Chemical Romance, Billie Eilish, and MoreBreak out the earplugs and comfortable shoes: 2020 is already stacked with exciting tours and festivals around the world. From Alanis Morissette reviving Jagged Little Pill to Stormzy expanding his empire across the pond, from Harry Styles and Jenny Lewis joining bohemian forces to Rage Against the Machine storming Coachella and beyond, here are the road warriors you need to see in the coming year. (Pitchfork)
30 Creative Promotion Ideas For Increasing Show AttendanceSelling as many tickets as possible is both a goal and a top stressor for event organizers. If you’ve already deployed all the promotional tactics in your playbook, consider some new ways of getting to “sold out.” (Hypebot)
Pharrell and Chad Hugo Are Reuniting The NeptunesPharrell and Chad Hugo were two of the most influential producers of the early 2000s, crafting hits together as The Neptunes for everyone from The Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears to Clipse and JAY-Z. In a new interview with Clash, Hugo revealed that they were reuniting full-time in 2020. (Hypebeast)
The Meta Trends that Will Shape the 2020sCES, the big annual consumer tech show, is underway in Las Vegas. Unlike in most previous years, there has been little in the way of big new announcements. This is in large part because we are reaching a degree of maturity in the consumer landscape, with big new developments being replaced by smaller, sustaining innovations. (Music Industry Blog)
Why Ryan Destiny Will 'Always Fight' To Make Sure Black Women Feel Seen Before the new year, ESSENCE spoke to Destiny, who recently teamed up with Footlocker for their latest spot, “Discover Your Air,” which showcases Nike’s trio of new footwear packs as part of Evolution of the Swoosh: Chapter 2. She dished on joining Grown-ish, Star coming to an end, and the beauty products she swears by. (Essence)
Where the Music Business Is Going in 2020As tech companies, record labels, artists, songwriters, and the industry’s other players brace themselves for highly anticipated government decisions on copyright infringement and radio royalties, they’re also holding a number of other slow-burning matters in the backs of their heads. (Rolling Stone)
Music Data Expert Talks Goal-Oriented Decision-Making In The Music BusinessAccording to Osazuwa, a lot of times people are less focused on what their goals are as an artist or as a manager or whatever their role might be. But if you start thinking about what your actual goal is, then you can start making some solid decisions as to what to do next. (Hypebot)
5 Legal Cases That Could Change the Music Industry In 2020In 2020, a number of court cases could change how you do business. From licensing disputes to jaw-dropping piracy verdicts to one of the first legal challenges to the Music Modernization Act — not to mention a development in the long-brewing legal battle between Kesha and Dr. Luke — here’s what you need to know. (Billboard)
BYTES
Today on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal, we welcome producer/singer/rapper/tech CEO Ryan Leslie to the Upper West Side for a thoughtful, hilarious and meaningful conversation about music, operating direct-to-consumer, dignity, artistry, hard work and vision, plus stories about Fabolous, Cassie, Jagged Edge, Tommy Matolla, Miley Cyrus and much more!
Mac Miller‘s family has shared the first single off his forthcoming posthumous album, “Good News.” The track’s accompanying music video kicks off with the late rapper in the studio, inviting the camera inside the recording booth to see how he works. Visual collages directed by Anthony Gaddis and Eric Tilford make up the rest of the video, including out-of-this-world animation, references to his previous releases, and stills of him performing and playing instruments. (Hypebeast)
Dobrik’s disposable camera idea is tied directly to his brand, and it’s one that fans want to try for themselves. TikTok is full of Dobrik fans talking about the app and recommending it. What started off as a fun way to document Dobrik’s outings with friends led to a secondary Instagram account with close to 3 million followers, all based on the quick snapshots he takes. (The Verge)
Since starting his official YouTube channel back in 2013, pop singer Conan Gray has been on a steady rise toward pop stardom. To celebrate the [upcoming] release of his debut album, Gray also released the album's final track "The Story," a heartbreaking song about learning to move on from the pain of your past. The track's lyrics reference ideas about repressing your sexuality, feeling trapped in a small town and more, before Gray delivers a message to give fans hope in the chorus: "I think that it could work for you and me/ Just wait and see/ It’s not the end of the story," he sings.(Billboard)
This week's newsletter was carefully curated by the Nue Agency staff and our editor Rachel Meisner If you think we missed something this week or have any suggestions/comments for next week's newsletter, let us know!