Has Music Become Devalued as a Branding Tool?

Sept 30, 2009

- Josh Rabinowitz

Music, like so much of the content utilized in advertising and branding, is becoming devalued. There are many reasons, perhaps the biggest being that more and more advertising executives have been bred to work in the Internet/digital world as opposed to analog/tape. Also, many musicians, artists, producers and engineers from the troubled recording industry have migrated to advertising, creating more supply than demand. Add to this the recession and the concept of getting music for close to nothing and at the 11th hour -- "You know, just find something like this" -- has become an epidemic.

Major brands, in fact, are spending on average less than 5 percent of their marketing and advertising budgets on their music, according to a survey from Heartbeats International. But as music lasts longer than any other sensory input -- it does this by basically tattooing itself in the frontal cortex of our brains -- the lack of careful attention paid to it is bound to hurt the quality and effectiveness of advertising in the years to come.

Here, six things you should know to better navigate and utilize the new music world:

1. Tracks are being archived. Vendors are making music that's easily accessible, clearable and searchable. These people are trying to connect their music not only to advertising, but all spheres of the media, especially gaming, TV, film, industrial and mobile.

In 2000, a former band guy and decent songwriter named Steve Ellis came in to see me when I was a music producer at Y&R. He showed me his concept called Pump Audio and gave me a LaCie 10 GB portable hard drive full of clearable and easily searchable tracks categorized by genre, tempo, mood, etc. I was intrigued by the portability of his service and although I never utilized his music in any of my ads, I loved the ease of it. I wasn't the only one who loved it: In 2007 I learned that Getty Images bought Steve's company.
 
Other music companies have followed suit in interesting ways with partnerships including The Lodge's The Diner and Pulse Music's partnership with Primary Wave called Thinkmusic.net.
 
2. Emerging artists are eager to work with you. Brands have friends in artists eager for exposure. Ever since Feist and Yael Naim became household names, the masses realized advertising wasn't a sellout as much as a potential sell-in. Young, up-and-coming bands have embraced the selling-in concept and, unless the brand alignment is just despicable, are very willing and able to make deals to get their music out there and to make a few bucks in the process.
 
Don't be surprised to hear an original song created specifically for an ad by an emerging artist becomes a global monster hit.

3. Music suppliers are willing to do favors. As we all know, advertisers, for the most part, are hurting, too, and production budgets have decreased. Music suppliers know that playing hardball with a client who is also being squeezed could likely put them in the "do not use" (DNU) file. One music company owner recently told me he's working on more jobs than ever before and making less money -- but that he's still alive and kicking it.
 

4. Explore bringing music in-house. As us insiders in the music ad process know, an editor can, at times, be a musician's best ally (nothing beats having a track on a rough cut that people will listen to 500 times; it melts into the psyche and makes itself the "right" track, even if it's totally wrong). But many of the administrative and legal issues I've had over the last 13 years as an agency music producer have come up when an editor's friend or cousin or wife's cousin's friend does the music and the musicians haven't dotted all the I's and crossed all the T's when making their deals.

I strongly suggest that just as ad agencies are bringing editorial and post in-house, that you should take a look at bringing music in-house as well. Not on all stuff, but it can sometimes be awfully cost-effective (demo love, for instance, doesn't hurt as bad).
 
Brands might consider bringing music in-house as well. Some brands have dabbled (e.g., Pepsi-Cola, Mountain Dew, Red Bull and Smirnoff). Don't be shocked to see this happening in a bigger way over the next five years.
 
5. You can always go stock. Stock used to have the connotation of being crap music you could get cheap. Sure, lots of the music is cheesy. In some of the libraries, however, some of it ain't bad and, at times, some of it is very good.

Of course, you must be very careful about legal indemnity. Houses have been known to do things like create tracks called "Violet Haze" that sound way too much like Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze" and they'll only cover what you paid them for the license when the Hendrix estate's lawyers come after you.
 
But remember, there isn't anything like a great score or song created specifically for your creative work and stock likely won't beat that.

6. When making deals, get music experts involved. Be sure to utilize someone who understands what a soundalike and copyright infringement are, has the ears to hear these things, and the experience to police and paper these deals. The liability and cost implications of an IP error can be more costly than all the savings combined on the above suggestions, and leave an eternal bad taste in everybody's mouth.

Josh Rabinowitz is svp and director of music at Grey Worldwide. He can be reached at joshrabinowitz@grey.com.

Nielsen Business Media

Exhibit “A” is the current assemblage of tactics by Tony Robbins, who single-handedly invented the personal coaching industry that supports many Internet entrepreneurs today. Whatever your opinion of Robbins, there is no doubt that he has helped thousands–maybe millions–and is certainly an influential figure. You may or may not believe in his message of personal empowerment, but his counsel is sought by presidents, CEOs and captains of industry all over the world, so there’s gotta be a there there, regardless of whether or not his view jibes with your personal path (full disclosure: it doesn’t jibe with me, but I respect what he has built).

Robbins built his empire in the early days largely through infomercials, so he’s no stranger to mass marketing information products–in fact, I suspect he could teach all of us a thing or two. Which is why I find his latest collection of tactics all the more puzzling. Robbins has aligned himself with the Internet marketers behind Mass Control, and if you have even sniffed around one of Tony’s sites you are on their mailing list and currently getting bombarded with “Squeeze Pages” and “Ethical Bribes.” These tactics work, I assume, because they have been used to sell a considerable number of information products–most of which tell you how to sell other information products. I am not going to cast aspersions on these tactics in this space, but let’s just say that they don’t sit well with everyone.

So, lately, my inbox has filled up with Tony Robbins’ offers that look suspiciously like StomperNet offers. All well and good if Tony Robbins were trying to teach you how to be an Internet marketer, but presumably he is aiming a little higher. I can’t help but think that Robbins has “altered” his brand somewhat in the pursuit of “conversion rates,” and the author of the many “squeeze page”-esque offers I am getting by email hardly seems like the guy who once counseled Bill Clinton, or lent Gorbachev his jet. I’ve since unsubscribed, and I wonder if Tony has turned off potentially millions of customers who also don’t much cotton to this approach.

The tactics may work–and maybe that’s all anyone cares about. Dunno. What I do know is that this collection of tactics has altered my perception of the Tony Robbins brand, and should give you pause as well when choosing the tactics you will pursue to build your brand. A collection of tactics is not a strategy–but, if you aren’t careful, it might imply one that you may not want to embrace.

This may be a little off topic, but I bet many of you fly as much as I do, if not more, and you might appreciate this. I used to be a pretty nervous flyer--OK on takeoffs and landings, but not so OK going through storms or clear air turbulence (and by "not so OK," I mean boxer-soilingly bad.) When you fly a lot, you are bound to hit a day like this:

Somedays you get the bear, and somedays the bear gets you.

It's been a stormy summer so far, and it seems like I've had more than my fair share of bumps and jostles in 2009. Back in those go-go 90's, I would take the edge off with a glass of wine, but decided that was only curing the symptoms, not the problem. So I worked hard to overcome my nervousness, and am now a reasonably comfortable flyer, though I still have my moments of panic. When you get a day like the one pictured above, only a small percentage of thrill-seekers really enjoy flying--the rest of us are not too happy. "Flight Attendants Please Be Seated Immediately" is quite possibly the second least desirable thing the pilot can say. Number One, of course, is "Oh, Shit." (I once flew through the edges of a tropical storm while seated next to a Continental pilot deadheading his way to Newark. At one point in the middle of a hellaciously rough ride, things got eerily quiet--as if we had all put on noise canceling headphones. The pilot next to me said, I kid you not, "this isn't gonna be good." That was about the low point of my entire life.)

Anyway, I had a pretty rough ride at 36,000 feet the other day (followed immediately by a baby-smooth connection at 13,000 feet on a turboprop--go figure) and had to reach deep into my bag of travel tricks to resist the siren call of the Chardonnay. Here's how I cope with severe turbulence (and by severe, I really mean severe--the kind you get once a year or so if you fly frequently):

1. You cannot steer the plane using the armrests. They are not attached to the rudder. Let them go.

2. Instead, I put the shade down, close my eyes, and go as limp as possible. I put my hands on my knees, palms up (so I am not squeezing the blood supply out of them) and pretty much act like a rag doll. The more tense you are, the more exaggerated the bumpiness feels.

3. Put a cup on your tray. Look at it from time to time. You will see that it barely, if at all, moves. If it is half full of water, it is likely you won't even spill a drop. This helps you to realize that it the plane isn't really moving as much as you think it is.

4. Still don't believe me? Try this someday (this fascinates me, by the way). Go to the airport on a windy day and watch the planes land. A landing plane has its flaps fully extended, and is basically a gigantic parachute to catch wind. If you have ever landed in high winds and felt the plane get jerked all over the place, you feel like you are getting kicked down a flight of stairs. But watch a plane land in this kind of weather, and you may see the wings dip occasionally--but you won't see it getting the crap kicked out of it. Again, it feels worse than it really is.

5. Gravity and Physics don't just stop working. They are laws. You will not fall from the sky.

6. Music helps me, but it really has to be relaxing and familiar. Today's selection was Aphex Twin's Selected Ambient Works Vol II. Your mileage may vary. Anything with a beat, or that gets me pumped up for the gym or raises my blood pressure in any way is to be avoided. Noise canceling headphones or in-ear monitors are great, because they block out the rushing of the wind and the sounds of other passengers expressing their own discomfort. Just imagine you are in a cocoon.

7. Smile. Really. Unscrew your face and you will relax more.

8. Keep your eyes closed--not looking out the window really helps avoid overreacting. Your frame of reference is such that when the plane dips or banks a few feet, your view of the outside world changes dramatically. Close your eyes, block out the light, and you will see that you are actually not moving as much as you think.

9. The wings of a Boeing 747 can be bent to almost 90 degrees before they fail. Your wimpy turbulence won't do it.

10. When all else fails, go ahead and have that drink.

*BONUS TIP: If you are on a flight that will last at least 8 hours, Ambien is magic. Don't mix with tip #10, or you increase your risk of sleep crime.