By Lindsay Gabler, @lndsygblr

Right outside of my hotel at SXSW in 2012 (and again in 2013) was a six-story-tall stage protruding out of a small parking lot with Doritos branding all over the back. As I turned the corner to get a better look, I don’t think I was ready for what I saw as the front of the stage…a massive vending machine. Yes, Snoop Dogg (and this year, LL Cool J) performed inside a giant Doritos vending machine. I had never been to SXSW before, but took a wild guess and didn’t think that this type of branding is what SXSW purists envisioned for the festival.

[Source: www.brownunited.com]

In this day and age an artist brand is more important than ever to open up doors and create greater opportunities for new revenue streams and brands are happily doling out checks to bring them on board to perform at festivals, be ambassadors and most recently ‘creative directors’.  Over the past several years, with the decline of the record business, I have read dozens of articles asking if brands are the new record labels. You can check out some of these articles here from 2006, 2008, 2010, 2011, and 2012. I say no. However, it is really very interesting that there is little to no discussion about the record label as a brand.

When I first began at Universal Music Group, social media was just bubbling over with MySpace and about to boil over with Facebook and Twitter. I soon stepped into the role of developing UMG’s social media strategy. One thing that I was told, and had to keep in mind while creating the framework, is that we were not a brand. Our artists are brands, but we are not. Since then, I have heard similar statements about record labels periodically and have had the same reaction every time…why not?

For me personally, the two record labels that became the biggest brands and still resonate today were/are Motown and Def Jam. Motown is its own genre of music and Def Jam is synonymous with Hip Hop. There are many labels who have attempted to maintain their once loved brand and stay relevant with new artists, but have fallen short in today’s ever changing industry. Long ago, in a land far, far away where you could walk into a store that only sold music, you could browse through shelves and shelves of vinyl, tapes, and CDs. If you did not know an artist, you could glance at the record label logo and be more inclined to trust them and buy the record or single because you liked the previous one or two artists they released. Record labels at one point in time were the music curators (alongside our favorite employee at the record stores). Now the fans seem to dictate who the record labels sign.

With the deterioration of the label as a trusted curator and the loss of record stores, streaming services have struggled with the curation and the recommendation piece of the puzzle as well. Most recently Jimmy Iovine spoke about his forthcoming music streaming service, Daisy, and said “There is a sea of music, an ocean of music and absolutely no curation for it.” Between brands creating content around lifestyles through music, streaming services refining their algorithm and radio still playing the same songs…do record labels have a voice? Overall there is no real affinity for any record label over another (aside from the more notable hip hop collectives today). The artist brand has become bigger, faster, and stronger than the record label brand which has put us in the position we find ourselves. The labels relinquished value when putting resources solely into the artist and stopped putting any back into themselves. And by value, I’m talking about focusing on building a lifestyle around the record label and creating an organic brand that resonates with music fans. By having a strong brand, artists gravitate towards the record labels for what they stand for and what they mean to the culture. Now many artists are taking the DIY approach. Ask your friend if they know what record label Adele is signed to.

We are now down to the three majors; Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment. Who influences you the most when it comes to discovering new music?

Comments

comments