Brave Brands: / DIY Music: / Music Business: / Music Marketing: / Music Retail: / The kind of stuff citizensound does:
Artists formally good or artists presently brave?
We are witnessing so many young people finding their own path in creating, distributing and marketing their own music. The Punk ethic gone global so to speak. Meanwhile established artists are also finding their own way, be it Simply Red, Paul McCartney or Prince. Some are of the opinion that such artists are past their...
Starbucks, McCartney and the fans…who benefits?
Now that this one has had time to settle, has it actually worked for all? Well, Starbucks seem to be on a roll with their label, signing James Taylor and Joni Mitchell. Not hearing much about the financial success of this, but given they are full steam ahead on the artist sign-up front Starbucks clearly...
Praxis please…
Tony Wilson made things happen. He tried things out. He believed in things/attitudes/ideas, but crucially followed through and brought those beliefs and passions to life. Having only met him twice, I can only comment from afar. Yet from this perspective, I see someone who just went out and did things, rather than just theorise… A...
Advertising: / Brave Brands: / Sonic Branding: / Sound & Vision: / Television: / The kind of stuff citizensound does:
The Use of Sound in Advertising. The Right Way
Too often the sound is a last minute scramble in the advertising process, as advertising agencies all too often pitch ideas visually rather than sonically. So it is no surprise that the mood set by the sound of the ad is poorly thought through in most advertising. When is is right, it is immensely powerful....
innocent’s new music experience
I like innocent and so does Paul (see his blog posts on citizenbay) Yes, their fruit smoothies are tasty treats but beyond that I like the brand and how they’ve positioned themselves in the music space: effortlessly, playfully, hip and down-to-earth. Take the now defunct Fruitstock music festival. With its eclectic talent line-up, central London...
Starbuck’s audio blitz
There has been an enormous amount of coverage on the Starbucks/McCartney tie-up. At the Venice Festival of Media, Pete Jenner suggested that Paul McCartney would have been better tying up with Saga Holidays than Starbucks. This may be a fair comment if McCartney wanted to target his new release to what some might feel is...
Brave Brands: / Music Events: / Sonic Branding: / Sound & Vision: / The kind of stuff citizensound does: / Venice Festival of Media:
Diesel at Venice: Brand in music for the long term…
Lucy from Diesel (on the right) joined Kate Williams of Columbus Media at the citizensound session at Venice. In response to the panel urging brands to commit to more than just the short term when getting involved in music marketing, Lucy shared with the attendees the experience of Diesel. The Diesel U-Music activity has been...
Are we on the verge of a million Motowns?
In a recent article in Mojo magazine, Otis Williams of The Temptations was quoted as follows: Motown used to throw local industries parties at the Roostertail Club and the Greystone Ballroom. At one of these I overheard a couple of white guys who worked for other labels. One said, “We’ve got to stop this. Too...
Would a focus group have built Atlantic Records?
Not known for my love of focus groups as a way of getting insights on what consumer think about brands. Same for the world of music. No way that focus groups could have helped the late great Ahmet Ertegun when he set out to start Atlantic Records. We started Atlantic simply because we wanted to...