Branding

If you’d told someone, a few centuries (or even decades) ago, that in the future companies would bottle water and sell it – sometimes for a price higher than other drinks – they’d have laughed in your face. However, in today’s market, water is not only sold, but it is branded just as heavily as any other product. At any given convenience store you can find water that makes you smarter (Smart Water), water that makes you healthier (Vitamin Water), and even water that should take the mind to the far off sands of Fiji. In addition to those obvious brands, you can choose Voss, Metro Mint, or Gerolsteiner – boutique, import waters – or you can opt for the every-man’s Poland Spring, Dasani, or Aquafina, which are found more ubiquitously. Hydration has never felt so personal.

Posted by: Rebecca Krouse

A new Spiderman 3 promotion involves a contest which works perfectly with the Spiderman movie brand. Fans are called to create their very own webisodes and submit them online to target.com who is a partner in this promotion along wth Columbia Pictures and Marvel. The promotion to me works perfectly with the brand as it interacts with the fans by having them create their own mini-movies prior to the main release. Even the prizes are inline with what is being sold: “1,00 Target gift card, Sony miniDV Handycam Corder and portable DVD player.” (Brandweek.com) The grand prize is even more deeply integrated as three of the winners may win the chance to be featured on the DVD release of Spiderman 3.

http://www.brandweek.com/bw/news/sportsent/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003577549

-Taylor

It all began on Wednesday, February 14, 2007 when a major snowstorm hit the East Coast of the United States. As a result, 1,096 JetBlue flights we cancelled, and thousands of passengers, including flight attendants and pilots, were stranded in airports all over the country.
Although the seven year old company was faced with a devastating loss of respect and reliability from its customers, David Neeleman, the CEO of the company, became the hero and outstanding leader he signed up to be. However, courtesy was something JetBlue always strived to uphold. An apology e-mail was sent to each member of the JetBlue True Blue Points Program and recent passengers. When the company was first established it was branded as affordable yet stylish, and now in the wake of a weather disaster, the company was faced to re-brand itself. It has done so by developing a JetBlue customers’ Bill of Rights and also awarded many of the affected passengers with JetBlue credit for future flights.

Posted by: Victoria Nunez

With massive amounts of corporate ties and links to companies that are currently supporting the new release of the third Spiderman movie, Spiderman 3 promises to make box-office success. The marketing campaign for the film includes big name sponsors like Sony, Slurpee, 7-Eleven, Comcast, Starz, and Hasboro just to name a few.
The Tribeca Film Festival will also be sponsoring a myriad of events to raise the buzz of “one of the biggest film franchises of all time.” The marketing heads of Tribeca “insist that this marketing effort isn’t just about promotion — it’s about being a part of New York.”
So will all of these marketing ploys prove to be worth the time, effort, and money? Spiderman 3 opens May 4th, so only time will tell.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film/features/e3if48e249f7c846ef9e7b6cda8f0ce5c1c
http://www.icv2.com/articles/home/10345.html

-emily king

Yes. Cartel will be putting themselves into a giant bubble as part of a marketing effort with Dr.Pepper. They will have 20 days to record their new album in this bubble. Everything will be recorded, including shower scenes, and they will be on Pier 57 in NYC. Think I’m kidding? Proof! AND, lucky lucky you, because fans will be able to watch 24/7 at http://www.drpepperbubble.com/

-Holly

Heinz Ketchup in an attempt to ride the online video craze has begun a new campaign -the “Top This! TV Challenge”- where consumers will be given the opportunity to create there own commercials for the product and enter them into a competition where they can possibly win $57,000 and have their spot aired for the “back-to-school” season.

This is an example of the company trying to establish a more personal relationship with their consumers. A similar strategy was used by Frito-Lay ‘s Doritos with the winning submission being aired during the Super Bowl; a feat that not only raised the brand awareness but figured into a 12% sales gain for Doritos for that month..
Heinz Ketchup is accepting submissions at TopThisTV.com now through August. The winning commercial will be selected by site visitors who can view and vote for their favorite commercials.

Beyond interactivity, this campaign is beneficial for Heinz because of its cost-effectiveness. In essence, they will have a widely popular commercial that costs them nothing in terms of creative costs.
Heinz will advertise the competition via its “Talking Labels” strategy that was put into place three years ago and has since become a trademark of the brand. Labels will say things such as “Hungry for Fame?” or “Starving for the Spotlight?” and then direct the consumer to the website for more information.

Avril Lavigne is partnering with Stardoll, “an avatar-based web community for teen and tween girls”. Avril will be the first musical act to have an official artist page on the site and her page will contain streaming tracks, tour dates, and a digital store to purchase her merchandise. Posters, hoodies, bags, tank tops, pins, and caps will be made available for purchase through the site.

Stardoll is currently trying to promote music partnerships. Their site already features avatars of artists such as Danity Kane, 50 Cent and Ashlee Simpson.

(Info. courtesy of Billboard.Biz 4/23/07, “Lavigne Links with Stardoll”, Brian Garrity)

Laura Schwartz

In a recent study done by Echelon Marketing Group, it was concluded that those marketing luxury goods are not very effective at reaching their target audience. Don Neal, President of Echelon, believes that luxury marketers do not consider statistical data often enough. Neal also believes that in addition to ignoring the four standard categories of data—demographic, geographic, behavioral and attitudinal—they also ignore a fifth category, which he calls, but does not elaborate on, econographic. Neal believes that luxury marketers act on intuition as opposed to statistical analysis.

According to the study, luxury marketers realize the increasing need for one to one marketing but less than half of the respondents actually do so. While the marketing departments of luxury goods firms tend to be proficient at building a brand image, Neal believes they are lacking when it comes to focused consumer messaging.

The study found email to be the least effective form of marketing to luxury audiences, especially when attempting to cultivate a brand image. “More effective methods, Neal said, include direct mail, catalogs, telephone calls and special events that involve the consumers. When invitations are sent to a select group to test drive cars during a special event, research shows six out of 10 of them wind up buying a car,”

Posted by: Anthony Coccerino

Article Found Here: Luxury Survey Reveals Marketing Gaps

MusicHawk is a new social network for music fans, complete with profiles, messaging, band search and music players. Similar to Facebook, MusicHawk contains a tracking function, displaying your friends’ favorite bands, and allowing you to view any new connections they’ve made within the network.

MusicHawk’s standout quality, however, is its “My Tours” section, which allows bands or fans to add/delete all upcoming events regarding the band. Bands can manage their own pages, or fans can submit a band profile for review.

The only problem with MusicHawk, however, is its simple lack of content. The layout is very easy to navigate, reminiscent of PureVolume and MOG, but there is a definite lack of audio. You can, however, add Myspace Music players, Myspace slideshows, and other widgets that make the site enjoyable.

Harley

Uniqlo is a Japanese clothing company and retailer that specializes in a hip, casual, street savvy wear. As a brand, Uniqlo serves as a younger, more exciting, and more affordable version of GAP. The clothing is well made and understated; it’s simple and elegant, without the pretentiousness of competitors like American Apparel.

With the opening of the Uniqlo flagship store in New York City’s SoHo, Uniqlo has employed an interesting advertising technique: using local painters, photographers, designers, musicians, executives and actors that, in their own way, embody the “New York feel.” Uniqlo ads have featured everyone from downtown fashion photographer Terry Richardson, to Brooklyn-born basketball sensation Sebastian Telfair. To promote their spring line, however, Uniqlo brought in Harlem native, and Diplomat Records Underboss, Juelz Santana. Since the release of his last album Juelz Santana has gained notoriety not only as a fashion-forward, coke peddling young Capo, but also as a young, flashy, New York-hipster favorite with a wild sense of humor. The collaboration with Uniqlo helps both parties stay close to New York’s current vibe; the ads, featured throughout the store and New York City, highlight Juelz’s boastful tendancy to wear bright colors, baggy jeans, and a matching bandana.

(Sorry guys, there’s no pics of the collabo on the internet yet)

Harley

Cracker Barrel and upcoming country star Josh Tunrer have joined forces in a partnership that includes tour sponsorship for Turner’s upcoming tour and an exclusive CD which will be recorded at one of Turner’s upcoming shows. (April 19th the whole show will be recorded in Nashville.  Here is a following quote from Tuner’s take on the branding venture:

“I’m excited to be taking Cracker Barrel on the raod this year…The band and I never get tired of seeing a Cracker Barrel sign off the side of the interstate…it’s nice to know that you can pull into any Cracker Barrel and feel like you’re in your mama’s kitchen,waiting on your favorite meal.” (mi2n.com)

Either Turner really likes Cracker Barrel or this is a weak attempt at making the venture seem earnest. Keep in mind this quote was taken from the Cracker Barrel Press Release.  I’m sure the venture will work well as I assume that  Cracker Barrel and Turner have very similar target audiences.

-Taylor

Avon’s just announced that Jennifer Hudson will be the spokeswoman for their fragrance Imari as well as Imari Seduction, which is launching in August. “It’s exciting to be representing the Imari brand, which really embodies confidence and femininity,” Hudson said in a statement. The star will appear in print ads and in the Avon catalogue promoting the perfume; hopefully, no python bolero jackets will be harmed in the making of this campaign.

offtherack.people.com

-EMILY KING

Beginning in late 2005, Cingular began airing an ad that many noticed a familiar voice in. As familiar as that voice was to some, it began a whole new era in fame for Cat Power, a Matador records signee since the mid-90s who achieved a much greater deal of notoriety after this point. In early 2006, Cat Power, birth name Chan Marshall, released her biggest album yet, “The Greatest”, and gained more mainstream popularity, due in part to teaming up with an all-new band, but also to the success of the ad, which still airs to this day, or at least the last time I had a television. Performing a cover of The Nerves’ “Hanging On The Telephone”, Marshall gave the exclusive rights of this cover to Cingular frustrating some people who were unable to obtain the song on a CD or even mp3 format, since they only used it for the commercial.

Marshall has gone from playing smaller venues in New York such as Mercury Lounge in early 2005, to larger venues such as Irving Plaza in late 2006 and Hiro Ballroom in early 2007, selling out all shows at higher prices. Marshall’s success has skyrocketed in the past year or so and her crossbranding with Cingular was definitely important, if not essential, to that happening.

Posted by Erik Sutch.

The multi-talented artist Akon and Verizon Wireless are partnering together on a new marketing campaign to promote “Verizon Wireless’ V CAST services and mobile music capabilities on Verizon Wireless handsets.”

The campaign will feature an exclusive new track from Akon, titled “Easy Road” that will only be available to V CAST mobile customers. Customers will have the opportunity to purchase the full length track, as well as a ringback tone and mastertone version of the song. Music and artwork from Akon’s platinum-selling album Konvicted will also be featured in Verizon Wireless stores around the United States, as well as coming already downloaded at purchase of Verizon Wireless handsets.

Recently, Akon participated in a special Verizon Wireless event celebrating Black History month and coinciding with the launch of a new Verizon Wireless store in Harlem, New York. The event included a private performance by for Verizon Wireless customers.
www.Akononline.com.

Kelly Clarkson has signed on with NASCAR for the 2007 racing season. Her first appearance since partnering with the brand took place during the Nextel “Tribute to America” concert that aired just prior to the Daytona 500. The deal includes taking part in charity events, television commercials, and attending other NASCAR events, such as races and dinners. She is also going to be the official spokeswoman for NASCAR day. Past NASCAR collaborators include Jewel, Sheryl Crow, LeAnn rimes, and Lenny Kravitz. The partnership also allows Clarkson to promote her very own edition of Vitamin Water.

By: Tracey Cole

In GAP’s latest attempt to make positive statements through their ad campaigns, there was a short reprieve from the ___(RED) commercials, featuring the likes of Mary J. Blige and Don Cheadle, and the company returned to its khaki-colored roots ignoring the classic colors of the holiday season. The all-beige, upbeat commercials this time pushed hip hop star, Common, to the forefront and were propelled by his groove-toned rap about the spirit of the holiday: “We gonna give it to the world peace, love, and Gap.” Is the outspokenly conscious rapper selling out to the commercialized world of present-day hip hop? Maybe not if the message is peace and love.

Posted by: Rebecca Krouse

To promote its new line of Air Force 25 sneakers Nike hired rapper Juelz Santana to create an original song for a commercial featuring Lebron James, Steve Nash, Kobe Bryant, Jermaine O’neal, and Shawn Marion among others. In January Juelz, and Kobe Bryant, appeared at Niketown in New York city to celebrate the campaign, and to speak to area high schoolers

The Fratellis are the latest band to sign up for Apple ipod’s campaign with dancing silhouettes. This three piece band from Glasgow released their debut album, Costello Music, in March 2007. After a lot of radio play in the U.K. and attention from Rolling Stone, the band was still underground. The Fratellis finally blew up in the states because the infectious dance-rock song “Flathead” was played in the ipod commercial.
-les

http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2007/04/24/2542557.htm
Virgin Mobile is tracking what people use their phone for and then promoting their plans and offers to each individual person accordingly, catering to their needs.

by Andrew Keller

Latin reggaeton artist Daddy Yankee, best known for his song that spawned a thousand ringtones, “Gasonlia,” has inked a deal with Reebok to expand his line of DY sneakers.  Fans will now be able to customize their own pairs of the Reebok DY sneaker from the RBKcustom website.  His followers, many of whom are already immersed in sneaker culture, can now have something that ties together both their love for the shoe and apparel company, and for the performer.

source:  Billboard.biz

After a much talked about dispute with the makers of Cristal, Jay-Z has signed on to endorse Armand De Brignac’s rival brand, Ace of Spades. Having already made an appearance in Jay-Z’s video for “Show Me What You Got,” the company is ready to welcome the hip-hop community with open arms.

Armand de Brignac president/CEO Brett Berish has said about Jay-Z’s involvement:
“Jay-Z has always demonstrated the highest standards and finest taste, and we’re honored to see Armand make an appearance in Show Me What You Got. Armand’s unmatched taste and package are a perfect fit for the video.”

Jay-Z is no stranger to endorsement deals, having put his name on three other products this year alone, including Cherry Coke.

With this deal, the “gold bottles,” an import and very hard to find in the U.S, have become high in demand. Shipped only in limited quantities, the champagne will begin distributing to the U.S. sometime this year.

Jay-Z has not only endorsed the champagne in his videos, but also recently at Pharrell’s 34th birthday party.

www.sohh.com
www.angryape.com

Posted by: Madison Farmer

Honda Civic will be going on tour this summer with emo darlings Fall Out Boy (among other artists).  The purpose of the tour is to promote enviromental consciousness among today’s youth.  The tour will be held at outdoor venues across the US and one lucky fan will have the chance to win a Honda Civic personalized by Fall Out Boy. The tour will wrap up in the Honda Center (duh) in Anaheim, CA. The official site is here.

By: Holly Shawhan

A new type of marketing is on the way – and it’s right under your nose.

“Scent marketing” is a new subgenre of “sensory branding” that uses smell to attract consumers. One of the first companies to make headlines using the tactic is Omni luxury hotels.

“Did you know that the Omni hotels are perfumed with a mix of green tea and lemongrass? Scent marketing is a growing trend in advertising. Studies have shown that a scented environment leads consumers to stay longer and spend more,” according to About.com Marketing guru Laura Lake.

The scent has been the official smell of Omni hotels since late 2005.

Furthermore, Omni luxury hotel patrons will find small, scented stickers on the front page of their free copies of USA Today. “A blackberry aroma will suggest that the guests start the day at their hotels with a cup of Starbucks coffee ‘paired with a fresh muffin.’ The promotion, to be tested for at least six months, is being sponsored by Omni Hotels and Starbucks Coffee,” according to The New York Times.

More on scent marketing: Leading Consumers By The Nose

Website: OmniHotels.com

Posted by Andrew Nusca 

Punk rock pioneer Joan Jett recently lent her music and face to television show “American Chopper” for The Learning Channel.

Hyping the show’s change in station, Jett is depicted jamming to “Bad Reputation” with her bandmates as “Chopper” stars Paul Sr., Paul Jr. and Mikey Teutul whiz by on motorcycles.

The commercial first aired January 14, 2007 and is intended to help “American Chopper” preserve its viewers while simultaneously promoting Jett’s new album, Sinner, on Blackheart Records.

Commercial: “Bad Reputation”
Website: www.joanjett.com

Posted by Andrew Nusca

  In order to kick off a new campaign which will allow consumers to enter a Pepsi can designing contest, Pepsi is teaming with the All-American Rejects, Big & Rich and Pharrell Williams.  The  artists will all  design their own Pepsi can which will include a website full of exclusive content by the artist.  The venture between Pepsi and the various artists is part of Pepsi’s larger designourpepsican.com campaign.  Pepsi fans will have a chance to design a new Pepsi can.  The winner will take home $10,000 and be featured on 500 million Pepsi cans.

Photo Courtesy Of: Billboard.com

http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_display/industry/e3i7fff6ef213d54ce5eecd26f5e7e04e27

Posted By: Anthony Coccerino

LONDON Thursday 15th March, 2007 – “Microsoft today announced an exclusive collaboration with RobbieWilliams.com to bring music videos and extra exciting content to the Xbox 360™ videogame and entertainment system. From today, fans will be able to download videos of ‘A Place To Crash’, ‘Lovelight’, and his latest single ‘She’s Madonna’ through the award winning Xbox Live® online service.”

Xbox 360 owners, across Europe and Asia, will have the opportunity to download premium Robbie Williams music video content from Xbox Live Marketplace to their consoles. Downloads of high definition music videos will be available for 280 Microsoft Points, standard definition music videos for 230, and Robbie Williams themes (including 4 pictures) for 150 Microsoft Points.

Microsoft points are the easiest way to pay and play and can be purchased at hundreds of retail stores across Europe and Asia, or via Xbox Live Marketplace with a credit card. They can be used to buy tons of extra gaming and entertainment content for Xbox 360, as well as these great music videos.

Furthermore, RobbieWilliams.com in association with Xbox, will be running competitions to give away five Xbox 360 consoles and stacks of games, so watch this space. For more details visit www.robbiewilliams.com

Robbie Williams added, “I love playing Xbox at home and on the road, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2006 kept me company through the tour!”

http://news.teamxbox.com/xbox/13012/Robbie-Williams-Goes-Live-on-Xbox-360/

While music stars teaming up with video games is definitely nothing new, this merger of music and gaming is an interesting approach. Now your gaming console becomes a music player and helps promote Williams . After considering the branding strategies of artists such as Mariah Carey and KISS, it makes me wonder how this partnership is strengthening Robbie Williams already very strong image (well, at least it’s strong in Europe?). Of course it’s giving him a new outlet for distribution, which maybe at this time is what artists need to be focusing on in all partnerships…

Laura Schwartz

NEW YORK, Jan 31, 2007 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — Sheryl Crow, one of the music industry’s biggest stars, and the newest member of the Revlon family, will celebrate the nationwide launch of Revlon Colorist today.

Revlon Colorist is the first-to-market haircolor system that uniquely delivers one of the most sought-after features in home haircolor: fade resistant color. Revlon Colorist provides a great base of rich, radiant all over color that stays refreshed and shining for up to six weeks with an easy 2-minute application of Colorglaze once a week in place of regular conditioner. Each kit comes with salon-quality, permanent haircolor plus a shade-matched Colorglaze. The line is available in 26 vibrant shades.

The product will be supported by a multi-media campaign that will include television, print, in-store and internet placements featuring Crow’s original version of the Buddy Holly hit “Not Fade Away.” The campaign was shot by famed photographer Ellen Von Unworth in Nashville and New York.

“We are thrilled to launch this revolutionary product with Sheryl Crow as our spokesperson,” says Debra Dowd, Vice President of marketing for Revlon’s hair business. “The ‘Not Fade Away’ message stays true to our product as well as to Sheryl’s determination and commitment to women’s issues.”

In addition to her role as spokesperson for Revlon Colorist, Crow will serve on the advisory board of The Revlon/UCLA Women’s Cancer Research Program’s national clinical network of oncologists. The network provides patients throughout the country with access to cutting edge clinical trials without having to travel away from homes and families to comprehensive cancer centers for treatment. As an advisory board member she will help identify network sites in underserved communities around the nation. Crow will also act as an ambassador for the Revlon supported National Breast Cancer Coalition (NBCC), the largest grass-roots organization for breast cancer policy and advocacy, to help pass legislation for uninsured and underinsured women across the country. She will be guest of honor and participate in the Revlon Run/Walk in both New York and Los Angeles in which tens of thousands of breast cancer survivors and others touched by the disease participate raising money to support education and research programs.

“We are very excited to have someone of Sheryl’s great beauty, both inner and outward, as the new spokesperson for our company,” says Revlon CEO David Kennedy. “Sheryl will not only be a terrific partner in our business but she will be invaluable to us in supporting our various initiatives in women’s cancer research and treatment. I think together we can truly make a difference.”

“I’m happy to be part of the Revlon family and to be associated with a company that — through their various initiatives — has and continues to support breast cancer research and women’s issues.” – Sheryl Crow.

(http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/sheryl-crow-launches-new-revlon/story.aspx?guid=%7B8867B1B4%2D504B%2D47C9%2D9568%2D0B17D4E515B8%7D&sid=16288&symb=)

By partnering with a company that is a large supporter of the same issues she is passionate about (breast cancer research, women’s issues), Sheryl Crow is managing to strengthen her brand image. By working with such a high visibility brand, Crow will also benefit from increased exposure at a time in her career when she most needs it – she has been out of the music spotlight for quite a while and this Revlon campaign could greatly help her with her comeback.

Laura Schwartz

http://2ksports.com/games/mlb2k7/hitandrun/

Minneapois indie rock band Tapes ‘N Tapes has agreed to lead the 2K Sports Hit-n-Run Tour. The tour is a promotional effort for 2K Sports’ video games, specifically Major League Baseball 2K7. The tour will start as a video game tournament and will then lead into a 25-date, 6-week tour headlined by Tapes ‘N Tapes. In addition, the band’s music is featured in the game’s soundtrack. In discussing the deal, 2K Sports’ Director of Brand and Lifestyle Marketing, Tim Rosa said, “Their live performance is explosive… They kill it on every song, so we’re excited to have them represent the 2K Sports brand.” Tapes ‘n Tapes’ vocalist, Josh Grier described the pairing saying, “Three-fourths of Tapes ‘n Tapes love to play video games, and all of us are baseball fans, so it seemed like a good fit for us to have ‘Insistor’ on the soundtrack for Major League Baseball 2K7.” This co-branding effort is evidence of a growing trend in the bonding of the music business and the video game industry that is proving to be very lucrative for both sides.

By Adam Alperowicz

Read more »

By Andrew Keller

Crush Management, the company whose roster boasts most of Warped Tour goers’ favorite artists (Fall Out Boy, Panic! at the Disco, Gym Class Heroes, Cobra Starship) have struck a deal with One Music.  One Music, which has created campaigns for clients such as Diesel, Marc Jacobs, and The New York Times, will now have exclusive rights to represent bands managed by Crush to develop new opportunities in the worlds of media, fashion, or other branding possibilities.

Source: Billboard.com

Hilary Duff is a downloadable character in EA Games’ “The Sims 2 Pets” PC game. Hilary Duff will be a customizable and playable character, controllable like any other “Sims.” These customizable functions will include “changing her clothes, makeup and hairstyle to building and decorating her home-even defining her dreams and establishing her social life, by throwing parties, making friends, flirting and creating a family.” In the PC expansion pack, she will be able to interact with her dog Lola, playing fetch, and even acquire new pets to train, play, and “love as her own,” such as a cat, dog, bird, or hamster. In addition, there are console versions of the game for Playstation 2, Nintendo Gamecube, and Nintendo DS, in which Duff and Lola interact differently.

By Matt Hayon

Source

H&M the international retail giant and their head of design Margareta van den Bosch have teamed up with Madonna to create a line of clothing and accessories that arrived around the world in March 2007 in all stores carrying the women’s wear collection. This dream collaboration of music and fashion between these two giants began last spring when H&M supplied a complete line of off-stage clothing for Madonna’s entire touring troupe including band, dancers, crew members and the Material girl herself. Madonna and H&M’s first collaboration at that time was a specially designed Madonna track suit which was sold at H&M stores world wide. The ‘M by Madonna’ fashion line reflects Madonna’s timeless, unique and always glamorous style.
Madonna, the multi-Grammy winning singer, video visionary, children’s book author, human rights activist and cultural phenomenon just completed the most successful concert tour of any female artist in music history. Her most recent cd Confessions On A Dance Floor debuted at No. 1 in 29 countries.

Posted by Victoria Nunez

The iPod is the world’s best selling portable music player with 100 million iPods sold. U2 has sold around 170 million records worldwide. When you pair these two superpowers, what do you get?

Apple Computer and U2 have teamed up to deliver a special edition of Apple’s 30 GB ipod. The U2 version is black with a red click wheel and possesses the signatures of all 4 band members on the black metal back. The regular white version of the iPod with the same amount of storage costs $249. The Special Edition is priced at $279.

The U2 iPod also comes with an exclusive iTunes store coupon that can be redeemed for a 30-minute video of music and band interviews.

- Rob Inadomi

LONDON – Samsung Electronics is collaborating with singer Beyonce Knowles to promote its Ultra Music phone model.

Knowles will appear in a series of European TV ads for the brand.

Samsung’s Ultra Music TV commercial will air in April in Europe and gradually expand to other countries where the Ultra Music Samsung model is available. The phone will come with Knowles’ hit ‘Irreplaceable’ pre-loaded on the handset.

Geesung Choi, president of Samsung Electronics’ Telecommunications Business, said: “We are thrilled to be working with Beyonce because we have a lot in common – we both have a strong passion for music, video and entertainment and we are considered icons in our respective industries. We both aspire to deliver seamless satisfaction and bring music to life.”

 source

Read more »

Groupie Tunes allows artists unsigned or otherwise to sell their music as ringtones. The company, established in 2004, hopes to be the premier service for independent artists in regards to the mobile realm. Artists create an account with Groupie Tunes at no cost and then pay per upload for their music content. Fans can then search for the artist on Groupie Tunes’ website and select any 30 seconds they wish to be their ringtone. When a fan buys a ringtone it is charged directly to their mobile account. Groupie Tunes offers other services such as selling artists’ wallpapers and mp3s. Artists can create a profile within Groupie Tunes with a significant amount of content such as blog posts, links, photos, biography, show dates and more.

-Taylor

-Posted By: Holly Shawhan

Pro Tools is a digital audio workstation which integrates hardware and software. It is widely used by professionals in music production, post production, TV and film scoring. As one of the first programs to provide CD-quality (16 bit and 44.1 kHz) multitrack digital audio editing on a personal computer, Pro Tools quickly grew in the sound recording field. It originally became popular because of its simple, streamlined interface for non-linear, non-destructive editing. This appealed to analog producers making the switch to computer-based digital audio production. In 2006, Avid acquired Sibelius music notation software company. Pro Tools 7.3 supports exporting to Sibelius.

Founded in 2000 by Glassjaw front man Justin Beck, Merchdirect aims to take advantage of the music industry’s rapidly shifting model. Prior to merchdirect, most artists could only offer t-shirts, sweatshirts, hats, posters, and pins to their fans. Merchdirect understands that fans might not necessarily buy CDs anymore, but they will buy various articles of merchandise. Now, fans can get underwear, patches, wristbands, picks, jewelery, socks, and more thanks to merchdirect. They aren’t a middleman company…all work is done in-house and can be ordered quickly and easily online. Within 7 years, they’ve become the go-to merchandising company for touring bands and artists looking to take advantage of the music industry’s new model.

/by james del

Yet another way to find information about upcoming events, concerts, appearances and tours (in addition to a plethora of non-music events), Eventful may, at first glance seem to lack something in the way of differentiation. Why use Eventful as opposed to Ticketmaster, venue listings, or bands’ websites? The answer is simple: DEMAND! The demand feature allows users to request shows from the bands they want to see. At the same time, and perhaps more importantly, it allows bands to see what type of hype and popularity they’re generating and to find out where those fan bases are located. Now, it is common to see a band post a link to Eventful from their Myspace page, encouraging their fans to sign up for an Eventful profile and demand the very best music.

Posted by: Rebecca Krouse

Voxonic is a voice translation company, which has developed software capable of replicating voices into different languages. Voxonic operates by taking 15 minute samples of a persons speech patterns, and approximating how that person would speak in a foreign language. Amongst Voxonic clients is the newly reformed Rawkus records, who have inked a deal with Voxonic to translate Rawkus’s artists Kidz in the Hall’s music into foreign languages. Although it remains to be seen how successful music translated using Voxonic software becomes worldwide, it is an innovative and cutting edge product capable of making an impact in the music industry.

by Tracey Cole

Tunecore, started by Jeff Price (owner of Spin Art Records), is a relatively new service that makes it easy for artists and bands to make their music available for download in various online stores. A one-time fee is charged for the music to be delivered to any number of stores, and there is a subsequent small annual maintenance fee. Tunecore does not keep any of the profit made from download sales, and it does not even demand exclusive right to the delivery of the music. This is a simple, cost effective way to put music online. In addition to this service, Tunecore makes it possible for bands to design and order merchandise such as shirts, posters, and stickers, and has also come up with a way for bands to order the manufacturing of physical CDs and DVDs through their website. Customer service is extremely important to the company and it offers detailed descriptions of all online music stores that it deals with, as well as assistance with file uploads and registering for SoundScan participation.

Gigmasters. Com was created in 1997 as a “ones stop shop” for budding musical acts, providing a myriad of services to aid the artists/bands build a fan base by connecting them with persons searching for talent for live performances. In total, the company performs the role of booking agent, music promoter, and talent agent for the musicians. With a price ranging from $179 to $249/year, this service provides artists with essential services for boosting their brand awareness at an economic price. Included in this price are press kit creation, booking services, and daily personalized site traffic reports.
The company maintains a database of thousands of performers in the US & Canada. Each act is listed on their website alongside detailed information such as location, travel radius, genre, length of career, pay-range, and audio/visual performance samples. To aid those in search of talent, the artists all receive ratings based upon their number of past bookings and client feedback.
The service is very user-friendly, operating much like a dating web-site. Potential clients enter search criteria and the website recommends the top acts based upon these parameters. Clients also have the option of manual searching through artist listings.

The site prides itself on its motto:
3 easy steps: search, contact, book.

The site boasts a secured online booking system.
Ensured through Verisign, Trust-e, ScanAlert Hacker Safe, and BBB online security measures. Also, clients can book acts online using Visa, Master Card, American Express, Discover, and PayPal. www.gigmasters.com

Posted by José Torres

indie911 is a leading online media and social network providing tools and resources for thousands of musicians, filmmakers and consumers to sell, stream or share any content (music, videos, films, or photos) anywhere online – including websites, blogs and social networks – to an ever expanding network of users.   Justin Goldberg, founder and CEO, has evolved indie911into one of the most popular independent music destinations on the Internet, featuring over 12,000 artists and labels, over 75,000 song and film titles, over 100,000 members, and nearly four million monthly page views.  Indie911 provides original programming, artist services programs, and a social network for artists to interact directly with their audiences and find new avenues of exposure and revenue.

Hoooka: where open minds connect

The hoooka is a free, portable digital locker powered by indie911 that allows users to share, promote, sell and play their personal media favorites, via the Web. The hoooka combines the community and networking aspects of MySpace with the digital sale opportunities and exposure of iTunes.  Anyone, from artists to fans, can easily create a hoooka and post it anywhere – blogs, social networking pages or Web sites – and instantly become their own mobile media store.

Why artists would benefit from using indie911?

• The hoooka is an easy way for artists labels and filmmakers to distribute and sell their content online to fans everywhere
• the hoooka provides value to artists by becoming a tool in which fans can use to become a retail partner
• Artists that own the rights receive 80% of the revenue made for any song or video sold through a hookah. This is 15% higher than the typical 65% that indie911 competitors offer.
• The Indie Newswire Service – sends press releases to thousands of individual editors and journalists the minute that it’s sent over our wire, giving writers real-time access to the full-text of your announcement.                                                        Thandiwe Myke
  

GarageBand is an online music community. Independent bands sign up, post information about themselves, upload MP3′s and promote upcoming shows. Listeners can rate songs and review music given to them at random (you just pick a genre or mix to listen to…) Incentives include a high reviewer rating and a chance to win $1000 dollars. Songs make the charts (not bands) and those hits are determined by listeners’ ratings (1-5 stars). Top songs get airplay on internet radio and podcasts, bands make new fans and stand a chance at getting signed. Listeners can browse charts by genre, best song in a category (best guitars, best dance track, stupidest song I’ve ever heard, coolest chill-out track, etc) and by major cities and also search for bands that sound like X or were influenced by X. You can buy CD’s through CD Baby on the GarageBand site and find gigs in your area.
-les

 Amie Street, is a Music download service with an purchasing algorithm built into the core. Artists can upload their music to Amie street, and their songs are initially free, until there is a certain amount of demand for that song, the price begins to go up (with the highest price being $ .98) Lastly buyers are given the power to make Recs (as in recommendations) with each dollar they spend they can make one rec to a friend. Amie street then pays you based on how well your recs do with friends. This is a great way for new artists to get their songs out, and judging by the price one can tell how well the songs are doing, and on the fun side, a listener can make back some of the money that he/she spends on buying the music!
-Fra’ Celenza

Outer Sound provides musicians, fans and industry people with the “highest quality and most thorough independent music source on the Web.” With features such as Outer Sound University, a collection of articles that offer how-to advice from copyrighting songs to repairing amps, DIY Center, a database of detailed technical listings for over 400 recording studios and a bookstore that offers over 100 music and music business titles, and Demo Universe, a source of coverage of the underground home recording scene, the independent musician can learn about almost every aspect of the industry. Outer Sound brings its users the highest level of editorial content as well, providing links and reviews of artists in its community. With over 3,000 pages of material, Outer Sound truly offers something for everyone.

www.outersound.com

- Madison Farmer

Rhapsody.com is an online music service run by RealNetworks. Launched in December 2001, Rhapsody was the first music service to offer streaming on-demand access to nearly its entire library of digital music. It offers options of choosing to subscribe to a free version that is ad supported as well as priced subscription options as well. Rhapsody provides two different services including Rhapsody.com as a streaming service and the Rhapsody Jukebox player. It has browsing features that allow you to search by artist, album, track, composer, video or special links to artist influences, contemporaries, related projects, or multiple genre hierarchies.

by EMILY KING

by Andrew Keller

Only recently opened up to the public from it’s previous Invite Only Beta stage, Virb is a new site created by Unborn Media, the “same folks who made PureVolume.com.” Virb takes the clean user interface of the already established music-streaming site to create an entire social network based around music and entertainment. Far more aesthetically pleasing than MySpace, the site allows users completely customize their entire page from the design scheme to the “interests” they write about (don’t want to list your favorite movies? Create a section to list your favorite places to travel). More importantly, while MySpace allows users to have one profile song, Virb allows its users to have an entire playlist on their page. Users can click the “Add” button next to any song on any artist’s page, and add the song to their playlist, as well as get the option to recommend that song to any or all of their friends. As a creative hub, Virb will also showcase photographers, up-and-coming fashion designers, and young filmmakers, allowing them the ability to stream high-quality widescreen video.

www.virb.com

Beginning as Audioscrobbler, a computer science program by a college student in 2002, last.fm has quickly sprung to the forefront of digital music logging for millions of listeners who install the plug-in to their computer and allow the world in to see what they are listening to via a live feed. This digital database of songs catalogues what each individual who signs up is currently listening to and also charts the songs/artists into weekly, monthly, and all-time most played tracks. In the age of increasing sales of MP3s and decreasing sales of CD-singles, last.fm is an amazing place for record companies to look to find out who is listening to what; as well as when and where they are listening to it. At this rate, last.fm looks to be an unknowingly competitor to Soundscan, which record companies currently look to for information on who listens to what. Artists can also log in to last.fm to show the world what they are listening to, which gives fans a taste of their influences. Seeing a reliable source listening to a certain artists will make listeners more inclined to listen to said artist. Last.fm also gives recommendations based on most-played artists that helps expose listeners to lesser heard artists they may enjoy. Last.fm is the future of internet audio logging.

-Erik Sutch.

Pandora’s one mission is to help people discover new music they’ll love.

For almost seven years Pandora has been hard at work on the Music Genome Project. It’s the most comprehensive analysis of music ever undertaken. Together their team of fifty musician-analysts have been listening to music, one song at a time, studying and collecting literally hundreds of musical details on every song.

Pandora has now created an interface to make this available to music lovers so they could use this musical ‘connective-tissue’ to discover new music based on songs or artists they already know.

Pandora™ is the doorway to this vast trove of musical information, and with Pandora you can explore by just dropping the name of one of your favorite songs or artists into Pandora and let the Genome Project go. It will quickly scan its entire world of analyzed music, almost a century of popular recordings both new and old, well known and completely obscure to find songs with interesting musical similarities to your choice.
You can create as many “stations” as you want, and you can even refine them.

The Music Genome Project was founded by musicians and music-lovers that believe in the value of music and have a profound respect for those who create it. The founders like all kinds of music, from the most obtuse bebop, to the most tripped-out drum and bass, to the simplest catchy pop tune. Their mission is to help listeners connect with the music they like.

Posted by Victoria Nunez

Ruckus is geared towards providing college students with “a sizeable collection of entertainment to satisfy any avid fan” (Ruckus.com). The website allows for college students, or anyone with a dot-edut e-mail address, to download music free of charge. It has been authorized by major record labels to provide this service Because Ruckus is a relatively new service, launched in 2006, it does not do much to benefit independent or up-and-coming artists. However, for artists who already have fan bases, Ruckus can work to help the artist an opportunity to enlargen its fanbase to college students.

http://www.ruckus.com

Brenae Leary

StudioTraxx is a company and service that functions as a “virtual marketplace” and allows artists to purchase and book time with musicians, engineers, producers and other music professional for online collaboration. The service was launched March 1 and costs no money to register a profile.

Through the StudioTraxx portal, music professional create “Musician-for-Hire” accounts that include a profile and resume, work samples, availability and projected hourly rates. Similarly, artists create accounts and music projects and may use the service to book time with specific contributors, e.g. a guitar lead, bass line, drums beat, background vocal, mastering, etc. All music is exchanged digitally through MP3, WAV and software-specific formats, and StudioTraxx claims a small fee for facilitating the collaboration – but does not claim ownership and rights to the material.

StudioTraxx was founded and developed by a web-savvy independent singer/songwriter, and is the flagship service of Digital Media Global, LLC, an “online digital media services company that provides online solutions to the music and film industries.”

www.studiotraxx.com 

Posted by Andrew Nusca

Magnatune is an intriguing distribution channel for independent artists to get their music into the hands of consumers. At its core, Magnatune acts as a record label/distributor for its “signed” artists. On the site, users can stream music by the artists for free—a sort of radio on demand service. If the user likes the music, they have the option to buy the tracks directly from the website in either compact disc or digital download form. What makes Magnatune a unique site is its dynamic pricing model. Going on the basic assumption that today’s music consumer hates “the man” but loves the artist, Magnatune allows its users to decide what price they want to pay for the album. (Note: this dynamic pricing model is for digital tracks only.) Magnatune suggests that customers pay $8 for the album, but will accept anything from $5 to $18. When you go to buy the album, the price you are choosing to pay is selected from a list of prices, with short commentary on most of the prices. For example, if you choose to pay $15, you are “VERY generous.” Magnatune essentially plays off people’s guilt. The average price people pay for the digital album is $8.93, almost a dollar more than the suggested price. Magnatune splits the album sale 50/50 with the artist, making the site a very artist friendly place to distribute one’s music.

Posted by Anthony Coccerino

Photo courtesy of magnatune.com

http://www.rumblefish.com

Rumblefish is a music licensing service that acts as an intermediary between musicians and companies, TV shows, and movies, looking to license music for their ads, websites, shows, and films. The service is open to any artist who meets the company’s internal quality review and owns the rights to their masters and publishing. Rumblefish hosts the artists’ music on their site where potential clients can browse by keywords, genres, moods, and musical characteristics. The company also provides branding services for member artists and helps them grow their brand. Rumblefish makes the licensing process easy for artists and negotiates the contracts on their behalf, in exchange for a percentage of the profits. The service is forward thinking and helpful for artists in an age when licensing music is a key form of income for many in the music business.

-Adam Alperowicz

www.IndabaMusic.com

Indaba music is a new networking tool for musicians, producers, and mixers. The site acts as an online collaboration platform and community!

“Indaba Music was created on the principle that musicians, music professionals, and listeners should not be bounded by geography, that creativity can flow digitally, and that a community-driven application can create unique collaborative experiences which otherwise would not exist. Using Indaba Music, an aspiring singer in L.A. can find a guitarist in Seattle to record a track for a new song, the same singer can pay to have her album mixed and mastered by a professional engineer in Tokyo; a rapper in Miami can find a New York producer to make a beat, and a DJ in Sweden can remix their collaboration just for fun.” (www.myspace.com/indabamusic)
Using the website, producers and musicians can post past work in hopes of finding new partners to collaborate with. Indaba allows you to create sessions with members of your choice so that musicians and producers anywhere in the world can swap files and work together on a track. Members may also communicate with one another or audition talent for their projects.

How can this help an artist to brand themselves?

Now location is no barrier to the music you create. With Indaba, an artist in middle-of-nowhere Idaho can compete with similar artists in areas more saturated with other musicians and producers. They can reach out to musicians and producers ANYWHERE – meaning they can find the best talent possible, regardless of location.  The site also functions as a social networking tool, helping musicians and producers alike meet new people to work with and network with. The people anyone meets on this site can help them further their career (and brand).

-Laura Schwartz

Cherry Coke’s Urban Makeover

In an attempt to create a hot new look and personality for Cherry Coke, Coca Cola partnered with Jay-Z and his lifestyle brand, Rocawear in February 2007. The first step to “hipifying” the new Cherry Coke was a redesigned packaging for the carbonated drink, featuring a silver cityscape, pink cherries, and bold lettering. The second step was launching the product during New York’s Fashion Week. The third step was creating a 30-second television commercial that debuted during an episode of American Idol. According to Katie Bayne, Senior Vice President of Coca Cola Brands, Coca Cola North America, the idea is to “fuse design, fashion and music” to create an energetic new look for Cherry Coke.

On the Rocawear website itself, it is clearly stated that, “Rocawear is not a brand, but a lifestyle, co-created by one of the greatest rappers of all time, Jay-Z.” Coca Cola’s co-branding with Rocawear is a real attempt to incorporate Cherry Coke into this hip hop lifestyle, characterized by Jay-Z’s empire of Rocawear. Interestingly enough, Cherry Coke previously underwent an “urban” packaging transformation in 1998, when packaging featured black and red graffiti font.

The question is whether the relationship between Rocawear, Jay-Z, and Cherry Coke is believable. Kenneth Hain, suggests in an article in BrandWeek, that while Coke represents “classic” and “original,” and truly holds a longstanding place in American culture, Rocawear represents the “new America.” He suggests that the co-branding strategy is mutually beneficial because of this. Hain also comments on how Jay-Z’s hip hop authenticity strengthens the co-branding venture, as opposed to McDonalds’ lame attempt of getting African Americans to rap about fries in their advertisement. It will be interesting to see if the American audience catches onto Cherry Coke’s new image.

- Jennifer Kohanim

www.rocawear.com
www.coca-cola.com

Launched at the last 2006 CMJ Music Festival, ReverbNation.com provides a Myspace-like online music community for artists, fans, venues, labels, and industry professionals. Thousands of independent artists have all ready joined, and larger acts—like Gnarls Barkley, Timbaland, and the Fratellis—have added themselves to the community.

ReverbNation prides itself in being an “artist-centric community.” The site includes a fan and email management system, “Fan Reach,” a tool that grabs the artists’ fans’ emails and organizes emails by age, gender, and location. An artist can therefore send more targeted emails and could, for instance, chose to send an email to only their college-aged female fans in Chicago. ReverbNation also provides the artist with charts and graphs, displaying the demographics of their ReverbNation fans.

Additionally, ReverbNation has created a “widget” strategy that allows users to send their ReverbNation information to other locations on the web, like Myspace. ReverbNation’s success is due to the site’s workability with other formats, especially with Myspace, the major force in the music community service industry. This way, artists can easily keep their Myspace pages and use ReverbNation as well for all its additional features.

In line with its artist-centric philosophy, ReverbNation announced on March 15, 2007, that it was teaming up with Campus Entertainment to offer the final four slots at the Verge College Music Festival (taking place in Boston, MA from April 19-21) to ReverbNation artists. “We are constantly on the look out for events that can have a real impact for our artists,” says Mike Doernberg, ReverbNation’s Chief Executive Officer. The musical festival is for a talent-buying college audience and will provide the ReverbNation artists with an opportunity to secure college campus shows across the country. Lou Plaia, VP of ReverbNation’s Artist Development, calls it a “fantastic way to build buzz.”

With a new and fresh interface, unique features, and a consistent emphasis and deliverance of their artist-focused service, ReverbNation is off to a successful start.  

-          Jennifer Kohanim

  http://www.reverbnation.com/

Sarah Jessica Parker To Star For Steve & Barry’s

March 19, 2007

By Barry Janoff

NEW YORK — She used to be the star of Sex and the City. Now, Sarah Jessica Parker will be featured in “dress in the city” when she launches her own clothing line.

Steve & Barry’s confirmed today that Parker has signed an exclusive deal with the company to sell a line called “Bitten,” scheduled to launch nationwide June 7.

The company does minimal advertising beyond print in local papers when a store is opening or a line is launching, with under $2 million spend in 2006, per TNS. Tracy Paul & Co., New York and Los Angeles, will handle PR, promotions and product placement. The tag for Parker’s collection will be “Fashion is not a luxury, it’s a right.”

This will be Steve & Barry’s first sub-line paring with a celebrity; last year, the company launched its first sub-line aligned with a pro athlete, the Starbury collection of sports wear and shoes with NBA player Stephon Marbury. This year, the Port Washington, N.Y.-based company also signed a deal with Hasbro for an apparel collection that will bring about a dozen toy and game properties to its stores beginning this spring.

The company, owned by Steve Shore and Barry Prevor, said Parker decided to align with them because of their philosophy of offering quality merchandise at the lowest possible prices. “Women should be able to wear great clothes and not lie in bed at night feeling guilty about how much money they’ve spent,” Parker said in a statement through the company.

Steve & Barry’s operates nearly 200 stores in 33 states and plans to open 100 more units in 2007, with all clothing and accessories at $20 or less. Most of the company’s stores are located in malls or near universities to target 15-25 year olds. Steve & Barry’s received tremendous word-of-mouth marketing when the Starbury line launched last August, in particular behind the $14.98 basketball shoes endorsed by Marbury (who claims to wear on court with the New York Knicks the same shoes available to the public).

The “Bitten” line will consist of some 500 clothing items and accessories, including knit shirts, wool and cashmere sweaters, dresses, lingerie, jeans, jewelry and footwear. Prices will range from $7.98 to $19.98. Parker’s filmography includes Mars Attacks, Ed Wood and Failure to Launch.

(http://www.brandweek.com/bw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003559794)

Laura Schwartz

Funny, crazy, freespirited?
Jack Black has enjoyed a career as an actor, continuously playing roles that fit his brand. Funny, crazy, silly roles that are always.. well funny crazy and silly. From “school of rock” to “nacho libre,” his chooses his roles well in that they always fit. Black has extended his brand down to musical act Tenacious D, and sure enough the lyrics and music genre both fit his brand seamlessly.

Woody guthrie (1912-1967) was an influential American folk musician. Throughout his prolific career Guthrie acted as a voice for the American working class. Guthrie’s music would inspire future generations of musicians, most notably Bob Dylan.

Descriptive words: Liberal, Patriotic, Honest

Evidence: Throughout his career Woody Guthrie wrote political songs without fearing reprisal from powerful conservatives. Guthrie gave a voice to the voiceless, and wrote songs documenting the lives of the poor during the great depression. Guthrie reinforced his authenticity by acting on his convictions and donating much of his earnings to various political causes and charities. Guthrie also contributed columns in both Daily Worker, and Peoples World newspapers, cementing his role as a voice for the disenfranchised. Guthries ability to stand behind his beliefs, as well as the prolific nature in which he created a musical legacy, made him an iconic figure.

Description: Classic, emotive, eloquent.

  Damien Rice lept onto the scene with his CD “O” which had two songs in the emotional movie “Closer”.  His lyrics are beautifully written and include dualing vocals between him and Lisa Hannigan. His songs are extremely emotional and deal with relationships (which it is rumored they are mostly about his and Lisa’s stormy love).  His music transcends specific genres and he has an ability to touch people of all ages and music tastes.

 www.damienrice.com/

By: Holly Shawhan

Three Descriptive Words  – Classic, Funky, Down-to-Earth

Description – Alicia Keys burst onto the music scene in 2001 with her hit “Fallin`.” Since she came on to the music industry, she has starred in the movie Smokin’ Aces, written several books and become heavily involved with Keep A Child Alive, a philanthropic organization devoted to HIV/AIDS in Africa. With the nine Grammys as proof of her talent and 11 Billboard Awards as proof of how much fans love her, it’s no wonder that Alicia Keys has become such a powerful name in the music industry.

source: http://www.alicia-keys.net

Brenae Leary

Descriptive Words: political, liberation, Rastafari

In 1997, at age 18, Siccature Alcock, better known as Jah Cure made his first real impact in the music industry with the single “King in this Jungle”. A member of the Bobo Dread sect of Rastafari, Jah Cure’s music integrates classic reggae instrumentals with contemporary reggae elements and lyrics centered around the liberation and justice that Bobo Dread strives for. In 1998, however, he was arrested near Montego Bay for the rape of a young woman. Always consistant with his plea of “not guilty”, Jah Cure will be eligible for parole in July of this year. Over the past decade, the singer has converted to Rasta and has been able to record a few new songs while in prison, including “Prison Walls,” the majority of which center around themes of freedom and belief in Jah. The new songs, in combination with old hits, have kept his name in the music scene, and the singer, through interviews and lyrics has kept a message of justice and righteousness for his ever-faithful audience who champion the phrase “Free Jah Cure!”

Posted by: Rebecca Krouse

Three Words: Eclectic, Versatile, Expressive

Jill Scott is a poet, singer, and songwriter whose vocal style lands her in the genre of Neo-Soul. With collaborations ranging from The Roots to Lupe Fiasco, Mos Def to Eric Benet, Scott has proved that her unique sound will always standout, regardless of who else is on the track. Never sounding contrived, Scott has the honed a talent that enables her to vividly express her feelings and emotions truthfully and nakedly through her music. Scott’s debut album, Who is Jill Scott, went on to sell over two million copies and was nominated for the 2001 Grammy for best R&B album. She also continues to write poetry and has released a book entitled, The Moments, The Minutes, The Hours in 2005.

http://www.jillscott.com/

Thandiwe Myke

HIM

metal, gothic, romantic
H(is).I(nfernal).M(ajesty). is a band from Finland that plays rock music with metal guitar riffs and wears a lot of black. In a deep voice, Ville Valo sings love songs with a morbid twist. The band released CD’s titled “Razorblade Romance” and “Love Metal” and it uses the heartagram as its logo- a combination of the pentagram and a heart.
-les

Radiohead is an English rock band that rose to popularity in the early ’90s with the rise of “alternative rock” and their smash hit, “Creep.” Painted as one-hit wonders, the band bucked expectations and released overseas hit “The Bends” and critics’ favorite “OK Computer,” which spawned the hits “Paranoid Android” and “Karma Police.” Two albums of electronic-fused music followed, “Kid A” and “Amnesiac,” which reached critical success despite a complete overhaul in sound. Their most recent album, “Hail to the Thief,” was said to be a new “OK Computer” and garnered radio play with the track “There, There.”

Descriptive Words: avant-garde, political, dense

Evidence: Like other bands of that era that have survived, such as Pearl Jam, Radiohead has complicated its image and music to withstand the times. As a brand, Radiohead is perceived as a band of “outsiders” that are neither photogenic nor camera-friendly. Lead singer Thom Yorke’s style of dance on stage – a frenetic spasm without personal regard – and the band’s preference for using laptops onstage is indicative of the contrast to other self-conscious bands.

The band also controls their imagery extensively – they often appear in bizarre photos (such as having their eyes closed) and create equally as bizarre videos (the first-person endless police chase of “Karma Police,” the head-in-fishbowl-of-water of “No Surprises“). Their albums regularly feature the work of artist Stanley Donwood,usually featuring wildly imaginative creatures and landscapes. Their website, which changes often without notice, is a veritable labyrinth of useless text, images and musings, none of which have anything to do with the band. All requisite band information – such as a list of the members, lyrics, and so forth – is not at all on the site and must be found on fan sites.

Musically, the band creates polarizing music, and has altered its sonic imprint significantly over the course of its career. What was once a straightforward “alternative” sound has evolved into an extreme preference for digital bleeps and bloops, which continues to change. Lyrically, the songs are dense in meaning, i.e. “cut the kids in half,” and occasionally provoke terror. Vocally, Yorke’s voice is high-pitched and thin, and he often sings in falsetto or barely audibly, neither tactic approachable by a Top 40 listener (yet, the band has achieved commercial success and critical acclaim). The band is perceived to be active in world affairs – Yorke is often politically and environmentally outspoken and Greenwood involves himself in other, more classical musical endeavors – and they continue to be seen as maintaining creative control despite recording for major label EMI.

www.radiohead.com

Posted by Andrew Nusca

Description: Individual, Soulful, Emotive

A now established neo-classic soul artist from Atlanta, India.Arie first picked up an acoustic guitar while studying performance at the Savannah College of Art and Design.Since then, the guitar has become a staple of her image as a musician.

India attributes the creation of her songs and her endurance as an artist to a keen sense of her inner-emotions. At the press release for her debut album, she stated “When I started tapping into my own sensitivity, I started to understand people better.”* Emotions as her muse, India Arie has released three albums to date, the last of which entitled: Testimony: Vol. 1, Life & Relationship is her “mapping her internal landscape of loss”* The follow up of this album, Testimony: Vol. 2, Love and Politics; which continues her life story is due out this spring.

It is this awareness and translation of emotions into song that has shaped India.Arie’s musical style. Containing traces of hip-hop, R&B, and Blues, her music is most closely defined as Soul; and having found her niche, Arie is not straying too far. Every track that she produces has an Arie aura about it. Upon listening, one is able to immediately identify the emotion-heavy lyrics and the raw voice as that of India.Arie. Through the tackling of issues such as contemporary femininity or the idea of “good hair” in her lyrics, Arie’s music has become synonymous with Individualism. She fulfills this role not only in her music but also in her day-to-day life. Whether it is her colorful and unique wardrobe or her ever-evolving hair-style, India Arie exudes self-expression.

“It’s my life. I’ll choose how I express myself.” – India.Arie

Posted By: José Torres

*(www.vh1.com/artists/az/arie_india)

Funky, Innovative, Eccentric

The RHCP have been around for over 20 years, and their music has gone through some pretty drastic changes since their inception in 1983. They’ve touched upon hardcore, funk, punk, rock, hip-hop, and jazz to ultimately create pop music that has no immediate comparison. They’ve sold over 60 million albums worldwide, and their latest, Stadium Arcadium, was released at #1 in the U.S. Their eccentric attitudes match their musical style perfectly, and they’ve been able to successfully maintain their youthful image throughout. They’ve influenced tons of rock and pop bands in the last 20 years, and the fact that their latest studio album debuted at #1 proves they’re still at the top of their game.

/by JAMES DEL

Norah Jones started her career in 2002 with her first album that sold over 20 million copies world wide, and she received 8 Grammy Awards. Her second album also earned its millions in sales and her third album debuted at number one on the charts. Her easy-going sound and image has got fans hooked to her jazzy/pop/folk tunes.

www.norahjones.com

Sensual

Laid-back

Soulful

By: emily king

classic soulful dramatic

Amy Winehouse has emerged as Britain’s “bad girl” of the jazz/soul scene. With her unique look and mature sound (and subject matter) she exudes sexually wisdom, honest heartbreak, and a mysterious darkness that has appealed to so many. She has recorded with Ghostface Killah and also for the BBC in London’s Porchester Hall. Her versatility helps her tracend stereotypes, as well as genres.

A few of her “10 Commandments”

• Get tattoos… lots of them
• You’ve either got it or you haven’t
• Jazz should be fun

Much of the initial attention surrounding her dealt more with her drug use and relationships than her music. And with her newest release, “Back to Black,” she still touches on those subjects (with songs like “Rehab” and “Wake Up Alone”) but her bluesy, emotional vocals stand out.

amywinehouse.com

- madison farmer

My Morning Jacket are a southern/indie rock band from Louisville, KY. Their reverb soaked vocals and amazing live shows have earned them a strong following over the last few years.

Three words: Grandiose, Mysterious, and Powerful

MMJ’s live shows have taken on a certain feeling of bigness over the last few years. Recent embellishments have included elaborate forest-like backdrops, using a mock conductor on stage, playing in an ancient amphitheater, and performing with the Boston Symphony Orchestra Pops. Their album art and live DVD use a lot of mysterious imagery. From the disturbingly cartoonish cover of their album Z, to their DVD which is set in a fantasy Victorian-era backyard concert. Their live shows often range from extremely intense slow emotional songs to roaring rock anthems, and their image with large hair and a lot of on-stage jumping around makes them seem to be a very powerful band as well.

Posted by Adam Alperowicz

Kelly Clarkson represents Family, Patriotism and Familiarity.

She is the All-American golden girl with the familiarity of a girl-next-door and irresistible southern charm to match. From her rise to stardom after winning the first season of American Idol, Kelly Clarkson’s brand has continued to flourish with the help of partnerships with brands like Ford and NASCAR, which are both widely known as patriotic, All-American family brands.

Counterculture
Artistic
Political

The daughter of a Tamil revolutionary in Sri Lanka, M.I.A. stormed onto the music scene in 2005 where she immediately became a darling of the indie community with her electro/hip-hop/baile funk fusion. M.I.A. stands out as a musician of an indie counterculture because she comes from the mindset of an artist. Before moving into the music world M.I.A. began as a painter, and her talent in this domain can be seen in the brightly colored drawings of missiles and tanks on her album cover and the striking visuals of her videos. Lyrically, political and social issues drive her tracks as she gives up slogans as hooks. It was her controversial lyrics that caused MTV to ban her “Sunshowers” video because of a reference to the PLO.
-Laura Schwartz

Since the mid-80s fronting the Sugarcubes to present-day as the world awaits the May release of “Volta”, Bjork has proven herself as one of the most gifted and successful musical artists of all-time. Every album she releases is very different from the last, and she always branches out and works with new artists (i.e. on the forthcoming “Volta”: Antony of Antony and the Johnsons, Brian Chippendale of Lightning Bolt, and hip-hop producer Timbaland). Bjork’s music is very well respected by critics and fans alike, as her work is always acclaimed across the globe and sells millions of copies as well as selling out the rare shows she performs. Bjork returns to New York City in May for three shows, her first in the city since 2003, and given her history and ever-expanding fanbase, it would be safe to say all three will sell out quickly.

Aside from music, Bjork also is an actress, starring in partner Matthew Barney’s “Drawing Restraint 9″ and Lars Von Trier’s “Dancer In the Dark”. Bjork always alters her style as one can see just from her various album covers and while appearance is a huge part of Bjork’s live show and public life, it never comes before her musical talent, and she has never endorsed any clothing brands nor has she released any sort of clothing line. She has become the biggest and most consistent female artist in music, both in sales and acclaim, basically by talent in music alone.

Three words that describe Bjork’s brand: Unique, Diverse, Reliable.

Posted by Erik Sutch

Descriptive words: glamorous, original, cool

Gwen Stefani began as the lead singer for No Doubt, but she has evolved into a successful solo artist, actress, designer, and fashionista. Fans around the world have emulated her sense of style, so much so that she has designed her own high-selling fashion line, L.A.M.B. She is very consistent with her image, completely original and cool, which is why her fans remain devoted to her and receptive to her efforts on all entertainment fronts, buying her clothes, albums, and concert tickets.

by Andrew Keller

Honest. Outspoken. Alternative.

Twenty-one year old British pop singer Lily Allen has exploded in both the United States and the United Kingdom in the past year, and has become equally known for her refusal to keep her feelings quiet as for her infectiously catchy songs. She has made a name for herself by simply being herself, and this is the essential part of her brand. In a market dominated by cleverly cultivated images and a constant drive towards perfection, Allen will openly discuss her dislike of other artists, her drug use, and her sex life, with reporters, onlookers, or on her MySpace blog, causing celebrity blogs like Perez Hilton or TMZ to track her every move, furthering her notoriety. She does, however, have the talent and songs to back up her image, gaining massive critical acclaim, and coveted opportunities such as performing on Saturday Night Live while creating a brand of pop music that is completely outside the norm. Her brand has now crossed over into fashion, as she will be designing a line of clothing—called Lily Loves––for UK fashion company New Look.
Official Site or MySpace

The White Stripes are a rock band from Detroit and are known for their low fidelity stripped down sound that combines elements of blues, rock, country, and folk.

Three Words raw, low-fidelity, bold

The White Stripes have a distinctive red, white, and black color combination that they use on album covers and while performing live. The raw sound can be credited to the short time it takes for them to record an album. Elephant and Get Behind Me Satan were recorded in 2 weeks. The low fidelity sound is a result of using older equipment like the 8 track tape recorder used during the recording of 2003′s
Elephant. The band also uses older amps , pedals, and instruments from the 1950ss and 1960s

-Rob Inadomi

Street-Life, Lyrical mastermind, Ugly Sex Symbol

The Notorious B.I.G. gave birth to many of the modern gangster rap cliches seen on countless rap releases every year since Biggie’s debut album,  Ready to Die. His songs were filled with carefully put together lyrics covering all aspects of his life in Brooklyn including drug dealing and murder. Biggie reportedly was rarely if ever seen actually writing lyrics down with pen and paper and instead would construct his masterpieces and memorize them in his head before recording. Puffy also reportedly told Faith Evans (biggie’s ex-wife) that he was going to make him the “first ugly sex symbol.” Women loved Biggie in his day and reports of his sexually explicit nature in many of his songs.

Initially a member of the successful group Destiny’s Child, Beyonce from the beginning experienced personal and political highs and lows. In 2001, the group decided to take a break, and Beyonce became the first African- American female artist and second woman ever to win the annual ASCAP Pop Songwriter of the Year Award. Later, Beyonce received numerous movie role offers, but it was her role as Foxxy Cleopatra in Austin Powers in Goldmember in 2002 that eventually moved Beyonce from stage to screen.
In June 2003, Beyonce’s debut album, Dangerously in Love, appeared on the music scene. The album featured many collaborations with other artists such as Sean Paul and Missy Elliot. Nearly two years later her follow-up album, B’day, was released.

Most recently, Beyonce starred in the Oscar winning film Dream Girls alongside Jennifer Hudson. She has expanded herself yet again through challenging pushing her barriers in such a competitive and harsh industry. Furthermore, Beyonce posed on the cover, in addition to a full photo shoot, of Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit Edition. The curvy performer was, at first, a questionable choice to many, however, the strategically shot frames proved otherwise. As a brand, Beyonce represented her own image and strengths on the cover of the magazine.

Beyonce’s image is often termed as sexy, unstoppable, strong, respectful, honest and exotic.

Beyonce has established herself as a successful brand through keeping true to her background in the media’s eyes, limiting the exposure of her personal life while allowing her audience to see her true self, and clearly through her large fan base and monetary achievements. As an artist, Beyonce has stated that she does not want to “lose herself” in the industry that so many people get caught up in. She has sold approximately over 140 million records, half outside of the United States, in her career, and continues to expand her brand.

Posted by Victoria Nunez

Rat Pack Throwback: Justin’s current image, which has been cultivated over the past couple of years, is one of a Rat Pack throwback. He very much embodies the essence of Rat Pack cool. His style is very retro feeling, wearing old school suits and fedoras, but always making sure to be current and youthful. His unshaven look is very much reminiscent of the Rat Packers, always dressing classy but having one or two pieces out of place to add an element of being carefree and ultra-cool.

Selective Evolution: Justin grew up from a cheesy pre-teen on the Mickey Mouse Club, to teen heartthrob, and now to a mature, well-rounded artist. All choices made for Justin’s career since his NSYNC days have been calculated, adding to his brand image. A combination of high-profile relationships with older women, his musical collaborations and his movie roles, Justin has managed to grow into a respected artist, and has avoided the career doldrums that other teen stars have faced.

Universal Appeal: Justin has become a pop-culture figure who is respected and well-received by many people across different demographics. His collaborations with urban music heavyweights have enabled him to enter urban markets with a good deal of authenticity. In addition to his urban credibility, Justin is also accepted by some fans in older demographics. His music has evolved into a sound which can be consumed by older music fans without alienating any of his younger fans.

By Anthony Coccerino

(Photo Courtesy of GQ.com)

Descriptive words: quirky, self-made, unique 

Regina Spektor, a Russian-born singer-songwriter, has gradually made a name for herself. Before signing onto major label, Sire Records, Spektor self-released three albums, “11:11,” “Songs,” and “Soviet Kitsch.” The picture above, which appears on the cover of her website, is cut out on the edges to represent this do-it-yourself idea. In addition, Spektor recorded “Little Boxes,” Showtime’s theme song to its show Weeds, for one of its episodes. The classic song critically speaks about the manufactured-like people of suburbia–“little boxes”–all being the same. Spektor’s musical brand affirms this criticism of conformity; her musical, lyrical, and performance style is all about being different.

http://www.reginaspektor.com/

- Jennifer Kohanim

The Method is a music website that will be released in April 2007. It will allow website subscribers to enter information such as “Some stuff about how you feel,” and the website will return a piece of music,” says The Who guitarist and songwriter Pete Townshend, who had used the service as inspiration for the song “Fragments” on The Who’s Endless Wire. The user will then own one-third of the music returned by the service.

The Method was recently presented by Pete Townshend at the South by Southwest festival on Wednesday, March 14, 2007.

http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003558419

-Matt Hayon

Pioneer- Elton John forged the way for rock-and-roll pianists in a genre then dominated by guitarists (the 1970s). His highly distinctive sound revolutionized rock-and-roll and created the acceptance of piano-playing in not only rock-and-roll, but other popular music genres.

Active- Elton John is known for being an involved member of the pop culture community, not only befriending those in the public eye (Freddie Mercury), composing songs about them (“Candle in the Wind” for Marilyn Monroe and Princess Diana), and donating profits from record sales to various causes (AIDS research). Similarly, Elton John’s musical career spans three decades.

Collaborator- The story of Elton John’s early career has been somewhat of a musical legend (even appearing on an episode of South Park). In his early career, Elton John had been largely unsuccessful in his attempts to write both the music and the lyrics to the songs he performed. When Elton John began collaborating with lyricist Bernie Taupin, his musical career took off. To this day, the two are known to comprise one of the most successful songwriting teams in rock-and-roll. Beyond Bernie Taupin, Elton John has been known to perform alongside (usually in a duet) other successful musicians from John Lennon, to Billy Joel, to Eminem.

 Matt Hayon

By identifying a specific target audience and catering to their specific tastes, likes and dislikes, Bonnaroo has become an extremely successful brand generating over 14 million dollars within the four day music festival. Bonnaroo literally means “a really good time” which has basically become the brand’s identity and promise to consumers. Each year Bonnaroo attracts a bigger audience and artist roster as the festival has become the place to be for both artists and music fans. Located in Manchester, TN and taking place in mid to late June, the festival began in 2002 and has been an annual extravaganza and this year in 2007 marks its fifth year.

MTV was launched on August 1, 1981 as the world’s leading multimedia brand for young people. While many cable stations only reflect the trends, MTV has become known as an influential trend setter. MTV began as a cable station that played music videos but has since shifted its focus to reality and celebrity based programming.

mtv.com

Three Words young, trendy, entertainment

MTV was ranked 50th according to Interbrand’s 2006 World’s Most Valuable Brands Study. Because of the strength of MTV as a cable channel, the brand has been able to extend to MTV Films, MTV.com, and MTV Consumer Products. MTV has also created two annual awards shows — the MTV Movie Awards and Video Music Awards. Both of these shows attract the top celebrities from the film, tv, and music industries. MTV consistenly ranks as the highest rated cable network for people ages 12-34. This is evident in the fact that shows like the Real World have been running for a solid 18 seasons.

- Rob Inadomi

GODIVA: Godiva’s history began more than seventy-five years ago in Brussels, Belgium when master chocolatier Joseph Draps founded a chocolate company that was named in honor of the legend of Lady Godiva. Godiva Chocolatier Inc. is one of the creators of the world’s most elegant, hand-crafted chocolates.
“Truly fine chocolates have several characteristics in common: they are always fresh, contain high quality ingredients like premium cocoa beans and dairy butter, are usually less sweet and feature unusual textures and natural flavors. Consequently, their taste differs greatly from less expensive chocolates, which tend to use artificial flavors and preservatives to achieve a longer shelf-life.” Thierry Muret, Master Chocolatier, Godiva Chocolatier.
www.godiva.be

DESCRIPTIVE WORDS: premium, delectable, sophisticated

EVIDENCE: Godiva was first to create the concept of premium chocolate. Godiva’s standards of excellence include maintaining its product’s high quality by requiring special handling during storage and display. Since its introduction to America in 1966, Godiva continues to be the leader in the premium confectionery category. There are more than 200 Godiva specialty boutiques in major U.S. cities, as well as over 1,000 additional outlets in fine department and specialty stores. From New York to Paris to Tokyo, it is Godiva that brings the best of Belgium to the world. Godiva products are to be found the world over, distributed from the two production units in Belgium and the USA.

emily king

Sony’s 2nd CGI film, Surf’ Up (opening June 8) has upwards of $100 million in cross promotional support lined up already reports Brandweek.com (McDonald’s, Old Navy, ConAgra Foods, Baskin-Robbins, Sea World, and others). McDonald’s will be partnering with Sony for the first time, which is facilitated by the fact that their exclusive 10-year promotional partnership with Disney has expired. ”McDonald’s will give Surf’s Up a heads-up with TV advertising, in-store signage and, of course, Happy Meal premiums. As the global QSR partner, Surf’s Up will be promoted at 32,000 McDonald’s locations in 119 countries.”

“Aside from the obvious tie to family brands (McDonald’s) and penguin pros (Sea World, which is branding its San Diego park’s penguin exhibit with the film this summer), Sony sought hot and/or cold positioned partners to play into Surf’s Up’s range of weather locations: The film begins in arctic Shiverpool and washes up at the Polynesian Pen Gu Island. For instance, first-timer Kold To Go Bags will tap the Shiverpool imagery and characters on its insulated thermal bags used for transporting such grocery items as ice cream.”

Courtney Hoskins

Kelly Clarkson has signed on to represent NASCAR at a series of events over the course of the 2007 season, marking the biggest and most comprehensive partnership the motorsports organization has ever forged with a recording artist. On February 18, she kicked off the co-branding venture when she headlined the Nextel Tribute to America concert before the Daytona 500. Clarkson also shot a 30-second TV spot for the “NASCAR: How Bad Have You Got It?” campaign, featuring footage from her performance combined with clips of the actual race. A song from her upcoming third album will provide the soundtrack for the spot. (source: E! News) This partnership makes sense considering the singer’s Southern roots and NASCAR’s fanbase. Moreover, NASCAR is considered one of the fastest growing sports in America and Clarkson is America’s original idol.

Courtney Hoskins

Descriptive Words: southern, dependable, personable

George Strait is a living legend in country music. His career spans more than 3 decades and boasts more than 40 #1 hits on country radio. His image and style haven’t changed much over time. He still dawns his signature hats and belt buckles, and he’s still true to his musical roots after 44 million albums sold. He presents himself in a classic way which only adds to his southern charm. With George Strait, you know what you get-a man standing behind a guitar singing to sold out crowds.

Courtney Hoskins

GRAMMY U was started to get and keep college students who are interested in pursuing a career in the music industry involved and informed. For $25 a year (instead of the usual $100 fee), students can enjoy networking opportunities, educational programs, and the opportunity to attend performance oriented events. “GRAMMY U is designed to enhance students’ current academic curriculum with access to recording industry professionals to give an “out of classroom” perspective on the recording industry.” Members will also be eligible to receive the same discounts and benefits (magazine subscription, hotel, and car rental discounts, etc.) as other members.

Courtney Hoskins

Founded as a record label in 1999, Ropeadope has evolved into a music and clothing brand that encapsulates an aura of coolness. Their label has put out a smattering of independent albums they cross and often blend genres including jazz, hip hop, and electronic music. Simultaneously their clothing line has continued to mix classic and retro imagery with hip, urban design to keep a constant brand image.

Three descriptive words: retro, urban, and hip

Ropeadope’s artists have always maintained a bit of an old school feel to them, whether it’s the soul throwback of the Philadelphia Experiment or the Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra while still being new and inventive. Meanwhile, their signing of downtown jazz circuit scenesters like Medeski, Martin and Wood and the Benevento/Russo Duo has given them an element of avant-garde sensibility. Meanwhile, their clothing lines maintain a similar image, often printed with recognizable iconic musical faces like Marvin Gaye, or Jimmy Cliff, the shirts seem to be retro and new at the same time. Additionally, by announcing this year that they will be switching to a digital only record label the brand has shown an indication of staying current and fresh, while using these old school sounds and looks.

Posted by: Adam Alperowicz