Guest Comment: TV and advertisers hit the right notes through music

Over the last few years, one of the most successful ways for obscure bands to break through into the mainstream is to feature in one of Apple’s pervasive television advertising campaigns.  A striking example is the iPod Touch advert featuring a song named Music is My Hot, Hot Sex by as yet unknown Brazilian band called CSS.  After the ad debuted on TV screens across the world, CSS went from selling an average of 340 albums a week to selling over 2,000 albums, jumping to number 15 in song downloads and number five in ringtone sales on Apple’s iTunes Store in just two weeks.

With the success demonstrated by bands like CSS, it is becoming more common for artists to explore different avenues to gain popularity, focusing more and more of their efforts on TV and advert placement, exclusive partnerships with mobile operators and experiential deals than on traditional single launches.

Advertisers are increasingly seeking to connect with audiences on an emotional, rather than conscious level; music is extremely valuable in altering moods and creating emotional, rather than rational bonds with products. Adverts can use the connotations and references of well-known artists and songs to garner an emotional response; these work as a shorthand for consumer lifestyles, from rock-and-roll rebellion to indie cool or chilled ambient.

In an interesting take on TV product placement, the current series of BBC investment show Dragons Den featured relatively unknown British band Hamfatter asking for £75,000 funding to promote their new album in return for 20% of their future earnings. Not only a mark of how the record industry is changing, Hamfatter cleverly capitalised on the many column inches and TV opportunities generated after the show. (Whether this tactic will give the band long term success remains to be seen with their latest single entering the charts in July at just #71.)

However, the prize pearl in television placement goes to the artist whose song is played in the Queen Vic in the Eastenders Christmas Special or in the Rovers Return in Coronation Street. TV placements lend an air of authenticity. If the characters in your favourite soap are experiencing problems or having a family feud with a song playing in the background, music amplifies the intensity of the action on screen and viewers are more likely to form an emotional connection to the character and therefore the track.

The reality is that the music industry is changing and alongside this, as the one device that is always to hand, the role of the mobile phone is adapting to bring more value to the music experience. Services such as Shazam provide a chance for music fans to ease this transition between discovering and purchasing music. With ShazamiD, a customer can discover and download the song using only a mobile phone.  As soon as consumers can hear a song, they can get it – wherever they are. 

The ShazamiD chart, lists the top 20 iD’d tracks (both per country and overall) and informs consumers and record companies alike of just how much TV-play is influencing downloads. Statistics around our users’ iD activity show the effectiveness of the creative treatment of the song and visuals has been. For example, in the teen drama Hollyoaks, the song played at Max’s funeral, My Immortal by Evanescence entered Shazam’s chart of the most iD’d tracks despite being released four years ago.

However, it is not just TV and advert placement that artists and record labels are using to capture a larger slice of the consumer market. With the increase in the number of music compatible mobile phones on the market, artists are offering content exclusively with one operator, providing customers with mobile tickets and offering merchandise all via the mobile handset.

US teen pop-rock group, Jonas Brothers are currently partnering exclusively with Verizon Wireless to offer customers the chance to win free concert tickets if they download the band's song, ringtone or ringback content on their phones. Back in 2006 T- Mobile sponsored Robbie Williams and offered exclusive Robbie content, including live video streaming of his tour direct to T-Mobile customers.

It’s all about exclusivity. Record labels want to offer fans exclusive content, experiences and merchandise and the mobile phone acts as the mechanism by which artists can exclusively reach their target audience. With the launch of the new iPhone 3G and other music phones such as the Motorola Rockr and the Samsung Tocco, the mobile phone is starting to become the portable music player of choice. As artists continue to embrace the power of the mobile to reach their fans, more customers will see the one device that is with them at all times - the mobile phone - as the outlet to go to for all their music needs.  

By Dominic Pride

Director of Product Marketing

Shazam Entertainment

www.shazam.com