Brands pump £100 million into UK Music

Brands such as Coca Cola, O2, Blackberry and Volkswagen spent a record £100m on music in 2012, PRS for Music research revealed.

                                       

Statistics published by PRS for Music and music and entertainment strategists, FRUKT, showed the spend for music use in festivals, online and in artistic endorsements reached £104.8m, an increase of 6.09% from 2011.  

Artist endorsements or ‘sponsorship’, such as those between Coca Cola and Mark Ronson for the Olympics or Mastercard and Emile Sande at the BRIT Awards, saw a 33% increase in brand spend from the previous year and brought in over £4.5m. Digital campaigns including the launch of the new Spotify app, YouTube’s new LoveLive channel and events that offered fans real-time interaction via social media and mobile like AmEx Unstaged meant digital spend on music reached £10.4m. Sponsored music events still thrived despite the dominance of the Olympics in 2012. Live music sponsorship accounted for the largest share of the market at 35% and netted over £33m. High profile campaigns included Coca Cola’s Olympics Torch Relay with 66 live music shows across the UK, Rihanna’s infamous Budweiser 777 tour and Blackberry’s Summer Daze which featured eight UK festivals and was broadcast on Channel 4.

Robert Ashcroft, Chief Executive PRS for Music, commented: “Innovative companies understand the power of a good song and how a memorable music experience inspires and connects with fans. Historically, sport was where big brands put their money, but the last 12 months have demonstrated the unique power of music to convey brand value and how the right partnership can benefit music lover, songwriter and business alike.”