UK Music industry attracts over £100m of investment from big brands
UK Music industry attracts over £100m of investment from big brands
Iconic 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.
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.
The brand and music space is an incredibly active and vibrant one. We've seen an increase in both the volume of activity and sophistication of platforms over the last five years and there are no signs of this changing. Music is something people instinctively love – when brands improve or enrich music moments and experiences they strengthen relationships with their consumers. There's a clear trend in brands wanting to take control of platforms and move away from traditional sponsorship – we're really excited by this and see it as an opportunity to get even more creative.
About PRS for Music
Here for music since 1914, PRS for Music is a world-leading music collective management organisation representing the rights of more than 175,000 talented songwriters, composers and music publishers. Redefining the global standard for music royalties, PRS for Music ensures songwriters and composers are paid whenever their musical compositions and songs are streamed, downloaded, broadcast, performed and played in public.
For 110 years it has grown and protected the rights of the music creator community, paying out royalties with more accuracy, transparency and speed. In 2023, PRS for Music paid out £943.6m in royalties and collected a record £1.08 billion in revenues. prsformusic.com
