Tag Archives: music licensing

Bravado partners with Alibaba to bring its artists’ merchandise to Chinese consumers

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Bravado, the merchandising and brand management arm of Universal Music Group, has partnered with Alibaba Group today to launch a new means of bringing music artists’ merchandise and collaborations to Chinese consumers.

Under the new partnership, Bravado will launch its own store on Tmall Global, the largest cross-border business-to-consumer marketplace in China, where it will showcase merchandise from a portfolio of international recording artists, ranging from Tupac and Guns N’ Roses, to The Rolling Stones, Bob Marley, and Taylor Swift.

Swift will be the store’s first featured artist, while other collections and collaborations will be added each month.

The store launch will be the first time that merchandise from Taylor Swift’s most recent album, folklore, will be available in China. In addition, Swift will debut her newest collection exclusively on Tmall Global during Alibaba’s 11.11 Global Shopping Festival, giving Chinese shoppers access to it for two full weeks before anyone else in the world.

The collections will also be offered through Alibaba Group’s Hey Box, one of the most powerful marketing channels for new products.

In addition to this, the store will showcase a different featured artist each month, offering a specially curated range of products inspired and influenced by each featured act. These will include new and exclusive products and seasonal ranges, to coincide with album releases, tours, classic catalogues and other product innovations.

Universal Music China together with Bravado will work closely within Tmall Global and Alibaba’s ecosystem to help expand fan reach and interactivity through its technology and entertainment channels.

In recent years, Bravado has successfully leveraged merchandise as a platform to elevate artists’ individual brands and helped nurture new relationships with fans. The company’s partnership with Tmall Global will enable artists to share their full lifestyle experience, including collaborations into fashion, art and design alongside music projects.

“We’re extremely pleased to partner with Bravado to give fans in China the opportunity to connect with these remarkable musicians,” said Emma Lee, head of fashion for Tmall Global and Kaola, Alibaba Group.

“Through this partnership, Chinese consumers will be able to access exclusive merchandise from their favorite international recording artists that we know they will enjoy.”

John Habbouch, GM and CFO, Bravado, added: “At Bravado our mission is to amplify artist initiatives and create moments and experiences beyond music. This partnership with Tmall Global, in conjunction with our colleagues at Universal Music China, will provide both international and domestic artists with opportunities to engage more deeply with fans in China, and to continue to reach new consumers and audiences around the world.”

US metal band Deftones celebrates 20 years of White Pony album with Belching Beaver IPA

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The American alternative metal band, Deftones has extended its partnership with the Belching Beaver Brewery for another collaborative launch, this time celebrating the 20th anniversary of the band’s third studio album, White Pony.

Available in the US only and for a limited time, the launch – a Double Dry Hopped IPA – arrives with artwork styled upon the platinum-selling 2000 album. According to Belching Beaver, the 7 per cent ABV beer features ‘an upfront flavor of pineapple but finishes with a soft grapefruit note with a mild bitterness and medium mouthfeel.’

The anniversary launch marks the third collaboration between the US metal band and the Belching Beaver Brewery in the past four years. The relationship was kickstarted in 2016 when the two aligned to release the Phantom Bride IPA. The two reunited in 2018, when, after attending a Deftones concert in San Diego, the Belching Beaver team were inspired by the band’s Dia de los Muertos artwork and later went on to develop the Mexican-style lager, Dia de los Deftones.

At the time of the launch, Deftones’ lead vocalist, Chino Moreno, said: “[Belching Beaver’s] commitment to quality and excellence aligns perfectly with our ethos; from our music to our aesthetics, and now to our collaborative beer, we want our fans and consumers to experience only the best. We want it all to reflect the time and attention that was put into it.”

The band unveiled the latest Belching Beaver collaboration, the White Pony IPA, via its social media platforms this week. It arrives as the band prepare for the release of its latest album Ohms this September, and the anticipated release of a White Pony album 20th anniversary remix called Black Stallion.

The Rolling Stones to open world-first flagship store on London’s Carnaby Street

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Rock ‘n’ roll legends, the Rolling Stones are to open a world-first flagship store on London’s Carnaby Street, featuring exclusive new fashion and merchandise under the RS No. 9 Carnaby brand from this September. The new store has been created in partnership with Bravado, Universal Music Group’s merchandise and brand management company.

Situated at number 9, Carnaby Street in London’s Soho, the store will launch under the RS No. 9 Carnaby banner and will feature all the hallmarks of the iconic band.

The collections will include exclusive and contemporary collaboration pieces for fans of all ages, including men’s, women’s and children’s fashion and accessories. A special glassware has been developed with Baccarat, engraved with the Rolling Stones tongue. The store will also feature chairs and scarves from The Soloist, and raincoats and hats from the Swedish raincoat brand, Stutterheim.

The Rolling Stones said: “Soho has always encapsulated Rock ’n’ Roll so Carnaby Street was the perfect spot for our own store. We are confident this exciting project that our friends at Bravado have created will be an unrivaled experience for everyone to come to London and enjoy.”

The store will also introduce ‘Stones Red,’ the official colour from Pantone which is established from the first use of the band’s iconic logo. A collection celebrating the Rolling Stones official Pantone colour will also launch with the store.

The band’s continuing album and single releases will be at the heart of the shop’s pulse and Bowers & Wilkins speakers will play tracks from the rock ‘n’ roll band, including the upcoming release of the remastered Goats Head Soup album and Scarlet single.

Jointly curated by the Rolling Stones and Bravado, the shop fit follows the brand colours of red and black and the glass floor features lyrics, while the fitting rooms are adorned with iconic album artwork.

Mat Vlasic, CEO, Bravado said: “With this innovative partnership, the Rolling Stones add yet another cultural touch point to their rich legacy. RS No. 9 Carnaby is the result of years of planning and decades of building one of the world’s most recognized brands.

“It creates a destination where fans can connect and immerse themselves in the music, style and spirit of one of the world’s most iconic and beloved bands.”

For those in the know, the store’s window features a world first soundwave installation – taken from the opening to the 1966 hit track ‘Paint It Black’.

Universal Music Group strikes partnership with Soundtrack Your Brand

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Universal Music Group has signed up another global licensing deal, this time with a pioneering business-to-business cloud-based music streaming service called Soundtrack Your Brand. The new deal will allow the music platform offer tracks from the library of music produced by Universal Music Group’s own artists.

The aim of Soundtrack Your Brand is to deliver flexibility of music-streaming technology to brands and businesses for an ‘improved user and consumer experience.’ The model is based on full song trackability, and the deal will offer UMG’s artists and songwriters compensation and credit when their music is played in business and public environments.

Insight fro Soundtrack Your Brand has shown how playing music that reflects their brand’s value positively impacts a business, from noticeably moving sales to directly affecting customer satisfaction.

Ola Sars, founder and CEO of Soundtrack Your Brand, said: “Together with partners like UMG, we have re-imagined the licensing and business-to-business model. We hold the conviction that music has intrinsic value as an art-form and that creators must be compensated for their contribution to a business.

“Brands can benefit artists in accessing new fans, if their in-store music is matched to their customer and brand values. It is my belief that through Soundtrack, there is substantial value to be unlocked for artists, rights owners and brands.”

In 2019 Soundtrack commissioned Nielsen to carry out the biggest study on background music to date, engaging with 5000 small businesses across two continents and seven countries. Nielsen reports that 21.3 million businesses are using illicit consumer services, leaving potential revenue untapped for the global music industry. With 88 per cent of businesses playing music four or five days a week and 86 per cent prepared to pay for an improved service, the opportunity is substantial.

James Healy, SVP digital strategy and business development, Universal Music Group, said: “In Soundtrack, we have a partner whose technological and strategic re-imagining of an evolving business-to-business model will support us in ensuring creators are valued and fairly compensated.”

Paul Stuart, head of licensing and business affairs, Soundtrack, added: “Whether you run a bar in Brooklyn, a café in Sydney or a multinational brand, customer experience is everything. I couldn’t be happier for our customers who can now access UMG’s incredible artists and their music through their unrivaled catalogue and new frontline releases.”

Warner Music Group signs deal with Lickd to give online content creators access to millions of pop tracks

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The global service that provides video creators with access to chart music, Lickd, has detailed its new partnership with Warner Music Group that will witness the roll out of commercial tracks to online content creators, removing the risk of copyright infringement.

Warner Music’s deal with Lickd now enables millions of popular tracks to be legally made available to the 50 million YouTubers who upload videos to the platform.

With five billion videos watched every day, it is hoped that having pre-cleared music from some of the biggest artists on the planet and some the most exciting developing acts, will drive greater fan engagement and commercial value for both content creators and musicians.

Paul Sampson, CEO of Lickd, said: “We are thrilled that Warner Music has come on board with Lickd at a time when people are consuming more content than ever, when the music industry is actively looking for new income streams and when creators are more active than ever before.

“Over the last 12 months we have seen more and more creators flock to the Lickd platform which underscores just how important using licenced popular music is in video. We are very much looking forward to continuing to provide value by working hand in hand with both the majors and with our creators as we continue to grow.”

Charlie White, director of business development at Warner Music, added: “We’re delighted to partner with Lickd and offer fans the chance to creatively use our artists’ music in a licensed environment. We’re keen to embrace models where fans can become content creators too, but rights holders can be paid fairly for the use of their music. Deals such as this are expanding the horizons of the digital music market.”

Royal Mail celebrates five decades of the iconic rock group Queen with new stamp collection

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The Royal Mail is issuing a set of 13 special stamps to celebrate one of the UK’s most influential rock groups, Queen, the iconic rock group who has managed to sell more 300 million records across five decades.

Eight of the new stamps will feature images of some of the band’s most iconic album covers, including Queen II (1974), Sheer Heart Attack (1974), A Night at the Opera (1975), News of the World (1977), The Game (1980), Greatest Hits (1981), The Works (1984), and Innuendo (1991).

Completing the set is miniature-sheet celebrating Queen’s live performances with images of Freddie Mercury at Wembley Stadium in 1986, Roger Taylor at Hyde Park in 1976, John Deacon at Hammersmith Odeon in 1975, and Brian May in Budapest in 1986.

The centrepiece of the miniature-sheet is the iconic photograph taken by Johnny Dewe Mathews at the group’s first studio photoshoot in a Primrose Hill studio.

Roger Taylor said of the stamps: “Wow….stamps featuring our albums! What an honour. We must be really part of the furniture now. Thanks Royal Mail for stamping on us ! In gratitude.”

Brian May added: “It’s hard to put into words what I feel when looking at these beautiful stamps. Since we four precocious boys started out on our quest 50 years ago, our lives have been devoted to making our impossible dream come true. Sometimes it’s strange to wake up and realise the position in which we are now held – we have become a national institution. And nothing brings this home more than this incredible tribute from Royal Mail.

“It’s particularly poignant to look at this collection of images now – now that we are all in a world dominated by a coronavirus, in which none of this could have happened. I just know that I feel an overwhelming desire to own one of these sets. Somehow it will be a way of persuading myself that it really did all happen.”

Queen were only in their formative stages when they were hired to play their first gig: a charity event at Truro City Hall, in June 1970, while still performing under the name Smile. By the time John Deacon joined the following year, the group had changed their name; the four-piece line-up that would remain together for the next two decades made their first live appearance at Surrey College on July, 2, 1971.

The band’s list of musical achievements is rivalled by few: countless platinum, multi-platinum and gold albums; numerous Ivor Novello and BRITS awards; induction into the Grammy Hall of Fame and a recipient of the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, Queen also holds the record for the biggest selling album of all time on the Official UK charts with sales of over six million copies of the band’s Greatest Hits album.

The 2018 feature film Bohemian Rhapsody reinvigorated a base of core fans and generated a whole new audience the world over. The film became the biggest music biopic in history and swept the Golden Globes and Oscars with the soundtrack topping the charts the world over.

Celebrating their 50th anniversary in 2021, Queen becomes only the third music group to have a dedicated stamp issue – following on from the Beatles in 2007 and Pink Floyd in 2016.

Philip Parker, Royal Mail, said: “With their truly original, theatrical sound and effortless ability to mix musical styles, Queen are rock royalty. We pay tribute to one of the most loved bands of all time with these stunning stamps.”

The full set of 13 stamps, available in a Presentation Pack, retails at £16.00 and are available to purchase and be delivered worldwide.

The stamps and a wide range of collectible products are available now to pre-order at www.royalmail.com/queen
The stamps will go on general sale from July, 9, 2020.

Album covers – stamp by stamp

Queen II, 1973, gave the band their first top ten hit, ‘Seven Seas of Rhye’.

Sheer Heart Attack, 1974, featured the single ‘Killer Queen’ which was their first global hit and they made their first Top of the Pops appearance

A Night at the Opera, 1975, was their first number one album and featured the ground-breaking song ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ which, in the era of digital music, has become the most streamed song from the 20th century.

New of the World, 1977, featured two stadium-filling anthems ‘We Will Rock You’ and ‘We Are the Champions’.

The Game, 1980, included their hit ‘Another One Bites the Dust’ which drew in new audiences.

Greatest Hits, 1981, is the biggest selling album in the UK of all time.

The Works, 1984, featured hit singles including their love letter to the old-fashioned wireless, ‘Radio Ga Ga’.

Innuendo, 1991, was the final Queen album to be released in Mercury’s lifetime, and featured the poignant ‘These Are the Days of Our Lives’.