From The Big Money: No Sellouts Means More Selling-Out

Yesterday I posted about how I didn’t think that advertising on artist websites was a big issue, and that it was, in fact, “an extension of the long-term digital strategy of the major record labels”. This morning, I came across a great article by Chris Ruen about band/brand corporate sponsorships and how, moving forward, these partnerships will continue to be legitimate, sought-after business opportunities for all parties involved. Read below for a few choice excerpts, and be sure to read the whole thing at The Big Money - No Sellouts Means More Selling-Out

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In the U.K., music industry revenues grew a full 4.7 percent in 2008 despite the persistence of freeloading. The biggest chunk of that growth came from business-to-business (B2B) revenues, such as corporate sponsorship and the licensing of songs for advertisements and television shows. B2B revenues jumped 10 percent and grew from comprising 20 percent of total industry revenues in 2007 to 25 percent in 2008. In a separate study on North American companies by IEG, corporate sponsorship of continental music venues, festivals and tours was set to exceed $1 billion in 2010, an increase of 4.2 percent over the previous year. As freeloading erodes labels’ sales receipts, favorable conditions have been built for artists and labels to aggressively seek funding from non-music-industry corporations. There’s no surprise in seeing mass-culture figures like Lady Gaga inject their videos with a Wal-Mart (WMT) aisle’s worth of product placement, but it’s stunning to observe the sudden mood shift toward commercial shilling in a subculture like “indie rock.” As freeloading became more pervasive and label revenues dried up, the once disgruntled children of DIY and punk hollering “Sellout!” have calmly drifted toward an acceptance of corporate branding.

Agree? Disagree? Let me know in the comments.