Every brand has a connection to music, whether it’s finding the right artist to endorse a product, curating the coolest in-store playlist for their retail stores or securing a band to perform at a big launch event. Brands across various business categories understand the importance of working and collaborating with musicians to resonate with their consumer. Music partnerships help brands stay culturally relevant. Here at The Orchard, our Brand Partnership team works to connect our distributed artists with relevant partners to execute opportunities such as music video product placement, original content, ambassadorship, contesting, product gifting, and performances. Some brands we’ve worked with include SONY, Monster Energy, Taco Bell, Playstation, Five Guys, H&M, Fender, and more.
Securing a brand partnership for your artist will enhance the potential audience that their music would be exposed to as they leverage their reach and resources. A brand partnership may also result in monetary compensation that can be used to fund a shoot or artist project. Additionally, a brand may invest paid media to amplify their campaign, giving more eyes and ears to your artist.
One of the most important factors of an artist brand partnership is that it’s authentic for both the artist and the partner. Consumers are inundated by content and can easily tell if a partnership is forced. When you’re conceptualizing the campaign for a new album and track, it’s essential to reflect on what brand goals and opportunities the artist is open to pursuing.
Below are recent brand initiatives we’ve executed with acts at The Orchard that enhanced their release.
Little Hurt x Sony Electronics – Music Video Collaboration
Little Hurt, the solo project from Colin Dieden of The Mowgli’s, was working on the creative for his music video for his single “Better Drugs”. The directors of the music video & Little Hurt were open to collaborating with a partner to enhance the production quality and budget.
We connected with SONY’s Digital Imaging team who was looking for artists to collaborate with on their music videos. SONY provided cameras for the directors to shoot the music video as well as a videographer to capture behind the scenes footage. This content would be used on their Alpha Universe site and across Sony’s socials. They also provided additional funding to help offset costs of the shoot.
The result? The partnership provided more content, resources and reach for Little Hurt and his music video, as well as established a relationship with one of the biggest consumer electronics brands in the world.
Elle Winter x Members Only – Tour Collaboration
Pop artist Elle Winter was set to open for Hollywood Records boy band In Real Life on their East Coast tour. Elle is interested in fashion and jacket brand Members Only was a fan of Elle’s music. We collaborated with Members Only by having Elle Winter exclusively wear the brand on-stage for the duration of the tour, assembled a national sweepstakes with Members Only product as prizing and worked together on social content to promote the initiative.
This was one of Elle’s first brand initiatives and it made sense because both the artist & brands were fans of each other. The partnership felt authentic and both parties were able to bring each other a new and excited audience.
The Unlikely Candidates x Five Guys – Artist Partnership
Alt rock group The Unlikely Candidates were climbing the Alternative charts and touring nonstop. One of their favorite places to eat on the road is Five Guys. There also happens to be five guys in the band!
Fast casual burger chain Five Guys had recently launched a Featured Artist of the Month program to connect with their consumers and the music community. The initiative involves in-store playlisting in their 1,200 stores, various social on their channels (2M in reach), national contesting and an artist-curated Spotify playlist on the brand’s profile. We pitched The Unlikely Candidates for consideration, made note of the band’s affinity for the brand & their latest successes and Five Guys decided they were the right fit.
This partnership came at the right time for the band as it gave our Radio & Sales teams another marketing driver to use to get added to more radio stations and playlists.
Our Brand Partnership team is constantly sending over potential brand opportunities to Label Management and Client Services for artist suggestions. It’s important to respond to opportunities quickly and with all necessary info needed so we can pitch effectively. When pitching, make sure the artist would be interested in the opportunity as that’s key to successfully landing a partnership! We’re happy to explore potential opportunities to help amplify your releases.
