By: Carlos Ybarra, Anyi Wong-Lifton, and Sarah Molloy, TMA Entertainment Team
Your weekly look at what’s happening in music trends, partnerships, new releases, and more courtesy of the TMA Music Team.
This Week’s Music Trends
While leafing through a printed newspaper over breakfast may be a thing of the past, that doesn’t mean consumers disregard journalism entirely. News radio is nothing revolutionary, but audible versions of written stories is the unique idea that top news publishers like BBC, The Washington Post, and The New York Times are hinging on as they seek to adapt and innovate. Indeed, this trend is supported by NPR and Edison Research’s recent study reporting that Americans are listening to 20% more spoken word audio content (news, podcasts, sports, talk radio, and audiobooks), and 5% less music daily in 2019 versus 2014. How do you consume news?
- BBC expands news coverage with interactive audio (and video) articles
- The New York Times dominates audio (and print) news coverage
- News Over Audio growing in popularity as it strives to reimagine reporting
- Audi sponsors Alexa briefing from The New York Times
- Google Assistant now gives you a personalized daily news feed
- Spotify announces several audio news projects:
Partnership News
Frito-Lay has kicked things up a notch this holiday season. The snack brand launched a spot starring Anna Kendrick belting out a parody for “Favorite Things” from the Sound of Music, a tune that has made its way into the repertoire of holiday songs as well as landing a number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 earlier this year. The song starts out the traditional way and then fades into lines about eating Doritos on the couch and massive snack spreads, integrating everyone’s favorite salty snacks into this winter’s plans.
The brand launched this campaign this week for the obvious reason: there are an estimated 327 million family and friends gatherings between Thanksgiving and New Year’s, which is 4x more get-togethers than the Super Bowl, Frito-Lay’s usual big moment. There was something different about this spot, though – the song named several Frito-Lay brands instead of just focusing on one for an entire spot. According to the brand, Kendrick was their first choice for this spot – “She hit that personality tone perfectly,” Chris Bellinger, VP of creative and digital for PepsiCo. “She has that perfect stage presence; she can sing, dance and act and she feels like someone who eats snacks.”
A 90-second version of this spot can be seen during the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, and 30-second versions will be heard and seen soon on Spotify, Facebook, and Instagram.
Partnership Highlights
- American Express has deepened its relationship with AEG after signing on as the presenting partner of the promoter’s top European festival, BST Hyde Park. The new deal further cements the commitment of American Express to back Card Members at the key cultural moments that align with their passions.
- Brand USA, the destination marketing authority of the United States has partnered with Air Canada and Expedia Travel to release the feature film “America’s Musical Journey”. The film starring Aloe Blacc will take audiences on a cross-country adventure exploring the musical heritage of the United States and the cultural cities where American music was born. Cities featured include Memphis, New Orleans, Miami and Chicago.
- Tic Tac and Spotify are collaborating on the inaugural “Hear for It” series with a pair of back-to-back music-driven experiences in Los Angeles the first week of December. The first shows will feature headliners Ella Vos and Surfaces.
- Jack Daniels and LAUNCH have teamed up to present an original live music experience that encourages artists and fans to share why music is important to them. The ten-show, New York-based series will connect audiences with Artists in a way that celebrates, encourages and supports art for art’s sake.
Creativity That Matters
Working with the insight that 3 out of 4 women listen to music while cooking, Kerrygold USA and Energy BBDO created recipes with a soundtrack. Through the Music Behind the Recipes campaign Kerrygold partnered with Spotify and influencer chefs to curate specific step-by-step playlists for cooking recipes in the first-ever music experience of its kind.
What we’re listening to this week…
(Note: may contain explicit content)
“With Super Bowl right around the corner, and the Summer Olympics on the horizon, I wanted to share some of my recent favorite big, bold, motivational foot stompers. These are great new anthemic tunes if you want something a bit different from the usual suspects.”
~ Jason Blaine
The British quartet is back with their eighth studio album – This time tackling today’s social concerns with the creativity and flair that has become the band’s staple.
In theory Galcher’s work qualifies as sophisticated lo-fi house music, but on his latest release the Cleveland native shows so much more. Leaning on the Jazzier spectrum of sounds this hook-driven project will appeal to wider audiences.
Labrinth: Imagination & The Misfit Kid
With Labrinth you’re never sure what Artist you’re going to get on a specific track. His sophomore effort is a true embodiment of his eclectic creativity.
The vocal nuances of Rammstein’s Till Lindemann and the multi-instrumentalism of Peter Tägtren collide to produce this heavy yet melodic sophomore release.
Upon first hearing that Beck worked with Pharrell Williams to co-produce this album we were a little skeptical. After listening it’s clear they knew something we did not.
About TMA Music
We help brands harness the power of music and use it to foster a deeper bond with your customers. Our team of seasoned experts helps you navigate the music industry to develop a comprehensive music strategy, ideate on creative music concepts, license songs, partner with the right talent, and execute on every facet of a music marketing program.
Larry Weintraub – President of Music at TMA, Larry is a lifelong entrepreneur who champions the customer experience with a personal passion for disruptive technologies and innovative products. As head of the TMA Music Team, Larry leads music strategy for Fortune 100 brand clients. Larry also leads innovation at the agency with an internal and client-based concentration on emerging technology to better help consumer engagement. Larry also loves sour beers, inhales podcasts, and has a massive Pez collection.
Carlos Ybarra – Born in Sterling, IL and sharpened by the City of the Broad Shoulders, Carlos followed his passion for music and joined TMA’s State Farm Music team in 2017 after spending nearly a decade as a Multicultural marketer. Shortly after, Carlos transitioned to Los Angeles to join TMA’s entertainment practice where he provides strategic music consultation to the agency’s clients. Carlos graduated from Benedictine University with a B.B.A. in Accounting and in his spare time enjoys attending shows, documenting street art, traveling and cooking.
Anyi Wong-Lifton – Anyi is a Strategy Coordinator for TMA’s Culture Marketing group who tracks entertainment trends, writes weekly music columns, and organizes diversity education programs. She grew in Portland, Oregon before it was cool and graduated Summa Cum Laude from Scripps College before moving to Los Angeles. When not making professional use of her pop culture obsession, Anyi volunteers at a dog rescue, collects pencils, and avoids driving.
Sarah Molloy – Sarah is an Operations Coordinator in TMA’s Los Angeles Office, where she and has one hand in finance and the other in entertainment. She joined TMA as the Entertainment Apprentice in January 2019. She is originally from Boston, MA and went to school at Emerson College in her home city. In her free time, she likes to go to the beach, take naps, and sing karaoke (when she has the chance).
