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
- For the past few years, experts have been espousing blockchain’s potential to transform the music industry in the streaming era by revolutionizing the publishing system and creating stronger income streams for artists. But it has yet to live up to the hype. So, what happened?
- One writer identifies that the actual application of blockchain to the music industry faces multiple unique challenges. Nonetheless, like artificial intelligence (the previous topic in our series), blockchain-based music tech is still simmering healthily in the offices of startups.
- Where blockchain was in 2016
- This article (and this article) identify the music industry problems blockchain faces
- Will the future of sample clearance be as easy as tagging friends on Facebook?
- 17 blockchain music companies reshaping a troubled industry
- Warner buys into blockchain, joins $11m investment in ‘Flow’
- Blockchain music-streaming service Audius gears up for public beta
- More on Audius
- K-pop producer founds blockchain music production platform
- Korean conglomerate CJ develops blockchain for music copyright
Partnership News
- Oakland Coffee and Green Day are co-releasing Father of All… Dark Roasts. The limited edition blend will come with an album sale boosting digital download of the band’s latest album. The band also announced a deal with the NHL making them the league’s official band.
- E.l.f. cosmetics announced a new hashtag challenge launching on TikTok. The #eyeslipface challenge celebrates individuality and authentic self-expression while embracing the TikTok community’s love of music and dance.
- Puma and G-Eazy are partnering to release a co-branded sneaker in early 2020.
Gucci Mane announces new collaboration with, well . . . Gucci
Who could have possibly seen this coming?
Rapper Gucci Mane has partnered with – you guessed it, designer brand Gucci – for the upcoming Gucci Cruise 2020 collection alongside Iggy Pop and Sienna Miller. There is no official word yet of when this collection will be available, but this promotional video is sure to get fans excited. The collection is expected to be both menswear and womenswear, including pieces like tracksuits and tailored fits.The campaign also accompanies another exciting announcement for Gucci Mane fans: he will be releasing a new project, titled Woptober II, a follow-up to 2016’s Woptober. The artwork for the album will even borrow imagery from the Cruise 2020 collection photoshoot.
This collaboration goes under the umbrella of “brands who are right on the nose with their partners”. This isn’t to say, however, that Gucci Mane isn’t an excellent choice; he is. Besides literally touting the brand’s moniker as his professional name, the rapper has been known to wear Gucci for years. This move is reminiscent of another recent partnership, when Bebe, the clothing brand, partnered with Bebe Rexha, the artist. But the Gucci/Gucci Mane collaboration hits on a very important qualification in the eyes of consumers: brand authenticity. This partnership reinforces who his fans know him to be – a Gucci-loving rapper with impeccable taste.
What we’re listening to this week…
(Click image to listen) Note: may contain explicit content
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).
