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 Trends in Music
Ghosting, and cat fishing, and DMs – oh my! Finding love for millennials and Gen Zers has changed radically from the olden days when meet-cutes had to happen IRL. As voices of these generations – who are having less sex, according to the CDC – young musicians are adapting the all-too-familiar love song category to reflect the perhaps nontraditional confusion, hurt, and also greater freedoms of romance today. Do you swipe right to this trend?
- How our sexless, disconnected generation is reinvigorating the love song
- How pop music is changing the way we discuss sexuality
- The new R. & B. is here, reflecting confused modern love
Partnership News
- McDonald’s announced it will be partnering with G.O.O.D Music Artists Teyana Taylor and Juice WRLD on a campaign designed to give back to hometown communities. The new philanthropic initiative, Beat Of My City, will bring unique music experiences to underprivileged Black communities around the country starting with kickoff concerts in New York and Chicago.
- Fashion retailer H&M has launched a music initiative geared toward bolstering the company’s existing loyalty program by offering shoppers tickets to exclusive live events and a discovery mechanism for independent artists through the brand’s mobile app.
- Finally, Guess Jeans extended its partnership with Colombian singer J Balvin ahead of the start of his fall Arcoiris North America tour. The two, along with Artists Friends With You collaborated to release The Guess X FWY X J Balvin collection – an eight-piece capsule that debuted ahead of Balvin’s September 11 show in Atlanta.
- Bacardí and the Sound of RUM have evolved once again, this time via a video created by producer Swizz Beatz that loosely incorporates Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR).
Musicians Work to Blanket the Homeless
Most partnerships benefit both parties, but sometimes partnerships benefit an entire city. Blanket the Homeless is an organization that focuses on improving the quality of living for the large population of homeless people in San Francisco. Their aim is not to solve homelessness, but to “offer small degrees of comfort” for people on the streets.
While San Francisco has a large homeless population, the city also has a large population of musicians. Local artists including GRAMMY Award-winning Fantastic Negrito, Mickelson, The Stone Foxes, Ken Newman, and Whiskerman are partnering with the charity to create a 15-track album titled after the organization. The album release will also be in conjunction with a benefit concert, where select artists from the album will perform along with some special guests. All proceeds will go directly to supplies for the local homeless, including clothing, hygiene products, information about services available to them, and blankets.
Presenting a tangible way for San Francisco residents to aid the homelessness crisis in their city is sure to be a success. Millennials and Gen Z, the target audience for events like this, are unique – they donate more money and time than previous generations, but philanthropic opportunities have to seem “effortless”. Providing an opportunity for concert-goers to support a great cause while enjoying a show is the perfect blend of effort and reward – and the results are sure to reflect that.
What we’re listening to this week…
(Click image to listen) Note: may contain explicit content
![Cover art for the [Sandy] Alex G album "House of Sugar"](https://share.marketingarm.com/app/uploads/2019/09/Screen-Shot-2019-09-26-at-11.58.10-AM-e1569518069888-150x150.png)
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.
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).
