Jeremiah's Music Blog: Are ad-agencies the new record labels?

Are ad-agencies the new record labels?

'boards editor Mark Pytlik has an interesting article discussing the recent evolution of advertising companies as proxies for record labels. Basically, he's suggesting that in recent years, ad agencies have been responsible for breaking many artists (Dirty Vegas' hit "Days Go By" was promoted in a Mitsubishi ad), and he points to music supervisors morphing into a traditional A&R role, and indicts industry fragmentation and lack of creative accountability at labels as the fundamental forces driving the shift. He quotes Siblings Music founder Marcus Smith as saying:

"One of the reasons for the stagnancy and the incompetence of the music industry is that there's not much creative accountability," Smith says. "They could spend $1.5 million on a record and then shelve it. In advertising, there's a tremendous amount of accountability. If a [advertising] client wants a product, that product has to fulfill their ambitions. There are real checks and balances that don't exist in the music industry."

Ten Music founder Sarah Gavigan added:

"I think brands are going to replace labels. Especially since a band like Clap Your Hands Say Yeah showed we don't need a label, all we need is distribution. They sold 25,000 albums out of their apartment in Brooklyn. So, is there a brand in existence they would be willing to lend themselves to, and collaborate with, in a way that could give them the money to do things a label would traditionally do for them? It could happen."

I think these are very astute observations, and I'd chime in by noting Magnatune's claim that their advertising & licensing is the "fastest-growing and most profitable area." I'd also point to Steve Albini's famous article about the economic toxicity of major labels provides insight into why artists would want to reconsider teaming with a major label when they'll get much more favorable treatment among entities genuinely accountable for the success of their products.

Photo courtesy of Tunesmith.

Posted by Jeremiah at June 19, 2006 05:17 PM | Tag This Post | Digg It!