The Art Of Marketing Music

For many listeners, music is far more than just sound, and acts as a strong emotional force. This makes music, and the inextricably linked if sometimes adversarial format of radio a uniquely powerful platform for marketing. Here Fred Jacobs looks at examples of music marketing from the beginning of the year which demonstrate the impact artists, and the radio stations that play them, have on consumers

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Guest post by Fred Jacobs of Jacobs Media Strategies

For many people, music is so much more than sound that emanates from speakers and headphones.  Music is a powerful force – something that so many can identify with.

Music defines us.  It's a reflection of who we are and what we stand for.

Radio – for many people – has fostered some of these same emotions in years past, as well as by great stations today that connect with their audiences in unique, close, and meaningful ways.

Since the beginning of time, the partnership between radio and music has been so tightly intertwined, it is sometimes difficult to separate, or determine how where one begins and the other ends.

Despite the royalty squabbles that have punctuated the last several years of icy relationships, the two industries are inextricably tied.

Music holds a special power, and historically, radio has had the ability to not only introduce artists, albums, and songs to consumers, but to also put it in context.  And when a favorite artist comes to town, radio does some of its best work, bringing consumers closer to the music they love.

That's why when I run across clever music marketing techniques, promotions, products, and services, I look for ways to apply them to radio, and how stations can better connect with their audiences.

Since the beginning of the year, I've happened across  remarkable 6-pack of music/marketing examples, all of which underscore the power of favorite artists and the radio stations that play them.