Musicians have been increasingly turning to gyms and fitness companies for commercial partnerships. These initiatives are often mainly promotional in nature, but they tend to have a merchandise component of some sort as well. While musicians have been involved with athleisure collections in the past—think Beyoncé with Adidas or Carrie Underwood with Dick’s, now both […]
Archive | Music
A Powerful Pairing of Pop-Culture Genres
Rap and anime are two genres that are dominant in pop culture and have a high profile in the collaborative fashion space. And they are increasingly coming together in streetwear collections that pair rap artists with existing anime properties or that integrate anime-style imagery of the rappers themselves. Most of the musicians involved have spoken […]
Rappers Tee Up Golf Collaborations
In recent years, rappers and their fashion and lifestyle labels have become increasingly involved in licensing and collaboration deals yielding collections of golf-influenced apparel, accessories, and footwear. In fact, in some cases, the artists’ lifestyle brands themselves are golf-related. Some examples from the last 12 months illustrate the accelerating trend: Tyler, the Creator’s Golf Le […]
Full Court Press for K-pop and Sports
The connections between K-pop stars and sports have strengthened over the past few years, most typically taking the form of concerts during matches, promotional partnerships and brand ambassadorships, content agreements, and the like. The growing ties have also led to the emergence of a handful of collaborative merchandise initiatives, some focused on Asia and others […]
A Full Court Press on Entertainment-and-Sports Team-Ups
Collaborations that pair properties from the world of entertainment and sports have been on the rise in the past year, as animated IP, musicians, and preschool characters team with athletes, clubs, and leagues in innovative ways. This is not a new phenomenon; however, a higher-than-average amount of energy has been devoted to this type of […]
Life of Luxury
The marriage of luxury brands and K-pop stars continues, as global luxury labels strive to solidify their strength in the important Asian market, as well as take advantage of the stars’ worldwide popularity. For the most part, the relationships are pure brand ambassadorships, with the singers posting on social media to their vast followings, appearing […]
Beauty Brands Rock Out
Male musicians are the latest group of celebrities getting into the beauty segment in a big way, namely with collections of bold color cosmetics and nail colors to allow consumers to replicate the look of their favorite performer, whether that be glam or Goth: Ozzie Osbourne is the most recent musician to sign up with […]
Country Club
A trio of country singers have recently announced consumer product initiatives that are significant both in terms of the breadth of the programs and the attention they have garnered: Last week, news arrived that Blake Shelton had partnered with Land’s End for a fall and holiday collection. The assortment includes apparel for men, women, and […]
Turning Up the Music
Musical instrument, equipment, and accessories brands used by professionals and amateurs alike have long been active in the business of licensing and collaborations. While they continue to represent a small part of the corporate licensing landscape overall, several new licensing deals and agency representation agreements announced over the last few years suggest that their presence […]
Orchestras Score with Gamers
By Karen Raugust on August 8, 2022 in Cultural, Experiential licensing, Interactive gaming, Licensing, Music
In its July 2022 listing of the 20 best video game soundtracks of all time, British classical music radio station Classic FM said, “Video game music is one of the most exciting areas of contemporary music, with composers like Austin Wintory, Jessica Curry, and Nobuo Uematsu winning fans the world over with their game soundtracks.” […]