brand-e

Artist will.i.am – aka Intel’s director of creative innovation – is gearing up for world tour as part of the Intel Ultrabook Project, writes Mark Terry. The 12-city, 12-month tour, which will kick off in Mexico City at the end of the month, will deliver a dozen original pieces of music inspired by the cities will.i.am visits, and 10,000 downloads of each piece of music will be available exclusively on the Intel.com website.

Converse’s move to create its own Brooklyn–based recording studio, Rubber Tracks, to give unsigned bands a leg up chimed with the brand-e Campaigns Panel in 2011, writes Steve Mullins

“This is great example of a brand offering something to a select few of its audience which is of real benefit… but also of genuine interest to the wider fans of Converse, who won’t actually create their own music,” says Lawrence Weber of The Brooklyn Brothers. “It’s great stuff.”

Brands just can’t get enough of musicians when it comes to hiring creative talent. Polaroid boasts Lady Gaga as its creative director, car maker Lotus has appointed rapper and DJ Swizz Beatz vp of creative design and global marketing – the artist also holds the same position over at Reebok – and last year, Puma recruited Professor Green as its Puma Social Ambassador, says Maria Stadtmuller.

Online radio outfit Pandora is rolling out an online hub for its recently launched live concert series together with Budweiser, says Mark Terry. All artists performing in Pandora’s series will be showcased on the hub, which currently consists of behind-the-scenes video content from the recent Dawes concert in Portland, plus interviews with the band and fans.

More than 90% of Brits listen to music on the radio, 73% on TV channels/shows, 72% via an MP3 player, according to the Great British Music Survey from IPC Media. Seventy one percent watch music videos on YouTube, 48% listen to music on their mobile phone, 41% listen via music streaming sites, 27% watch music videos on mobile phones, 23% watch music videos via Vevo, and 21% listen to music virtually via cloud services.

British women spend more money on music that men – £803 a year versus £793 – according to the Great British Music Survey from IPC Media. And while blokes stump up more to own music (£381 against £327) it is females’ purchase of live music tickets (£338 versus £297) and music merchandise (£138 versus £115) that sees them outspend men.

US brands shelled out $1.2 billion supporting live music performances in 2011, a more-than 7% spike on the previous year’s total, says IEG. Live Nation upped its year-on-year sponsorship revenue by 13.5% in the first nine months of the year to $147 million.

Hertz has partnered with Live Nation Entertainment to launch the multi-year Movin With Music sponsorship and marketing campaign, writes Mark Terry. The initiative includes consumer engagement programmes, the launch of Hertz Live Radio –to be streamed at the car hire brand’s locations and on buses – and the Hertz Music Store where Hertz Gold Plus Rewards members will be able to use reward points to get music online.