Celebrity Sells.

Posted by Pinky on Jun 1, 2010 in Blog | 1 comment

Here’s a little post that has been asking to get out for a while now.  It’s about a tool I keep at-the-ready, and it has incredible value if used effectively.

Endorsement: Getting a celebrity to say, “be like me. I like this.”

Whether it’s Payton Manning slingin’ a bowl of Wheeties or Michael Jackson sipping a Pepsi (…too soon?), endorsements are all about leveraging fame for money – and it’s a very big part of what makes the entertainment industry go ’round.

I write frequently about the “value of brand,” but in this case it’s extremely literal.  How much can you charge for your seal-of-approval?  (You’d be amazed at what I get. )

I bring the point up today because my favorite blog, TechCrunch, wrote a piece about Troy Carter and Scooter Braun, the personal managers of Lady Gaga and Justin Beiber, respectively.  The two attended last week’s Disrupt Conference, an event highlighting tech startups that are shaking things up in a wide-range of industries.  The post implies that these two music moguls are revolutionizing the industry by seeking tech-startups as potential business partners.  It goes on to say that these two are “part of the minority in an industry that has the most to gain and lose by the rapid evolution of social media and technology.”  And that’s probably true – but let’s take a little trip down Memory Lane, shall we?

MP3.com did a deal with Alanis Morissette in 1999, wherin she received stock options in exchange for being one of the first mainstream artists in history to embrace digital music sales online.  (Indies were way, WAY ahead of the curve, but kudos to Alanis anyhow.)  The deal was ultimately valued at about $3.4 million dollars.  Not bad for a day’s work.

Today, you can substitute “Alanis Morissette” with “Taylor Swift” and get a very similar result.  Swift recently became the flagship account for NXTM.tv (who’s website is still “coming soon.”)  They built her new website for a song (they wish) and she got a piece of the company.  Now they can point to her as a client, which gives every other artist in the world the impression that “if it’s good enough for Taylor, it MUST be good enough for me!,” and everyone goes home happy.  Indeed, Swift’s tour-mates Kellie Pickler and Gloriana are the only other clients currently listed on the roster.  Coincidence?

And here’s a REEL head-spinner… Did you know that Bing Crosby was the investor behind reel-to-reel tape recording??  Totally true.  He thought it would be cool if he could record his radio shows during the day and just AIR them at night.  GENIUS!

So you see, we have a long history of being brand-savvy in this industry, especially when when it comes to technology.  It’s just easy to forget these days… what with the industry suing its own fans and everything.  While I resent TechCrunch’s assertion that Carter and Braun are somehow pioneers in the space, I certainly do commend those two for actually being there, hunting for great opportunities for their artists.  That’s what it’s all about.

Here’s some footage from the TC interview:

I love it when entrepreneurship, branding and the music industry collide.  It’s almost, like, exactly what this blog is all about!