-
Old Navy Stays Tuned In With Nicole Atkins
May 16, 2008 12:00 AM EDT When MTV airs its Movie Awards live on June 1, hosted by Mike Myers, one of the commercials viewers will see will be for Old Navy, the clothing chain owned by the Gap. While details of the spot remain scant, Billboard can reveal that it will featu ...
-
Disney Sports Complex To Be Rebranded
May 13, 2008 12:00 AM EDT Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Fla., which hosts concerts by Disney Channel stars like Miley Cyrus, the Jonas Brothers and The Cheetah Girls during the Disney Channel Games, is being rebranded in the name of corporate sibli ...
-
Production Advisors Set to Open Office in Chicago
May 07, 2008 12:00 AM EDT Production Advisors, a New York based branded entertainment company, is set to open an office in Chicago this June. This will be the third office for the company, which also has an outpost in Los Angeles. Production Advisors, with nine employees i ...
-
Wine Company Pairs Up With Music and Art Scene
May 06, 2008 12:00 AM EDT Black Swan, an Australian wine, will next week start hosting events around the U.S. where musicians perform and display their artwork. The wine maker will be running two events. The first, "Black Swan Wine Bar," will pair up fashion line ...
-
Amtrak Plans Celebration Of 'National Train Day'
May 05, 2008 12:00 AM EDT Amtrak is hoping live entertainment, exhibits and a national TV personality will lure people who don't normally take the train into its stations - and then inspire them to return to ride the rails another day. Dubbed "National Train Day, ...
-
Burger King Gets Into the Ringtone Business
May 01, 2008 12:00 AM EDT Burger King is subsidizing ringtones of Warner Music Group artists on Virgin Mobile phones in an effort to reach more tech savvy consumers, the company said. Ringtones will be priced at $1.00, substantially less than the $2.50 most Virgin Mobile r ...
-
NBA Kicks Off Playoffs With Dayton, Faris Spots
April 18, 2008 12:00 AM EDT The National Basketball Association (NBA) is ramping up its playoff season marketing efforts with a new television ad campaign, "There Can Only Be One," directed by acclaimed music video directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris. The c ...
-
Timberlake Signs With IMG For Endorsements
April 17, 2008 12:00 AM EDT Justin Timberlake on Thursday signed with IMG for worldwide endorsement representation, the company said. Timberlake will remain with CAA, which handles his tour booking, among other things, and Johnny Wright will continue to be his manager. IMG w ...
-
Toyota, 'Nature' Team For Zoo Tour
April 16, 2008 12:00 AM EDT Toyota and PBS's 'Nature' are teaming up with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums for a nine zoo national tour to raise awareness about the environment and promote Toyota's hybrid technology. The tour begins on Earth Day Week ...
-
Sponsorships Top $1 Billion In '07
April 09, 2008 12:00 AM EDT North American-based companies will spend an estimated $1.04 billion to sponsor music venues, festivals, tours and concerts this year, a four percent increase from $1 billion in '07, according to research by Chicago-based IEG Sponsorship Repo ...
-
Brands Jump on Summer Tours
April 01, 2008 12:00 AM EDT It's been 20 years since Neil Young famously declared that he wouldn't sing for Miller or Bud. These days, most rockers are singing a different tune as the concert sponsorship business has skyrocketed. While media segments like newspaper ...
-
Shoe Company Crocs Lines Up Music Festival Deals
March 31, 2008 12:00 AM EDT Shoe company Crocs Inc. will have a presence at a number of U.S. music festivals and amphitheater concerts this summer. Crocs Inc. has signed or is finalizing contracts with approximately 30 non-sports properties, according to a recently published ...
-
Appelbaum Named Publisher
March 05, 2008 12:00 AM EST Billboard Veteran Returns to Brand Howard Appelbaum has been named vice president and publisher of Billboard. Appelbaum first came to Billboard in 1998 as associate publisher of Marketing for Billboard, and was quickly promoted to vice president o ...
-
Billboard Q&A: Viper Room's Harry Morton
February 28, 2008 12:00 AM EST Pink Taco Restaurants founder Harry Morton will get a taste of the live music business following his recent purchase of Los Angeles' 250-capacity Viper Room, which sits on Hollywood's Sunset Strip. Morton, whose father Peter Morton found ...
-
Nielsen Business Media Forms Entertainment Group
February 27, 2008 12:00 AM EST Nielsen Business Media has created a new entertainment group that brings together the company's leading entertainment brands into one unit. Media industry veteran Gerry Byrne, who has been named senior VP, Entertainment Group for Nielsen Busi ...
-
Streamline, Black Hole Prep Games One-Stop Shop
February 19, 2008 12:00 AM EST Dutch game-developer Streamline Studios and Black Hole Recordings -- home to DJ Tiësto amongst others - have struck a new joint-venture which is billing itself as a one-stop shop for game developers and publishers offering comprehensive music and ...
-
Live Nation, Citi Deal On The Cards
February 13, 2008 12:00 AM EST Live Nation has entered into a new marketing alliance with Citi that is the first to fully leverage the live entertainment giant's evolving, multi-faceted music platform. The deal, which makes Citi the "official credit card partner" ...
-
Grammy Campaign Kicks Off
December 03, 2007 12:00 AM EST The Recording Academy has brought on advertising agency TBWA\Chiat\Day to help launch "The Next 50 Is Here" campaign, which spotlights the upcoming 50th Annual Grammy Awards. The show is set to air live on CBS February 10. A 60-second TV ...
-
Sponsorships Take Center Stage At Touring Confab
November 15, 2007 12:00 AM EST Sponsorship deals have become an increasingly important revenue source for touring artists, a group of panelists agreed today (Nov. 15) at the Billboard Touring Conference at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York. When Blackberry linked with John Mayer ...
-
SUPER BOWL SONG DAY
October 28, 2007 12:00 AM EDT The Big Winner On Feb. 3 May Not Be On The Field The Halftime Hero: Tom Petty Even in these post-wardrobe-malfunction times, the performer at the Super Bowl's halftime show stands to see a jump in sales afterward. Last year, "The Very Be ...
-
GMR Marketing Merges With AWE
October 19, 2007 12:00 AM EDT GMR Marketing (GMR) has merged with entertainment marketing agency Aaron Walton Entertainment (AWE), forming GMR Entertainment. The new joint partnership has offices in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and London. The company will be managed from GM ...
-
Melody Tunes Ramps Up Arab World Campaign
October 10, 2007 12:00 AM EDT Melody Tunes brings modern Western music to the Arab world. Does the Arab world want its Melody Tunes? More precisely, does it want an all-English channel playing Western music by artists such as 50 Cent and Madonna? Melody Tunes, a channel that l ...
-
UMG, Sega Ink Deals With Interactive Ad Group
October 03, 2007 12:00 AM EDT Get Interactive, a new ad technology company that allows consumers to buy products placed in entertainment content and creates opt-in advertising platforms for brands, has inked its first deals with Universal Music Group, Sega and Overture Films, ...
-
EMI Teams With Fairmont Hotels
September 24, 2007 12:00 AM EDT EMI Music and Fairmont Hotel & Resorts have partnered to bring new music initiatives this fall to Fairmont's portfolio of North American hotels. As part of the deal, such hotels as the Fairmont San Francisco, Toronto's Fairmont Royal ...
-
Billboard Exclusive: Hotel Harmony Between Sony BMG, Starwood Hotels
September 19, 2007 12:00 AM EDT Sony BMG Entertainment has entered into an exclusive partnership with Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide to develop uniquely branded music-and entertainment-based programming for hotels that fall under the Starwood banner. Under the long-term ...
-
Major League Soccer Kicks-Off 'Represent' Campaign
August 16, 2007 12:00 AM EDT With David Beckham's recent arrival stateside to play for the Los Angeles Galaxy, Major League Soccer and sponsor Adidas are hoping to further galvanize fans with team anthems. Music branding company Rock River Music and digital marketer EVB ...
-
EMI, Saatchi Join Forces On Marketing Blitz
August 14, 2007 12:00 AM EDT With an eye on boosting sales of physical CDs and DVDs, premium DRM-free downloads and mobile music products, EMI Music Marketing's catalog department in the United States has tapped Saatchi & Saatchi to help develop and execute strategic ...
-
Rocawear Preps I Will Not Lose Campaign
July 26, 2007 12:00 AM EDT Cultural fashion leader Rocawear will bow its I Will not Lose ad campaign Aug. 15. Inspired by company co-founder and CEO, Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter, the multimedia campaign features recording artists like Ciara, Three 6 Mafia, Rich Boy and C ...
-
WaMu Partners With Venues Nationwide
July 26, 2007 12:00 AM EDT Seattle-based banking company WaMu (formerly Washington Mutual) is expanding its presence in the live music business with WaMu Live!, a new program that gives customers exclusive benefits to concerts at venues in Los Angeles, Seattle, New York and ...
-
Lyric Jeans To Launch 'Idol' Clothing Line
July 09, 2007 12:00 AM EDT Lyric Jeans, Inc. has entered into a licensing agreement with FremantleMedia, co-producer and licensor for American Idol, to create an American Idol branded apparel line. The initial Lyric Jeans-American Idol collection will be aimed at the junior ...
-
Jamelia Returns To Her Roots For Birmingham Campaign
June 28, 2007 12:00 AM EDT British pop singer Jamelia is fronting a new campaign to raise the profile of her hometown, Birmingham. The multiple MOBO Award winner has been chosen to promote the Birmingham section of the BMW 1 Series online listings magazine, 1 Off , in which ...
-
Interscope Enters Beverage Biz
June 27, 2007 12:00 AM EDT In what is being touted as a first for a record label, Interscope Geffen A&M Records has signed a joint venture with beverage company Drinks Americas to develop various drink products. As part of the agreement, the partnership will identify, d ...
-
Pussycat Dolls Links With Delivery Agent For E-Commerce
June 18, 2007 12:00 AM EDT Delivery Agent has become the exclusive developer of custom e-commerce initiatives for A&M/IGA act Pussycat Dolls, effectively immediately. This deal has the potential to extend to other Interscope Geffen A&M artists like U2, Gwen Stefani ...
-
From Hippie To Hip
June 14, 2007 12:00 AM EDT Al Gore was ahead of his time. The presidential hopeful was discussing environmental issues for 20 some years-long before his documentary on global warming, "An Inconvenient Truth," picked up a couple of Academy Awards and long before Wa ...
-
Teen Duo Spread Brand Across The Product Map
June 08, 2007 12:00 AM EDT In the grand tradition of the Olsen twins and Disney juggernauts "High School Musical" and "Hannah Montana," a marketing blitz that pushes branded entertainment to the max is on tap for Aly & AJ's new Hollywood Records ...
-
Airwair Sacks Ad Agency Over Dr. Martens Campaign
May 24, 2007 12:00 AM EDT If heaven is a place on earth, as Belinda Carlisle sang in 1987, that place is not the London offices of ad agency Saatchi & Saatchi. As initially reported on thedailyswarm.com, the agency has been sacked by Airwair Ltd. -- makers of Dr. Marte ...
-
Girl Authority To Get Multi-Platform Push
May 23, 2007 12:00 AM EDT Rounder Records 'tween group Girl Authority is ready for its close-up. Rounder and PorchLight Entertainment have partnered to co-develop a multi-platform campaign starring the Boston-based girl group. This encompasses a TV series, feature fil ...
-
Blue Man Group Enters Orlando
May 16, 2007 12:00 AM EDT Blue Man Group opens June 6 at Universal City Walk's Sharp AQUOS Theatre in Orlando, Fla. The 1,000-seat venue is accessible from Universal City Walk and Universal Studios theme park. The Blue Man Group's permanent stand at Universal Cit ...
-
Jeep Thrills For McGraw, Hill
May 09, 2007 12:00 AM EDT Tim McGraw's first car was a Jeep. Years later, when McGraw and Faith Hill decided they wanted to take their relationship to the next level, a red 1976 CJ6 Jeep provided the wheels for the date. That was in 1996, the year they married. And no ...
-
DMI In Build-A-Bear Deal
April 23, 2007 12:00 AM EDT Build-A-Bear Workshop has tapped DMI Music & Media Solutions to create audio elements and music platforms for the global brand. The deal encompasses new in-store music programs and 12 original bear-themed songs created exclusively for Build-A- ...
-
Pepsi Taps Artists For Brand Restyling
April 05, 2007 12:00 AM EDT As part of its global brand restyling, Pepsi has tapped the All-American Rejects, Big & Rich and Pharrell Williams to each design a Pepsi can for an upcoming campaign. Each can will include a Web site address that will take fans to exclusive c ...
-
Minogue To Get H&M Tribute Line
March 02, 2007 12:00 AM EST Kylie Minogue will receive a major tribute from H&M in the form of a limited edition line of bohemian-chic beachwear. Minogue is the muse for the H&M Loves Kylie collection, which debuts in May. She is also the face of the upcoming beachwe ...
-
Dupri, Barker Launch Clothing Line
February 23, 2007 12:00 AM EST Jermaine Dupri, the newly installed president of Island Records Urban Music, is making his first foray into the fashion industry. The Grammy-winning songwriter/producer has united with Travis Barker (of Blink 182 and +44) and his clothing company ...
-
From The Magazine: American Idol - The 'American' Way
January 15, 2007 12:00 AM EST It's hard to imagine that the producers of "American Idol" would want to tinker with the show's formula following last season. After all, the hit reality program -- a talent search for music's Next Big Thing -- was 2006� ...
-
McGruder Upped To Senior VP At MTV
December 11, 2006 12:00 AM EST Depelsha Thomas McGruder has been promoted to senior VP of business operations and strategy for MTV. McGruder was previously VP of business operations and strategy for the network. She will report directly to Christina Norman, president of MTV and ...
-
Teen Confab Debates Authentic Music Marketing
October 17, 2006 12:00 AM EDT As more and more users sign up for social networking services on the Internet, the popularity and respect for music is only increasing. Music Web sites are the fourth most popular on the Internet, behind only gaming destinations, social networking ...
-
Diddy Partners With Burger King
October 06, 2006 12:00 AM EDT In his latest role, Bad Boy Records founder/CEO and recording artist Sean "Diddy" Combs becomes a brand ambassador for Burger King. In this capacity, he will assist the fast food retailer in increasing its profile in the worlds of music ...
-
TNT Taps Jay-Z For NBA Ads
October 05, 2006 12:00 AM EDT Turner Network Television has tapped Def Jam president Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter to star in a series of eight 30-second ads promoting the 2006-07 NBA season on TNT. The first Jay-Z promo spot, dubbed "The Truth About Stardom," begin ...
-
Artists Finding 'Authenticity' In Brands
September 07, 2006 12:00 AM EDT Branded entertainment strategies and partnerships were discussed at the second day (Sept. 7) of the seventh annual Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Conference & Awards, held at the Renaissance Waverly Hotel in Atlanta. Panelists, culled from the worl ...