When Capitol Music Group chief Steve Barnett relocated 31 of EMI’s former East Coast staff to the Capitol’s iconic Hollywood headquarters on Vine Street, he set out to create a new corporate culture in which “confidence is contagious.” That strategy has already produced blockbuster albums from Katy Perry, Sam Smith and 5 Seconds of Summer, and now it’s extending to the advertising marketplace.
In June, the company hosted its first label-wide upfront for brands in L.A. to help drum up synch business for artists like Mary Lambert, who performed a private showcase. And on September 10, CMG will introduce the formation of seventeenfifty (named after the Capitol Tower’s 1750 N. Vine St. address), its in-house branding and creative agency at a brand partnerships-centric upfront presentation at New York’s City Winery.