According to the IEG Sponsorship Report, North American-based companies such as Pepsi and Doritos will spend about $1.3 billion this year to have their names attached to everything from concert tours and festivals to music venues. With music festivals drawing anywhere from 75,000 to 3.2 million concert-goers, it’s no surprise that brands are ever-increasingly inserting their presence in the music scene and becoming sponsors of artists and events to reach the youth market.
Not only are brands associating themselves more with artists and events, but also with other brands. For example, now that everyone has chosen their favorite streaming service (Pandora, Spotify, Grooveshark, Rdio, take your pick), car companies want you to be able to access that service through your brand new 2014 model car. That’s right, from about $100 to $300 a bundle, you can have smart phone-free access to your music streaming account. Now, all that’s left to do is for Honda and Mercedes to figure out which service they prefer to align themselves with.
Lady Gaga, reigning queen of pop music, stated in her keynote interview at SXSW in Austin, Texas last month that, “without sponsorships, we wouldn’t have any more artists coming to Austin, we wouldn’t have any more festivals, because record labels don’t have any money.” If the record labels don’t have the money to promote and sponsor their artists, then Doritos is surely more than happy to place their brand front-and-center at Lady Gaga’s sold-out concerts and gain access to her 41.2 million followers.
