Labels Increasingly Exploiting Artists As Brands

From Live365 boss Rags Gupta, "Labels are continuing to horizontally integrate by treating their artists as music franchises instead of recording franchises.  This times it’s Universal Music Group and their recently announced plan to roll out artist-branded wireless phones via their partnership with Single Touch Interactive.  UMG provides the brand & content while Single Touch provides the technology and distribution (via Wal-Mart and other retailers).  EMI pioneered this concept with their landmark Robbie Williams contract and recently announced a deal for him to serve as a ‘brand ambassador’ for T-Mobile.

"…I’m not sure how popular these will end up being — moving 7,000 Hillary Duff phones isn’t exactly a roaring …The U2 iPod seems to have had mixed results, perhaps due to its high price.  Still, this is a good way for UMG to extend their artist franchises assuming it’s fairly cheap for them to conduct this experiment…Moreover, getting this product onto Wal-Mart’s shelves will give free branding exposure to the artist."

"Expect more of this sort of horizontal experimentation from the labels as they morph from being "record labels" to becoming "music" or "artist" labels or whatever you want to label them…"

Crossed posted at http://www.ragsgupta.com/ and http://digitalmusicnews.com .