Zumba & Pitbull Reveal Music Marketing Opportunity

The Zumba dance/exercise phenomenon has become an international subculture. Creaters Zumba Fitness is now leveraging their use of upbeat dance music to create a music marketing platform that recently kicked off with the promotion of Pitbull's single Pause. Promotions include a presence on their website and an exercise video starring Beto, the creator of Zumba.

While this is a smart move for both Zumba Fitness and for Pitbull, it also suggests the potential for exercise classes as a marketing opportunity on a smaller scale as well.

Zumba Fitness Music Video feat. "Pause" by Pitbul

If you've missed out on the Zumba phenomenon, you can get a taste of its upbeat flavor via the Zumba Fitness video for Pitbull's Pause, a single off his upcoming album, Planet Pit. You can also get a look at Beto, the male dancer in the video, who created Zumba and has become really popular among Zumba advocates who now span the globe.

So it only makes sense that Zumba Fitness would build on that platform beyond their own DVD's and fashion line to develop a marketing platform that operates both online, via their site and such outlets as YouTube, and offline, via music distribution to their classroom instructors. The video also plays a role in an upcoming Pitbull Pause Video Contest. In addition, Pitbull will perform at the annual Zumba instructor conference in July.

Though Zumba's platform is likely to be out of the reach of most indie musicians, it doesn't mean that artists can't take this concept and turn it to their own ends. And I don't mean just dance artists.

Dance and exercise classes are quite popular from college campuses to local exercise centers to the Y. If you've never taken such a class, you may not realize that teachers use a wide range of music with choices often driven by personal taste and a need for varied beats and energy levels. While some classes may focus on a specific genre, many classes rely on a variety of music to fit a class pattern that usually starts off slow, builds to a high energy peak and then gradually cools down. Teachers of such classes typically assemble their music from a wide range of sources and that can be a time-consuming process.

That means that if you put out music that has a clear, consistent beat, it probably fits at some point in class. And if it's more atmospheric or experimental, abandoning a rigid meter, it might still fit an open-ended section of class. In addition, lots of teacher like to switch things up with a different style that still fits their rhythmic needs.

So, if you're trying to find new fans, one place to start is with local fitness and dance instructors. You could try offering them your latest cd for free with some ordering information for their students. If you go back and talk to them, you may learn new things about potential fans. And, if it feels like a good fit and you have a lot of music to release, you could consider designing an album for a particular dance style or fitness approach. For some artists, such a move could open a whole new world of opportunities.

Hypebot contributor Clyde Smith is a freelance writer and blogger. Flux Research is his business writing hub and All World Dance: World Dance News is his primary web project.