Luminate, Late To The Party...yet again.

Thanks to my dear friend Yvan Boudillet for bringing this news from Luminate to my attention. As he said “Wait, this reminds me of something”. Sure does Yvan.

In a difficult year for Luminate, (check out the great posts from Billy Fields) its yet again ‘too little, too late guys’ from them.  Late again, to the party with this very limited and myopic offering, Luminate Index. I mean, even the name lacks energy and screams of a 'tired tool'.

You see, what Yvan is referring too, is the far more impressive tool, Fan Map, that we developed almost a decade before your 'index' Luminate.

The type of WHAT data that Luminate deals in isn’t going to unpick the type of emotive understanding that inspires truly disruptive and arresting creativity in Music+Brand partnerships.

Artist Manager’s, be wary of ‘simple solutions for complex problems’ from big institutions. Avoid WHAT data, claiming to be WHY insight. You need to be in control of your insights and your artist's eco-system, and there’s no easy, short cut to that.

And Brands, well in my experience, Brands too often decide on what artist to partner with based on who the CMO wants to meet, or what their kids were playing in the car on the school run. Hopefully that's changed, I suspect not.

The concern that many in the music business will have about Luminate Index, was recently crystallised by a music business friend, speaking to me following a meeting they had with one of their sales team, “buddy, if your lift up the hood, it's just the same old tired Nielsen methodology”.

Dumping yet more consumption data on a music business already paralysed by data is not what's needed Luminate. After a savage year in the music business, labels and managers need practical inspiration and help to turn insight into commercial opportunity and drive connection. But then, that's not Luminates business is it.