“And sometimes is seen a strange spot in the sky…”
The way we structure ‘Brand partnership’ in music can be so much more than just a cheque in the bank. At Sound Effects we see solid audience insight and long-term strategic planning as a way to empower artists to be able to make proactive deals that amplify their story, deepen fan relationships, and create long-term value for both the artist and the commercial partner. Done strategically, they become an engine of growth across the whole Fan Eco-system.
““AN INBOUND REQUEST ARRIVES, THE NUMBERS LOOK GOOD, AND SUDDENLY EVERYONE’S SCRAMBLING.””
But here’s the rub: in today’s business, brand partnerships are almost never approached that way. They’re reactive. An inbound request arrives, the numbers look good, and suddenly everyone’s scrambling. It’s not strategic. It’s not proactive. And it certainly isn’t built around a long-term strategic plan. In fact, you could argue they’re not even tactical, because they rarely connect to anything else in the artist’s career plan, to wider tactical goals.
It’s only the insight and strategy that allow artists and managers to get ahead of that knock on the door, to proactively shape the partnerships that make sense, that reinforce the artists narrative, and that deliver compounding returns over time. That’s the opportunity on the table.
The Wasted Potential
This is criminally wasteful. The right brand partnership can be more than a bag of cash today. It can expand an artist’s brand, reinforce their story, deepen audience connection, widen reach and drive growth across the whole Fan Eco-system.
But here’s the catch: the way the industry is structured, different parts of the business live in silos. Record music sits over here. Live over there. Merch somewhere in the back. The brand partnership team? In their own sealed-off glass box. The result? No one’s joining the dots, and the full power of these deals gets left on the table.
“...MISSED OPPORTUNITIES, CONFUSED AUDIENCES, AND PARTNERSHIPS THAT FEEL BOLTED-ON RATHER THAN BUILT-IN...”
We’ve talked before in our Fan Eco-system edition about why what happens in one area of an artist’s world must chime everywhere else. When it doesn’t, you end up with missed opportunities, confused audiences, and partnerships that feel bolted-on rather than built-in.
Why Managers & Rights Holders Must Take Back Control
If you’re an artist, manager, or rights holder, you must own the strategic vision for your brand and commercial partnerships. Now, before anyone gets all hot-under-the-collar, this is not because the label brand team aren’t smart or capable, they’re great, and often pull off fantastic work, but because through no fault of theirs’, their world is target-driven. They’re under pressure to deliver a number, and when the priority is closing this quarter’s budget target, the bigger, career-long arc often gets lost.
The start point should come from having the insight, the intel, the strategy that enables you to have solid answers to the following:
Does this partnership expand the story we’re telling?
Does it add value to the fan relationship?
Is it consistent with the artist’s values and narrative?
Does it make sense to our audience, and does it bring in new ones?
Without that filter, you end up with Franken-partnerships, all cash, no coherence.
From Transactional to Transformational
The industry’s obsession is always on the value of the deal. “How much are we getting?” or “How big is the cheque?”
And yes, of course money matters, but the bigger, frankly more profitable opportunity comes when you use insight to make that deal work harder, for longer, across more channels.
““…HAVE A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE NOT JUST OVER OTHER ARTISTS, BUT OTHER SECTORS FIGHTING FOR THE SAME BUDGET.””
So, this is where attitudinal insight changes the game.
Brands and agencies already expect rich audience profiling when they talk to sports teams, games publishers, or entertainment companies. They are used to deep dives into lifestyle, values, and behaviours. But from music? Nine times out of ten, they’re still handed a couple of demographic bullet points and streaming numbers. But that's because today, almost all labels, cannot provide anything deeper in the way of insight into the artists audience.
If you can walk into that meeting with a richer, human picture of your audience; who they are, what they value, what they buy, how they see the world; you suddenly have a competitive advantage not just over other artists, but over other industries fighting for the same sponsorship budget.
The Sound Effects Partnership Rulebook
The most powerful partnerships:
Support the artist’s narrative: they make the story bigger, not blurrier.
Add to the fan experience: the brand should feel like an insider, not a gatecrasher.
Have a logical audience fit, that your fans ‘get’ instantly.
Work towards a bigger goal: growth, relevance, cultural positioning and not just the next few weeks’ cash.
When you get it right, brand and commercial partnerships aren’t just a line on the P&L. They become another engine in the artist’s career growth, amplifying the narrative, fuelling the fan relationship, and multiplying revenue streams across the whole Fan Eco-system.
The best partnerships aren’t found; they’re built on audience insight, designed with purpose, and grown to last.