Yesterday as I walked around Macy’s, I noticed the particularly nice selection of songs, including Aretha Franklin’s R-E-S-P-E-C-T! The selections stood out as an odd experience because I usually only have the pleasure of listing to bland, boring jazz selections, like the ones you hear while you’re on hold waiting for the customer service rep to return (blank stare). At the time I thought to myself, “Wow, Macy’s has really stepped its music game up!” Market research? Or perhaps the company hired a Social Music Director, fresh out of a College of the Arts? Either way, I approve!
Companies that haven’t been able to win customers over with music now have another option – Soundtrack Your Brand, or what TechCrunch calls Music for Public Places. Think banks and coffee shops (I could ssoo see this sign in Starbucks); but, more importantly SPORTS! If you go to any professional game (basketball, football, even baseball), music plays a key part from start to finish! Teams run out to certain tunes, players have their special song when they are “up”/introduced and fans clap, dance and stretch the hottest and most popular soundtracks throughout the game. The service includes:
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Unlimited streamed music
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Music Calendar help you create your brand sound. You can schedule playlists for the whole week to set the right mood for the right time.
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Scheduled playlists that can be customized at different venues
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Social features to share the music across Facebook, Twitter and stream it on your website
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Business support; and Offline mode
I think the biggest draw for any business would be legal/finance protection. “Unlimited Music – legally. Spotify Business comes with a commercial license. For the first time, you can legally stream and download unlimited music from Spotify to play in your business.” In the commercial world, that’s a big deal and could potentially put some lawyers out of business and it’s tax deductible. For ~$600/year businesses can economically protect themselves, while potentially putting the actual workers whose job it is to craft these playlists out of work.
So now I’m thinking – Apple is in talk to buy Beats Music (WSJ). Did it miss out on a golden opportunity to market music to the business sector? Maybe Apple will do what it does best and copy this business service right into Beats Music! (Instapaper, iOS7)
Bri Alys, LLC 