(Press-News.org) DENVER (March 10, 2015) - As branding and advertising creep into almost every facet of life, a new study from the University of Colorado Denver shows it's now making substantial inroads into popular music.
The study examined in detail the yearly top 30 Billboard songs from 1960 to 2013 - a total of 1,583 - and found a steep increase in `advertainment' or the use of product placement, branding and name dropping among the most popular music in the nation.
In 2006 alone, 20 of the top 30 songs, or two out of three, included at least one reference to a person, place or product, the study said.
"As a professor of music business and a fan I recognized that this was happening. Now, as a researcher, I have the data to prove it," said study author Storm Gloor, associate professor of music business at CU Denver's College of Arts & Media. "I don't necessarily lament it or abhor it but I was surprised by the clarity of the trend."
Gloor found a total of 1,544 product references in the five decades of songs he analyzed with more than half occurring between 2000 and 2010. Automobiles were favorites with Mercedes-Benz, Bentley, Corvette, Cadillac and Chevrolet among the most popular products mentioned.
The study also showed a direct link between product placement and brand awareness. For example, Gloor said that after the 2002 Busta Rhymes hit single `Pass the Courvoisier,' sales of the cognac jumped 10 to 20 percent that year. Run DMC's song `My Adidas,' Gloor said, had a similar impact on those sneakers.
Place names also increased dramatically since 1960. Aside from famous seaside towns mentioned in hits like the Beach Boys' `Surfin' USA,' there were few locations mentioned in the 1960s and 70s. That grew steadily in the 80s and 90s. In 2006, some 9 percent of Billboard's top songs referenced specific place names.
Another trend is the artist dropping their own name. There was only one name reference in 1964, four in 1974, one in 1984, 39 in 1994 and 130 in 2004. One potential reason for this is that many radio deejays no longer identify the songs or artists they play, so singers must do it themselves, Gloor said.
According to Gloor, all this is also happening due to seismic changes in the music industry.
"In today's music business, artists and their stakeholders have had to take non-traditional approaches in navigating the marketplace," he said. "It has become increasingly important to emphasize marketing the artist as a brand rather than focusing so much on the sale of recordings."
The study noted that singer CeeLo Green had revenues of over $20 million in 2011 with the smallest amount of that coming from music sales. The rest were derived from marketing and branding opportunities.
"Artist and music business mogul Jay-Z has been specifically pointed out as someone who uses mentions of brand names `as a way of marking his authenticity as a self-made businessman,''' the study said.
Gloor said that referring to products, places and people might cause fans to relate to the music and keep listening rather than clicking past.
Another finding showed that pop songs have become much longer since the 1960s and 70s when Top 40 radio stations favored shorter songs. The average number of words in a song from 1960 was 185, while in 2010 it was 489 or a 164 percent increase.
The increased length appeals to businesses like Pandora, a free Internet music provider, which can lower their licensing fees by playing longer songs during a consumer's listening time, since they pay a per-song fee, Gloor said.
"Many people thought music was the last bastion free of marketing but that train has left the station. Many musicians these days make less money from their recorded work so they must become marketing entities since the music doesn't entirely pay the bills," Gloor said. "People could get sick of it and there could be a backlash but for now this is the new reality."
INFORMATION:
The study was published last month in the Journal of the Music & Entertainment Industry Education Association. It can be found here.
http://www.meiea.org/Journal/Vol.14/Gloor-MEIEA_Journal_vol_14_no_1_2014-p39.pdf.
Researchers at the Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System and University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, with colleagues in New York and the United Kingdom, have identified genetic markers, derived from blood samples that are linked to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The markers are associated with gene networks that regulate innate immune function and interferon signaling.
The findings, published in the March 10 issue of the journal Molecular Psychiatry, offer novel insights into the pathophysiology of PTSD. In clinical terms, researchers say ...
Ithaca, NY--What inspires people to support conservation? As concerns grow about the sustainability of our modern society, this question becomes more important. A new study by researchers at Cornell University provides one simple answer: bird watching and hunting.
This survey of conservation activity among rural landowners in Upstate New York considered a range of possible predictors such as gender, age, education, political ideology, and beliefs about the environment. All other factors being equal, bird watchers are about five times as likely, and hunters about four ...
Philadelphia, PA, March 10, 2015 - In a study published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, researchers from the RAND Corporation report that for people receiving food assistance there are significant links between depression, poor dietary quality, and high body mass index (BMI). They suggest that understanding the risk of depression among Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants could be important to understanding the relationship among SNAP participation, diet, and weight.
"This study focuses on a group that is of particular ...
New evidence published today in the Cochrane Library shows that hormone replacement therapy does not protect post-menopausal women against cardiovascular disease, and may even cause an increased risk of stroke.
HRT, now more commonly known as hormone therapy, is widely used for controlling menopausal symptoms. It has also been used for the prevention of cardiovascular disease in post-menopausal women. This latest evidence looked at the effects of using hormone therapy for at least six months and involved more than 40,000 women across the world.
The length of time women ...
WASHINGTON, DC - March 10, 2015 - Households can serve as a reservoir for transmitting methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), according to a study published this week in mBio®, the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology. Once the bacteria enters a home, it can linger for years, spreading from person to person and evolving genetically to become unique to that household.
MRSA are strains of the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus that are resistant to almost all antibiotics related to penicillin, known as the beta-lactams. Since ...
Middle-aged Americans who show high levels of societal involvement and mental health are especially likely to construe their lives as stories of personal redemption, according to new research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.
Previous research has shown that adults who are inclined toward generativity - the concern for and commitment to promoting the growth and well-being of future generations - are more likely to engage in a wide range of prosocial behaviors, including positive parenting styles, political participation, ...
Everything is connected, especially in the brain. A protein called BAI1, involved in limiting the growth of brain tumors, is also critical for spatial learning and memory, researchers have discovered.
Mice missing BAI1 have trouble learning and remembering where they have been. Because of the loss of BAI1, their neurons have changes in how they respond to electrical stimulation and subtle alterations in parts of the cell needed for information processing.
The findings may have implications for developing treatments for neurological diseases, because BAI1 is part of ...
BOSTON, MA - Healthcare spending is at an all-time high in the U.S., yet young African-American men see little benefit, according to Boston Medical Center (BMC) researchers' Viewpoint commentary published in the current issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
The researchers note that black men have a life expectancy nearly five years less than white men. While heart disease and cancer contribute to this decreased life expectancy, homicide also plays a large role. From ages 1 to 14, homicide is either the second or third leading cause of death ...
As obesity rates rise, so does the incidence of type 2 diabetes (T2D). In obese individuals and those with obesity-induced T2D, there is an accumulation of immune cells within adipose tissue that results in a low level of chronic inflammation. Gut microbial populations are also altered in these individuals. Weight loss, either through diet or gastric bypass, improves TD2-associated symptoms and shifts the gut microbiota. A new study in the Journal of Clinical Investigation reports that a population of T cells known as mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells is altered ...
Fast Facts:
U.S. adults with a history of using some nonaddictive psychedelic drugs had reduced likelihood of psychological distress and suicidal thoughts, plans, and attempts, according to data from a nationwide survey.
While these psychedelic drugs are illegal, a Johns Hopkins researcher and study author recommends reconsidering their status, as they may be useful in treating depression.
Some people have serious adverse reactions to these drugs, which may not stand out in the survey data because they are less numerous than positive outcomes.
A history of ...
