The Spotify-affiliated music streaming start-up has secured over $40m of funding to spice up the musical offerings of global brands – with curation and human expertise at its core
Wishy-washy background muzak, from lifts to coffee shops, is a sadly familiar part of life. But we are no longer living in a time of restricted choices. Virtually the whole recorded output of musical history is available at the touch of a button, so why resort to peeping panpipes and lilting lutes?
Soundtrack Your Brand was founded in 2013 by Beat Music co-founder Ola Sars and former Spotify exec Andreas Liffgarden. It just secured $22m in a funding round, taking its market share in the Nordics to 30%. The company say the funding raised will enable the brand to set its sights on a global audience.
As a sensory and persuasive tool, music plays a powerful role in content marketing. There is much to learn from Soundtrack Your Brand’s USPs.
Get perfect pitch
Music as a persuasive force has long been a recognised feature of advertising, such as influencing customers to spend longer in shops, or to buy higher-value products. In the retail environment for example, studies have shown classical music leads to more expensive purchases in wine shops.
Soundtrack Your Brand’s offering is called Spotify Business in the Nordics (where it has the rights to Spotify’s branding) and Soundtrack Business elsewhere – essentially operating as a B2B version of the streaming giant.
It offers licences to businesses and lets them control music across multiple locations. For £34.99 per month per location, licence holders gain access to customised playlists curated by experts. An IOS app works as a remote control for staff, as well as catering for different music to be played in different parts of the building.
Music as part of the content mix
Mixing music and digital marketing is a dangerous game. Websites with soundtracks are generally annoying and rarely suited to the B2B world. But there’s no denying the power of the right music to create a richer, more individual experience. Some businesses share their Spotify playlists to mark them out as modern and approachable and the company itself has dedicated corporate products.
Longer form content can also work well with a subtle soundtrack if it matches the subject matter. The subtle integration of video and audio within articles will be increasingly commonplace, hastened by technology such as Facebook Instant Articles.
Put your faith in a musical maestro
Soundtrack Your Brand claims to offer up expertly curated playlists to suit any mood. This sense of personalisation is one that music streaming services are constantly chasing. (Back in September, Content Desk looked at the musical battle between man and machine, and how Spotify was relishing the challenge of improving its ‘Recommends’ choices.)
Your content may be informed by analytics and technological advancement but it must be created and overseen by humans. Editorial experts should make editorial decisions but could it be that the algorithms of a service such as Soundtrack Your Brand should make musical choices? Perhaps one day soon.
Although a less-trodden path than hiring freelance writers or video producers (for which Content Cloud would be an ideal platform, FYI), there are plenty of musicians available to hire to soundtrack whatever content brief you may have. Who knows when Google will start ranking for original musical content too?
Music is more than just background noise. Its emotive and universal qualities could make it a vital string to your content marketing (violin) bow.
by James Sullivan. Contact him here.
