UK music industry attracted over £100m in investment from big brands in 2012: PRS report

Iconic brands such as Coca Cola, O2, Blackberry and Volkswagen spent a record £100m on music in 2012, PRS for Music research has revealed.

Artist endorsements or "sponsorship", such as those between Coca Cola and Mark Ronson for the Olympics or Mastercard and Emeli Sande at the BRIT Awards, saw a 33% increase in brand spend from the previous year and brought in over £4.5m.

Digital campaigns, including the launch of the new Spotify app, YouTube's new LoveLive channel and events that offered fans real-time interaction via social media and mobile like AmEx Unstaged meant digital spend on music reached £10.4m.

Sponsored music events still thrived, says the report, despite the dominance of the Olympics in 2012. Live music sponsorship accounted for the largest share of the market at 35% and netted over £33m. High profile campaigns included Coca Cola's Olympics Torch Relay, with sixty-six live music shows across the UK, Rihanna's infamous Budweiser 777 tour and Blackberry's Summer Daze, which featured eight UK festivals and was broadcast on Channel 4.

Robert Ashcroft, Chief Executive of PRS for Music, commented: "Innovative companies understand the power of a good song and how a memorable music experience inspires and connects with fans. Historically, sport was where big brands put their money, but the last twelve months have demonstrated the unique power of music to convey brand value and how the right partnership can benefit music lover, songwriter and business alike".

Anthony Ackenhoff, CEO, FRUKT said: "The brand and music space is an incredibly active and vibrant one. We've seen an increase in both the volume of activity and sophistication of platforms over the last five years and there are no signs of this changing. Music is something people instinctively love – when brands improve or enrich music moments and experiences they strengthen relationships with their consumers.

"There's a clear trend in brands wanting to take control of platforms and move away from traditional sponsorship – we're really excited by this and see it as an opportunity to get even more creative".