On Common Ground with Microsoft

Yesterday, AdAge.com published an article about hiphop rapper extraordinaire Common teaming up with Microsoft to promote Zune. Common talks about the way in which rap artists have warmed up to working with brands, even though corporations were viewed as an evil part of the establishment when hiphop was being born.

What's changed? Common talks about Microsoft as being a classic, timeless, international brand--something he aspires to be. I buy that. I've been a Common fan for years, so I believe this is an honest artist with great integretity. But I believe there's something more here. Namely, survival and an evolution of music's money making model.

When artists were getting paid for their work via record/cd sales, they could choose to be independent and not 'sell out' in support of a brand. Or even start their own label, like the Beastie Boys. But today, its harder and harder for record companies and artists to make money off purely off of sales. We all know why, so this doesn't need to be discussed.

As artists are now able to have greater control over their career and how they choose to produce and market themselves, it makes perfect sense that in the age of collaboration they would open themselves up to new collaborations--even ones they would have condemned in the past. In essence, all artists will become their own record label to some degree, so, they'll have to navigate their own dealings and brand perceptions.

So is Microsoft a good brand fit for Common? He seems to think so. And he's probably right. It's a synergy thing. It extends Common's reach and gives him greater visibility. For Microsoft, its also a win--they get an injection of cool-factor and street cred they so desperately need.

In the future, aside from live shows, corporate relationships are going to be an increasingly important vehicle for artists to market themselves--and generate income. Look at The Black Keys as an example, their music was used by a number of brands when they first came out, but now, they're maintaining a greater distance from brand participation.

Nothing wrong with that.

Here's my favorite excerpt from the interview with Common:

M&V: You've been rapping now for a couple decades. How do you think the hip-hip community's attitude toward brand partnerships has changed since you started?

Common: Before, it used to be, "Oh man, you don't mess with corporations." I mean, you know corporations; they just represented the evils of America at a certain point. They represented capitalism and the exploitation of a lot of people. And hip-hop is so rooted in culture that it's based on a love for art, and art and corporations didn't seem like they mixed, but I think the Sprite commercials [from the mid-'90s] are what started turning it around for a lot of people.