5 Minutes with... Daniel Cross

 

DC > We are a music marketing consultancy, we work with brands to help them make the most out of relationships with musicians and music.  So it could be working on a strategic level with a brand, to help them figure out how it’s going to position itself with music. So, for example, if a brand is interested in finding new audiences or wanting to communicate a particular message, we figure out whether or not it’s feasible to do that with music and, in a practical sense, how it’s going to be done and who the protagonists will be. So, who to work with, how to work with them and what you will expect from the relationships. On both, what’s to be delivered and what’s expected from the rights holders themselves.  We are trying to work out positive ways of using music in a campaign and looking at how to extend that in a way that’s positive for both parties.

 

DC >I set the business up in 2002/3 off the back of working at a music publisher in north London. I spotted an opportunity to support and work with independent record labels and get their music produced in commercial environments non-exclusively. So you call up a little record label and say do you want us to try and place your music in TV ads and games? I had a couple of projects to start off with, so I jumped ship where I was, and set up Record Play. Initially it was tough going as I thought I had more work than I actually did, so I took on a few other jobs like a tour manager of a band and working in a climbing centre. Did that for about six months then managed to pull in a few bigger clients. I just pushed on and really wanted to believe that it would work.

 

DC > I have a degree in Marketing. When I left University I worked in a range of jobs that gradually got me towards music and I worked in sales for a bit. I worked for an internet company working on the content for sporting federations, then worked for MTV and RTL in Germany for four years then I moved back to London to work for another internet company. Then I set up my first business which was in promotions and that got me a job in a publisher. So I have experience of promoting of publishing and of marketing, and all of those things are combined with a random process which involves marketing, music and also rights management. And also my interest in musicians.

 

DC > Yes, always. That’s been the driving factor; I wouldn’t be motivated to do what I do unless I had a vested interest in music. One of our mandates is to try and support the underdog. We love the idea of trying to help emerging and up and coming artists. We feel like they are most likely to benefit from brand relations and synchronizations.

 

DC > We work with pretty much all of the indie labels in the UK, and also a few from abroad. We also work with all the management companies in the UK. They flag up who they think is going to be exciting and interesting and we consider them for the clients we have and if there’s a fit we see if we can shoe-horn them into some sort of campaign. 

 

DC > I started working for Adidas about six years ago on a few ad hoc jobs, then we managed to open the relationship a bit wider by talking to different people in different departments, and helping them find and apply music to their campaigns. Then after about four years we managed to convince them that it made sense to bring me a little bit closer into the production circle, so I came out with a jazzy title and an email address, and the work just spiraled from there. That led on to a lot of work with Reebok. For example Reebok classic Europe, we’ve been helping that department to find music to develop the brand in front of the right audience in a classic side in a lifestyle side. So going into the second year of that, we have a great contract with them and we are bringing some emerging artists into the picture. 

 

DC > The work involves taking six key territories and looking at how a brand which doesn’t have necessarily music experience can develop a list of activations that need to be carried out. So we need a few remixes, we want to create some endorsements, we want to put on events we want social media, we want a profile in social media. We look at those things that we want to accomplish and we look at the fact that Reebok is a sports brand and doesn’t have many resources in this area so we try to address the way that the brand can fulfill all these needs or requirements without having to take on new staff. So that led to working with a label that has offices in Russia, Spain, Germany the UK and then we consider how we can collaborate with the brand in a really real way. So there is a natural link between what the brand is making and producing, and the artist that is part of this mix. In addition, looking at who is likely to buy this product, are they going to recognise a natural connection between the brand and the music, and is it going to interest them, is it going to stimulate them? Because really we have to be careful, we don’t want to just jump onto the band wagon, there needs to be a real meaning behind the work. 

 

DC > With Friendly Fires there was interest in developing some content on one of the Reebok platforms, based around what it would be like to be on the road, behind the scenes and the processes that lead to gigs and tours. It just so happened that Friendly Fires were going on tour and they are obviously an awesome band, and making some amazing music. They were interested in working with Reebok allowing them this insight of what happens on tour, so we put together this plan and followed them on tour with a camera man, to get some backstage content. It worked really well, we wanted to be discreet not to over branded, we wanted to show content to the general public that they wouldn’t otherwise have seen, if Reebok hadn’t have been able to produce it.

 

DC > We are lucky because with the clients we have there is a link between the product and the music and wearing sports products. It’s not an unnatural fit, it’s a natural process, Reebok has a history of an affiliation with music, and Adidas too, so it’s not a big sell. But the band does need to see a positive aside from the money. They need to think is this going to work for them, is it going to damage their reputation, are people going to think they are selling out? What’s the treatment going to be? How’s it going to be marketed? Who’s going to see it? Is there any reach in the media, is there any media support? So it’s building a business case for the band, showing them what is going to be invested; on the media side this is how it’s going to look and this is what you are going to get out of it, aside from money.

 

DC > No, not at all. We are lucky, it’s Reebok’s 25th anniversary of Punk this year and next year the 30th anniversary of Classic, so these are heritage shoes and that does make it easier to sell it.

 

But there are some artists who aren’t interested in any sort of brand specification, and that’s totally cool, I completely respect that. I think it’s important for someone to have a moral code. And a musician will have some brands they don’t want to work with, if I was a musician there would be some brands I wouldn’t want to work with. On the other hand, I think what the brand is able to offer financially, is taking up some of the slack of what’s lost from record sales. There is a benefit there and a mindset change in the music community.

 

DC > Yes it’s about the reach, if you know that you have a big PR company and a big media buying company to push the content out, they are going to be more enthusiastic about it. If it’s just slapping a logo on an artist’s forehead and sticking them back in a store cupboard, it’s not worth it for them. You have to take a look at the whole picture before you buy into one of these concepts. For some musicians there are so many different opportunities there you need to be a little bit selective, otherwise you will come out looking like a clothes horse.

 

DC > Music Hub is a way for labels to exploit back catalogues that isn’t a priority anymore so it’s a database of music that’s pre cleared and ready for synchronisation. It’s pre-cleared at a certain rate relative to media use, so for a quick one minute behind the scenes pr shoot that’s going to be used online there is a rate, and for a commercial there is a different rate for that, and so on. All of the content comes from indie labels, most of whom own both sides of the content and they are prepared to have their catalogues used in lower scale in profile productions. 

 

DC > With the clients we have - we work mainly in the Global HQ for Adidas and the European HQ for Reebok - we have got a good set up in the UK in East London, and it’s doing well. We have taken on some more staff so they are able to facilitate the clients we have there. Then there are opportunities in markets further afield, that we can work on a local level, so with our clients we are working on a local level with Spain the UK and Italy, and we are also working on a European level and now working on a Global level as well. There are great opportunities in Barcelona, great city festivals like Primavera, and Sonar.

 

Again, the last thing we want to do is to slap a logo on something; it needs to be a natural fit. But there are ways of working credibly with these sorts of people, and they are up for it, people here are open minded here and it’s easy to meet new faces. 

 

DC > Love it. I get to listen to a lot of music all the time, get to work with like minded people, a lot of musicians, promoters producers managers labels, I get to work with really interesting brands, and representatives of the brands, I travel a bit. It’s my own business I don’t have to answer to anybody, I can turn up late and go home early…not that I do, I normally turn up early and go home late!