Keep Your Listeners Close and Your Competitors Closer

Editor’s note: This piece is part of our Columnist Network series, which explores the tactical thoughts and actions from Adweek’s community of high-level experts. Today, Dorothy Hui of Sony Music UK shares examples from the music industry of adapting to new media landscapes and pursuing authentic audience engagement. Below, in her own words, she discusses the importance of brand partnerships and integrative experiences for holding users' attention. The challenge “‘And’ or ‘Or?’” That is the question. As someone whose work revolves around amplifying artists’ stories and engaging their audiences, today’s attention economy presents both an opportunity and a challenge when trying to align artists and their music with different moments in their fans’ lives. Given that the average U.S. adult’s day is now made up of 31.5 hours worth of activity through multitasking, with 12.5 of those hours being spent with tech and media, I often find myself thinking about where we can layer our artists’ music into new activities and contexts. It's integral that we maximize this opportunity, especially considering that music is an amplifier that can help people fulfill a specific purpose or enhance an activity. To avoid losing coveted listener attention to other activities, our teams at Sony Music focus both on building passionate fan bases and devising ways for audiences to engage with our artists while spending time across gaming, video, audio, social content, fitness, sleeping and more. We increasingly find ourselves building an extra layer into our marketing approach where we ask: “What is the function of music?” The process The turning point came in 2015, when the U.K. music market moved toward an “on-air, on sale” approach. This meant it would follow the trend of making music available when promotion began, instead of marketing a pre-release window toward a release launch. At the same time, streaming began to take hold as the dominant mode of consumption. While the music industry traditionally focused on transactional sales, we have since reframed our business to help our artists address the opportunities and challenges of operating in an attention economy. Over the past several years, we have ingrained in our teams that our competition extends beyond other labels to encompass any other media or activity that could divert time away from music listening. In doing this, we regularly referred to Netflix CEO Reed Hastings’ famous quote that Netflix’s biggest competitor is sleep. The average U.S. adult dedicates 6.5 hours per day to sleep—a stretch of time that could potentially be soundtracked by our artists, as long as the repertoire is right! This mindset influenced our interest in digital partners such as the relaxation app Calm. When we pitched and facilitated its recent collaboration with Ministry of Sound’s U.K. double platinum trio London Grammar, we took inspiration from the functional music trend that has grown out of streaming culture and the rise of curated mood- and activity-based playlists. The band drew on personal experiences of sleeplessness and reimagined tracks from its latest album as 15- to 60 minute-long mixes designed to act as a sleep and relaxation aid. This gave the band an opportunity to experiment with a new creative approach and engage its audience in a totally new context. Looking at workouts, on the other end of the activity spectrum, we also cultivated our relationship with Sony Music digital partner Peloton following its U.K. launch. Music and exercise go hand-in-hand to motivate and energize us during a workout, so a fitness partner like Peloton presented an exciting opportunity—especially since music is such an intrinsic part of the product and community. The Sony Music Global Digital Business team licensed the partner initially while it was predominantly U.S.-focused. Our team then helped build the relationship with Peloton's local team, who showcased its products and community to our label teams. Recent collaborations have included Artist Series workouts featuring Little Mix, as well as first-of-its-kind themed rides from the iconic label and brand Ministry of Sound, which offered fans a new avenue for dedicated engagement. The takeaway To maintain or grow attention share, a vertical-based approach to partnerships is key. Music no longer merely competes with other music. New partners offer an exciting opportunity for fans to engage with their favorite artists outside of streaming services and connect with music in multiple contexts.

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Keep Your Listeners Close and Your Competitors Closer

Dorothy Hui's tips on navigating the attention economy

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Dorothy Hui

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Dorothy Hui