spreading jam

With the rise of celebrity endorsements from Lady Gaga becoming the creative director at Polaroid, Justin Timberlake buying Myspace and every other celebrity dipping their toes into collaborations within the fashion world, is it now the turn of the big record labels?

The latest edition to the fashion world is Sony BMG’s Deconstruction Records who are about to launch a t-shirt range; it’s first being sold in Harrods then Harvey Nichols and Urban Outfitters. Urban Outfitters is understandable, an edgy brand that appeals to a young, hip demographic but, for an old school dance label, with a host of cool signings, selling a line of t-shirts in Harrods and Harvey Nichols just seems a little misplaced.

It raises questions over whether the music industry has reached such a stage that in order to protect itself from poor record sales, the answer is to launch a line of t-shirts in Harrods, and Harvey Nichols – two of London’s most expensive stores. Are they aiming to target the rich and tourists, or is there a certain logic to targeting the launch at a luxury store will somehow make it more exclusive, more people will be interested in the brand and it will correlate into record sales?

In the current state the music industry is in it makes us question – is it the right thing to do, surely the money they’re spending on producing and marketing this line should be spent on promoting and supporting their roster of artists?

Source: http://www.musicweek.com/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=1046420&c=1