Branded Music Content

This study examines how branded content in music videos and lyrics of artist can be used as a business model for the Dutch music industry. Since the advertising technique also known as product placement in music videos and lyrics is not used on a wide scale in The Netherlands as it is in the United States, this study introduces the first steps in discovering how Dutch labels could integrate branded content in their businesses. Therefore the right ‘value’ canvas of the Business Model Canvas by Osterwalder and Pigneur (2010) is used to investigate how both advertisers and consumers can be satisfied in each other’s needs and demands through the strategic market forces. For this study the researcher made use of a quantitative multi-method research consisting focus-group study and expert interviews based on The Grounded Theory. The results show both similarities and differences between the customer segments, indicating that a business model with branded content as a value proposition could work in The Netherlands. The formed theory that this study shows presents several preconditions that Dutch music labels should take in account before executing this model in practice.