Music – like online portals and games – is at the core of the ProSiebenSat.1 Group’s Diversification segment. All music activities are bundled together in MM MerchandisingMedia, the Group’s licensing subsidiary. Music operations consist of both partnerships and the Starwatch Music label, including other labels as joint projects.
Music & Tour Cooperations is an established, dynamic segment within MM MerchandisingMedia. The combination of station brands and music yields numerous opportunities for cooperation that offer high TV visibility and strengthen the name recognition of the artist. Program trailers generate a strong emotional effect when accompanied by music.
One current example of successful marketing is the number-one hit single “Tik Tok” by Ke$ha, now featured as the music for the Model WG trailers on ProSieben. The successful relationship with Robbie Williams will also continue in 2010. The British singer appeared before the camera in London as a new member of the ProSieben Star Force. A new Star Force trailer was shot. The shoot was part of a major media cooperation between ProSieben, MM MerchandisingMedia and EMI Music Germany to coincide with the release of the Robbie Williams album “Reality Killed The Video Star,” which was released in Germany in November 2009. The collaboration will continue in 2010. Just before Easter, for example, the trailers for the mega-blockbusters on ProSieben will be scored with the new Robbie Williams single “Morning Sun.”
The Starwatch Music label was founded in 2005 by MM MerchandisingMedia and Warner Music with the aim of establishing, marketing and providing media support for our own in-house music acts such as POPSTARS. Starwatch Music has since expanded to sign outside artists such as Udo Lindenberg, Chris de Burgh and Roger Cicero. In January 2008, the leading industry journal Musikwoche called Starwatch Music the most successful independent label on the German recording market.
Since the fall of 2008, three additional labels have been founded as joint projects: WE LOVE MUSIC (with Universal Music), Columbia SevenOne Music (with Sony BMG) and EMI 7 MUSIC (with EMI Music). Like Starwatch Music, all the labels combine the emotional reach of the strong ProSiebenSat.1 broadcasting brands with the professional musical expertise of the major labels and offer artists a broad platform for their careers. Today’s top artists include a-ha and Adoro (both with WE LOVE MUSIC) and Marit Larsen (Columbia).
