The Universal Music Group has launched a new joint venture with advertising giant the WPP Group which will see the creation of a new London based agency that will create partnerships between consumer brands and the major record company's artists and music.
The new venture, to be called BrandAmp, will essentially cut out the middle man - ie third party agencies - in the creation of such partnerships, which are an increasingly important revenue stream for the music business.
Confirming the partnership, Universal Music UK chairman Lucian Grainge told reporters: "This new venture makes sense on many levels. It brings closer together two creative communities which are driven by innovation and imagination. It will also create a direct relationship out of what was an unnecessarily arms length way of doing business".
WPP CEO Martin Sorrell added: "In a world of media fragmentation, music remains a powerful medium. We see an increasing desire for brands to partner with bands. BrandAmp will allow us to facilitate and manage those partnerships more successfully."