Apple Music & The NBA Announce A New Content Partnership Featuring An Exclusive Playlist
Apple Music and the National Basketball Association (NBA) are teaming up. Last week, the companies announced a new content partnership centered around an exclusive Apple Music playlist featuring music by independent artists from Steve Stoute's United Masters, an emerging digital label that focuses on connecting artists to audiences through direct partnerships with brands.
Appropriately titled The BASE: LINE, the playlist will feature about 40 hip-hop songs, curated on a weekly basis by Ebro Darden, Apple Music's global editorial head of Hip-Hop and R&B. In addition to Apple Music, the music featured on the playlist will be available on the NBA App and website and will be used for game highlights shared on social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook.
“NBA players come from the same communities that the music does, that is why the artists and the players feel connected. Many artists wanted to make it to the NBA before their life took a turn,” said Darden. “BASE: LINE is a playlist that gets closer to the community where the artist and the music is beginning.”
The first installment of The BASE: LINE is available now featuring music from the likes of Baby Keem, Young M.A., Dame D.O.L.L.A, and much more.
Insight & Analysis:
Over the last few months, there has been a rise in the number of partnerships between major companies like Apple Music and the NBA. Just last month, TikTok and the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) announced that they were joining forces. A month before that, TikTok and the National Football League (NFL) revealed a multi-year collaboration.
This string of new partnerships showcases companies teaming up with other companies as a way to strengthen the reach of their target demographic but perhaps, even more importantly, reach new audiences. As Darden pointed out in his statement, there is great overlap between the audience of the NBA and fans of the music that will be featured on playlist, making it a partnership that feels authentic and nature and set up for success.
For more streaming news, follow me on Twitter and connect with me on LinkedIn.
SOURCE: Bloomberg
