Creative @ Wieden + Kennedy, Bodega | Creating silly ideas for household names. Intersecting black music, black culture and brands
I worked at one of the biggest record labels in the world. Now I work at one of the biggest advertising agencies in the world. Here are some of the differences I’ve observed so far: 1. Creativity is at the core of everything in advertising. As a junior, I’m being nurtured to create with intent and there’s an emphasis on developing my craft. At record labels, creativity comes second (after the numbers). There’s not as much need for nurturing employee creativity / craft because it’s almost always outsourced and commissioned elsewhere. 2. Money. Brands have money, artists / labels don’t (have as much). This has a huge effect on the creative. 3. Interestingly but unsurprisingly, at the record label, there were way more black employees on a ratio level. Labels often have dedicated ‘urban’ (i.e. black lol) music teams and there’s a clear focus on having people from those backgrounds speak to that that audience. I have an entire notes page with more observations, I just need time to watch them develop and prove true. Will be sharing in due course, in the meantime I wonder if agencies & labels will one day merge as a model? Brands and music interect massively, this could be interesting. #Recordlabel #musicindustry #advertising #adindustry #culture
Thanks for sharing these insights!