Ahead of the latest edition of the annual music awards, a look at why the GRAMMY’s sponsors did the deals and the lessons for other rights holders

Looking at the sponsors of the awards night itself over the last few years reveals the main angle or reason why they did the deal differs considerably from other sponsorships as a whole.

Three-quarters of GRAMMY’s sponsors have done so to showcase their product/service, which compares to just 8% of all sponsorship deals around the world in the last two years.

This is primarily because the GRAMMY’s is much more concentrated around a single night and that the level of branding given to sponsors is far more understated than among sports teams or events, for example.

So, whilst GRAMMY’s sponsors will benefit around the usual brand metrics of awareness, perception, consideration, purchasing and loyalty, this is likely to be less pronounced. Bear in mind that Brand Awareness is the most common publicly-cited reason for doing deals overall – at 29% – and this doesn’t really feature as a main motivation for GRAMMY’s sponsors.

Clearly all sponsors – including those primarily motivated by brand awareness – would like to showcase their capability through deals. So, the way GRAMMY’s sponsors over the years have activated their rights to show this provides interesting examples for other rights holders to learn from.

Particularly as their activations have to work much harder than rights holders where brand awareness is the driving motivation – and where the main GRAMMY deals reportedly cost from around $10-$50 million per year.

How GRAMMY’s sponsors showcase capability

Sponsor: Dyson
Category: Consumer Goods / Electronics/Appliances
Designation: Consumer Headphones Partner

The brand most known for its vacuum cleaners has the Dyson Zone™, an immersive listening experience at both the “A Celebration of Women In The Mix” event and the #GRAMMYsNextGen Party, featuring its noise-canceling headphones. In addition, Dyson Beauty activates its products via styling stations at the A Celebration of Women In The Mix event.

Sponsor: Google Pixel
Category: Consumer Goods / Electronics/Appliances
Designation: Phone Partner

Google’s Pixel camera wants to show how its cutting-edge camera capabilities can “redefine the way people create content”. So to this end, photographers at the event were equipped with Pixel phones to capture behind-the-scenes content and talent photos in real time, creating a dynamic photo collection.

Sponsor: JBL
Category: Consumer Goods / Electronics/Appliances
Designation: Sound Partner

The audio brand provides products for both consumers and professionals. As the official sound partner, it’s Pro Sound product powered various events and experiences throughout GRAMMY week, designed to created memorable and unexpected experiences for attendees. Performers and presenters at the event were also given the brand’s products as gifts.

Sponsor: Bulova
Category: Consumer Goods / Accessories
Designation: Timepiece Partner

The watch brand gave each first-time award winner a personalised Exclusive Edition GRAMMY timepiece alongside their statuette. The watch contained a customized glass case back, including the GRAMMY logo stamp, the award and the award recipient’s name.

Interestingly, the watch contained a gold-tone crown and gold-tone dial made of GRAMMIUM—a custom alloy developed by John Billings, the craftsman who creates, by hand, the gramophone statue that is presented to winners.

Sponsor: Binance
Category: Financial Services / Crypto/Blockchain
Designation: Cryptocurrency Exchange Partner

Binance was touted as the event’s first-ever crypto partner (but see OneOf below). Previously, Binance had launched non-fungible tokens (NFTs) marketplaces to collaborate with various artists and music labels. Through the GRAMMYs it wanted to showcase how blockchain can power “fresh new experiences”. So, it brought various Web3 (an umbrella term for blockchain/crypto-related tech) technology solutions to the Academy so the latter could “explore new monetisation avenues for our members and create new experiences for music fans.” 

Sponsor: OneOf
Category: Financial Services / Crypto/Blockchain
Designation: NFT Partner

OneOf is a NFT platform designed specifically for the music community to create an environmentally sustainable, artist-and-fan-friendly experience. Non-fungible tokens are blockchain-based tokens that each represent a unique asset like a piece of art, digital content, or media.

The brand believes that “If used to their full potential, NFTs will empower the music industry in a way few other technologies ever have.” So, it launched a collection of GRAMMY-related NFTs featuring collections from various artists to show how it could bring more money into the ecosystem.

Sponsor: IBM
Category: Information Technology / IT Services/Hardware
Designation: Artificial Intelligence & Cloud Partner

To showcase its AI capabilities, IBM created “AI Stories” powered by its AI platform, watsonx. AI Stories is a generative AI solution co-created alongside the Recording Academy’s Editorial and Social teams to generate and scale customized content ranging from social copy to livestream coverage around GRAMMY nominees before and during the awards. The AI-generated content appeared across the event’s website and social channels, enabling IBM to connect millions of music fans with their preferred artists and also introducing them to new ones.

In addition to AI Stories, the Recording Academy (owners of the GRAMMYs) partners with IBM Consulting on new solutions that will enhance business operations and optimize digital experiences for all of its 23,000 members.

Sponsor: United Airlines
Category: Travel & Tourism / Airlines
Designation: Airline Partner

The airline provided travel for the awards, including flying GRAMMY U (the Recording Academy’s program for music professionals and creatives aged 18 to 29) Student Representatives to Los Angeles to experience the event. After the show, United’s @united channel enabled fans to learn more about the students’ trip and how United helps champion Recording Academy initiatives that are positively changing the music industry.

The deal aims to showcase how the airline has redefined the travel experience for music and production studios, offering perks like reduced airfare, special discounts on equipment, VIP airport services, and a dedicated 24/7 entertainment support desk.

Sponsor: Smirnoff
Category: Food & Beverage / Alcohol
Designation: Spirits Partner

The vodka brand offered premium cocktail serves and samples of its new Smirnoff SMASH vodka soda flavors to guests attending various events during the week, including the GRAMMYs After-Party and GRAMMY House. The activation was designed to “offer guests new and unique ways to get in on the fun and raise a glass in cheers to the season.”

Sponsor: Grey Goose Vodka
Category: Food & Beverage / Alcohol
Designation: Spirits Partner

The vodka brand developed an all-new signature cocktail for the event, called the GREY GOOSE Passion Drop. A remix of their quintessential martini, the cocktail was featured at all their signature events during the week and was highlighted digitally on their GREY GOOSE Hub on GRAMMY.com, which also included themed invites, GREY GOOSE cocktail recipes and watch party ideas. During the week, the brand also highlighted their new line of vodkas infused with real fruit and botanicals during the GREY GOOSE ESSENCES x GRAMMYs: Sound Sessions featuring artist Tinashe.

Sponsor: Frontera Wines
Category: Food & Beverage / Alcohol
Designation: Wine Partner

The Chilean wine brand wanted to show how it could enhance the overall awards experience. So, Frontera showcased their selection at various events during the week which included hosting an exclusive experience for winners of a  worldwide competition, who undertook a three-day Frontera Wines Experience in Los Angeles, culminating in attendance at the main GRAMMY events.

Sponsor: FIJI Water
Category: Food & Beverage / Soft Drinks
Designation: Water Partner

A pretty straightforward ‘brand-in-hand’ activation: FIJI Water was on hand to hydrate all the red carpet attendees as they took photos and participated in interviews with the media. FIJI Water was also the exclusive water brand across GRAMMY Week events, which gave attendees the chance to drink it.

Sponsor: Amazon Music
Category: Media & Entertainment / Music/Audio
Designation: Music Streaming Partner

Amazon Music created official playlists including the official GRAMMYs Playlist, and was the exclusive music streaming service for hip-hop- and R&B-focused GRAMMY playlists. The brand also shared exclusive content which included “RuPaul’s Drag Race” competitor Mo Heart conducting artist interviews from the red carpet and entertainment journalist Gia Peppers chatting with talent on the Recording Academy Honors Black Carpet.

The latter built on the relationship between Amazon Music and the Recording Academy that began with the launch of the annual “Your Future Is Now” HBCU Scholarship Program with the Academy’s Black Music Collective in 2021. This gives students the opportunity to learn and explore all facets of the music industry.

Sponsor: SiriusXM
Category: Media & Entertainment / Music/Audio
Designations: Radio Platform / Satellite Radio Sponsor

The radio station created a limited edition two-week pop-up channel (the GRAMMY channel) featuring a variety of music from all the artists, albums and songs nominated across the awards leading up to the live broadcast on the night.

Sponsor: Pandora
Category: Media & Entertainment / Music/Audio
Designation: Radio Station

The subscription-based streaming app radio station launching GRAMMY Awards Radio, a limited-edition official station (for around 8 weeks) covering songs from current nominees and past winners throughout the years. The station also included behind-the-scenes stories from the artists—as told by the artists themselves.

Pandora also partnered with the Recording Academy to host the Pandora LIVE Countdown to the event featuring an all-female line-up of current nominees including HAIM, Brittany Howard, and CHIKA.

Fan Engagement motivations

Following Showcasing Capability, the next most common motivation is Fan Engagement, as exhibited by these sponsors:

Sponsor: Hilton
Category: Travel & Tourism / Accommodation
Designation: Hotel Partner

As well as being the host venue, the chain’s Honors Experiences – a platform that offers their members a chance to bid on or buy once-in-a-lifetime experiences with points – gives up to 20 fans the opportunity to gain exclusive access to GRAMMY week members events, including the Awards, After-Party and the MusiCares® Person of the Year Tribute concert.

Sponsor: Facebook
Category: Consumer Services / Specialised Consumer Service
Designation: Exclusive Streaming Partner

Music-loving Facebook Groups had the unique opportunity to participate in the first-ever virtual Fan Zone where members were featured in hosted segments and had their questions answered by some of their favorite nominated artists. The virtual Fan Zone was a destination throughout the awards night where Facebook Group members could engage on in-show performances and award winners.

Sponsor: Mastercard
Category: Financial Services / Payments/Transfer
Designation: Payments Partner

As the event’s main sponsor, Mastercard activates in a large variety of ways. However, a significant element is how it gives them opportunities to engage directly with fans, artists, and other brands through exclusive experiences and promotions.

Examples include:

• Hosting a Virtual Fan Wall experience for select cardholders to interact with some of the nominees
• Creating the Masterpass #ThankTheFans House – a one-of-a-kind experiential record store with interactive music experiences for all fans
• On the night itself whenever an award was presented, fans could Masterpass $1 and receive special offers such as movie tickets, designer fashions or a trip the next Grammys. If an artist thanked their fans during an acceptance speech, Masterpass unlocked even more special items.

Mastercard undertakes these type of activities as it gets harder for brands to reach their audiences so believes brands can earn consumers’ attention by creating experiences that are truly engaging.

Social Impact motivations

A couple of the main sponsors are doing so to showcase how they’re a benefit to society.

Sponsor: PEOPLE
Category: Media & Entertainment / Publishing
Designation: Magazine Partner

The magazine has recently “expanded the partnership for a greater purpose”, through the creation of opportunity for women in music and the expansion of Women In The Mix – a platform for supporting and encouraging women in the music industry.

The announcement states: “Together we join forces, leveraging our resources, united in power and purpose. “A Celebration of Women In The Mix” will be the kickoff event for this year’s GRAMMY House programming.”

Sponsor: City National Bank
Category: Financial Services / Banks
Designations: Bank Partner / presenting sponsor

City National makes a big play on how it “dedicates time and money to a variety of music-related non-profit organizations that spread the love of music and assist people inside and outside of the industry.”

It does this to publicly reinforce their goal is to “make business personal and support all aspects of the industries we serve.”

Although it doesn’t technically activate at the event, it uses the GRAMMYs as a signpost to the work they do around supporting music including organizing financial wellness programs in collaboration with various trade organizations.

In summary

So, although the brands are mostly sponsoring the event to showcase their capability, it reveals the very different ways they are activating to do so. This provides all rights holders with ideas/inspiration about which categories and brands to target with what ideas to create that compelling angle or hook to generate a conversation.