Warner Music Group Celebrates Hip-Hop At Fifty
- alvinakinti
- Nov 20, 2024
- 6 min read
CAMPAIGN BACKGROUND
To celebrate the Fiftieth Anniversary of Hip-Hop, Warner Music Group’s Global Catalog Division launched HIP-HOP AT FIFTY, a full-scale marketing campaign that took over NYC this past August. Through targeted collaborations with trusted brands & noted cultural institutions, we executed key activations across a number of priority business verticals: physical, digital & web3, streaming & playlisting, fan engagement & contesting, artist performances, panel discussions, and interactive IRL experiences. From the Bronx to Broolyn and Harlem, our team was able to highlight the history of Hip-Hop and the legacy of its impact on culture.
ANNIVERSARY ACTIVATIONS (EVENTS)
NY Liberty & BSE “Unity Game” - Celebrating the Women of Hip-Hop
Location: Barclays Center - Brooklyn
Date: August 11, 2023
In partnership with the NY Liberty, our full Arena Takeover at the Barclays Center on Aug 11th celebrated the Women of Hip-Hop with a performance by 300EE artist BreezyLYN, a VIP DressX AR Fashion pop-up, and WMG branded content playing on arena billboards & screens.
METS First Pitch - Honoring ODB and HH’s 50th
Location: Citi Field - QueensDate: August 11, 2023(STATS)
The late rapper ODB was honored by the Mets at Citi Field on the fiftieth anniversary of Hip-Hop with the ceremonial First Pitch, thrown out by his son YDB. Fans were treated to ODB songs & trivia on the big board, and a lucky row of winners received exclusive ODB vinyl.
HARLEM WEEK ACTIVATIONS
From Platinum to the Silver Screen: The Making of the ODB
Location: Apollo Theater - Harlem
Date: August 12, 2023
Sprite & HIP-HOP AT FIFTY, in collaboration with Four Screens Production, presented ‘From Platinum to the Silver Screen’: The Making of the ODB Doc. An in-depth look at the life & legacy of iconic New York rapper the Ol’ Dirty Bastard through the lens of his forthcoming documentary Ol’ Dirty Bastard: A Tale of Two Dirtys.
Festival Booth (featuring Shirt Kings)
Location: Harlem
Date: August 19 + 20, 2023
Shirt Kings Academy created a custom airbrush tee experience for festival goers within the Sprite/Apollo booth at Harlem Week that incorporated elements of HH and featured WMGxSpritexApollo branding. The two-day experience was free & open to the public.
Hip-Hop Mural Unveiling
Location: Harlem
Date: August 20, 2023
Famed graff artist BIO unveiled his bespoke mural on an uptown wallscape that celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of HH and included a painted QR code with a redirect to Warner's official HIP-HOP AT FIFTY playlist so that fans could have a full audio/visual experience.
Main Stage Performance (featuring Fabolous)
Location: Apollo Stage - Harlem
Date: August 20, 2023
Harlem Week celebrations culminated in a mainstage performance by WMG catalog artist Fabolous, where he thanked WMG before exiting the stage.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE ANNIVERSARY ACTIVATION PHOTOS
STREAMING & PLAYLISTING
Topsify Playlists
To celebrate Hip-Hop’s 50th anniversary, we utilized the Topsify U.S. profile to publish dynamic playlists from the last five decades over Amazon, Apple and Spotify.
Streaming Analytics as of 08/15/23
Thematic Art Compilation (TAC) Artist Products
Celebrating Hip-Hop's 50th with iconic tracks from WMG’s current roster of rap stars. The US Topsify team curated eight new EPs by contemporary rap artists from across the WMG label groups who pinned their exclusive HIP-HOP AT FIFTY EPs (TACs) to the top of their Spotify profiles through the anniversary weekend. Artists included Atlantic’s own Bizzy Banks, KAMAUU and OhGeesy; 300EE’s Fetty Wap, Hunxho and Lil Keed; and Warner Records’ Fresco Trey and IDK.
LISTEN TO THEM ALL HERE
Streaming Analytics as of 08/18/23
OHGEESY – Released June 16, 2023 originally a case study
Total: 1.02 million
Amazon: 4k
Apple: 700k
Spotify: 319k
Hunxho: Total: 98k Amazon: 266 Apple: 89k Spotify: 9k | Lil Keed: Total: 40k Amazon: 407 Apple: 6k Spotify: 34k | Fetty Wap: Total: 57k Amazon: 1.2k Apple: 26k Spotify: 29k | IDK: Total: 118k Amazon: 682 Apple: 32k Spotify: 84k |
Fresco Trey: Total: 15k Amazon: 50 Apple: 13k Spotify: 2.7k | Sonny Digital Total: 827 Amazon: 17 Apple: 451 Spotify: 359 | KAMAUU: Total: 18k Amazon: 173 Apple: 4.3k Spotify: 13.5k | Bizzy Banks: Total: 30.7k Amazon: 90 Apple: 25k Spotify: 5.6k |
With numbers continuing to increase since the release of the initial EP, these TAC playlist have proved to be an effective means to boost streams and promote artists all at no additional cost.
HIP-HOP AT FIFTY Radio
Through a collaboration with HHDX, we bring you HIP-HOP AT FIFTY Radio, an always-on YouTube channel spinning all Hip-Hop, all day—LIVE 24/7. The channel features hip-hop tracks from the last five decades by legendary WMG artists and is programmed using our official Topsify playlists.
TUNE IN HERE
Audiomack Artist Essentials Playlists (Photos)
We launched a slew of Artist Essentials Playlists with Audiomack as a part of our HIP-HOP AT FIFTY campaign and their own celebration of the 50th anniversary of Hip-Hop. While they will be uplifting other label groups’ artists as well, the joint effort between WMG Catalog and the Audiomack team netted five shiny new playlists that will be highlighted throughout the month of August in the Featured Playlist Slider on the Audiomack Homepage and on their official socials channels.
Streaming Analytics as of 08/09/23
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PHYSICAL SALES(as of 08/09/23)
DIGITAL
HIPHOPDX - www.hiphopatfifty.com
A digital home for HIP-HOP AT FIFTY editorial and happenings that prominently features WMG artists & products. Landing Page Analytics shown below.
Warner Music Group joins forces with DRESSX, the largest metafashion retailer, to celebrate the cultural phenomenon of hip-hop with the launch of the exclusive "HIP-HOP AT FIFTY" digital fashion collection. This revolutionary collaboration integrates cutting-edge digital fashion and AR technology with the distinct streetwear styles that have defined hip-hop's influence on fashion for the past five decades.
PAID MEDIA: (as of 08/09/23)
Of the three released playlist with current ad spend
Hip-Hop at Fifty Playlist: Playlist ads are currently off track – when compared to other playlists – likely due in part to the absence of a follow-to-win competition.
East to West Playlist: Ads are currently performing above benchmark (6,524 clicks, 3.12% CTR)
Despite that, this playlist isn’t performing as well compared to the PPFIF & Blog Era playlists (which both had higher CTRs)
Kevin Gates Islah:
Conversion ads are slightly underpacing right now, but there’s still a positive ROAS at 1,456.81%
FAN ENGAGEMENT & CONTESTING
As a way of creating an interactive experience
for devoted Warner Music listeners, each of the Hip-Hop at Fifty featured playlists included Follow-To-Win campaigns that gave fans a chance to receive Hip-Hop inspired prize packs containing music & merch from some of our beloved artists at Warner Music Group.
These prize packs are believed to have been a key contributor in increased engagement with regards to our campaign ad spend on the playlists.
PARTNERS
Peloton
HIP-HOP AT FIFTY PARTNERED WITH PELOTON ON THEIR POPULAR ARTIST SERIES highlighting the catalogs of Bad Boy Ent. Lil’ Kim and Busta Rhymes
Featuring classic tracks from WMG’s hip-hop repertoire in special workout classes (in-platform and IRL) across multiple disciplines: cycling, running, yoga and more! Back in February, the Bad Boy Entertainment Artist Series kicked off both companies’ celebrations of Hip-Hop and served as a tentpole moment in Peloton’s Black History Month programming. It’s the second time Bad Boy was featured in an Artist Series, where it originally broke records for class attendance and member engagement. As a follow up, we celebrated the reissue of Lil’ Kim’s debut album “Hard Core” during Black Music Month in June, gifting the exclusive vinyl to members in-studio. To round out July’s programming, we added Busta Rhymes to the collection the week he jetted overseas to jump on the Last Lap World Tour with 50Cent. Looking forward, we’re excited for the Fall when we run our final HIP-HOP AT FIFTY series highlighting The Notorious B.I.G.
FOR INDIVIDUAL SERIES WRAP-UPS, CLICK HERE
Spotify
OUT OF HOME:
Spotify celebrated Hip-Hop turning fifty with a mural featuring Lil’ Kim and Cardi B. The mural was prominently displayed on billboards at Penn Plaza and 1 Times Square with a 10-day rundate (8/11 - 8/21). The mural was also posted to RapCaviar's IG Grid and Twitter account in tribute to these queens of HH.
DIGITAL CONTENT:
In honor of the 50th anniversary of Hip-Hop, Spotify's Editorial Team celebrated the occasion with an animated video that retells the story of how Hip-Hop became a truly global culture, featuring a cameo by WMG catalog artist Big Daddy Kane
WATCH THE FULL VIDEO HERE
Amazon Music
Amazon music celebrated the founding of Bad Boy and Hip-Hop’s 50th with a new [RE]Discover playlist that highlighted the storied label’s output. It was the FIRST time the music platform uplifted a label group, versus their general format of spotlighting individual artists.
They also celebrated Bad Boy with OOH boards in Time Square
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