UK: Fashion and music join forces to launch new channel by U.S. fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger

Record ID: 827689

  • Title: UK: Fashion and music join forces to launch new channel by U.S. fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger
  • Date: 24th April 2008
  • Summary: HILFIGER BEING INTERVIEWED
  • Embargoed: 9th May 2008 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Entertainment
  • Reuters ID: LVA83I1OLK9BY2S8DJUBGW9BY0XW
  • Story Text: Up-and-coming artists selected have the chance to play a global jam session with established artists like Wycleff Jean, Kelly Rowland and John Legend on Hilfiger's new music platform.
    TommyTV, at www.tommytv.com <https://www.tommytv.com>, will show live performance by established and new artists sponsored by Tommy Hilfiger alongside exclusive interviews and backstage footage.
    Designer Tommy Hilfiger, dapper in a pin stripe suit and orange tie, said the site would also host the Hilfiger Sessions, an online competition where young artists can showcase their talent.
    The glamourous worlds of fashion and music have nearly always had a symbiotic relationship and Hilfiger pointed out that at no time was this partnership stronger than in 1981 when MTV was launched. Suddenly, musicians needed to look as good as they sounded. Music-makers such as Madonna and David Bowie have long been seen as style icons, sartorial chameleons defining both themselves and their music through different looks.

    "As a rock star, you need to be able to re-invent yourself if you are to remain relevant and that applies to both your music and your style. As a creative person it is important to stay open minded and embrace change.
    Today I'm here to announce that Tommy Hilfiger is embracing change. We are pioneering a new type of invention. Tommy TV is a unique online platform, 100 per cent owned by Tommy Hilfiger designed to share my own love of style and music with a global audience," said Hilfiger.
    Tommy Hilfiger has built a world-wide fashion brand spanning women's, men's and children's wear to accessories and watches on marketing campaigns presenting hip, image savvy U.S. teenagers.
    But the designer added that while he will be venturing into uncharted musical territory, he's not turning his back on fashion: "Well my label is all about pop culture anyway, and pop culture has to do with fashion and music, art and entertaining. You know involved with Hollywood and involved with Hollywood stars and involved with independent directors and producers but it's all about celebrity and pop culture of today it's about young artists coming up and painters and musicians but this is a platform for the new young musicians to sort of show their talent on a global stage and have a connection with our partner Sony BMG. We will serve these musicians up to the label these musicians otherwise would not have that opportunity, in many cases."
    French duo "One-Two" hope to be an early recipient of the this new technology. They were plucked from obscurity to perform with hip-hop artist and producer Wycleff Jean in a live jam session from Berlin. But the quirky twosome who started five years ago said like their young musical peers, they frequently exploited the internet to market themselves to a global audience.

    "This kind of technology is what we are used to as a new band. We always use MySpace so there's not a real big difference between real tv and internet. It's the same kind of promotion and the same tool," they said.
    Maarten Steinkamp, the CEO of Sony BMG Europe, said that with the vast number of musical models being created as the traditional musical prototype becomes archaic, the Hilfiger Sessions acts as a barometer.

    "I think there's so much out there. I mean we always hear so much about so many artists who do it by themselves online but if I ask people to do a top 10, it's a very short list. It is about marketing and about prioritization because consumers cannot absorb a hundred million tracks that are out there on the web so what we try to do is get some prioritization in the system, I think that is what we need at the moment because the story of the artist who is actually struggling to connect with the audience, you never heard about in the papers or you never hear about in the media. It's always about the two exceptions. The hundreds of bands that are out there that want to be famous or want to be successful, they're struggling."
    For Sony BMG, the launch marks an experiment in the art of online music marketing. Global music sales fell around 10 percent in 2007 and the industry estimates that only one in 20 of the tracks downloaded was licensed, costing the industry potentially billions of dollars.
    Online music purchasing marked a symbolic milestone when Apple Inc announced last week that its iTunes music store had surpassed Wal-Mart Stores Inc to become the largest U.S. music retailer.
    Hilfiger added that artists on the Hilfiger Sessions also have the opportunity to be signed by a record label.
    Tommytv.com went live on Wednesday (April 16).
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