Deezer And Bose Agree To Help Each Other

In what looks to be a mutually beneficial arrangement, digital music service Deezer and audio products company Bose have agreed to partner, with Deezer’s Premium Plus product now available on all Bose Soundtouch and Soundlink products. As a result of the deal, Bose customers will receive the Deezer service for $4.99 a month with a 30 day free trial for one year rather than the standard $9.99 per month.

Talk about a synergistic arrangement, this one seems to be made in heaven for both companies. Deezer is now in the middle of a major push to launch into new countries worldwide, especially the US, and could take advantage of the Bose current market penetration. The Bose brand, on the other hand, is known for catering toward the higher end audio consumer who’s not quite an audiophile, but more discriminating than the average user. Deezer’s service touts higher quality streaming audio than most services, and its upscale Deezer Elite tier even promises a CD quality stream, the perfect feature to show off Bose products.

If you take notice, Bose is everywhere these days. The company made a deal with the National Football League for headsets and now every television sideline shot features at least one coach wearing gear with a Bose logo. In fact, the deal is so strong that the NFL recently barred players from appearing on camera while wearing the competition, and even fined San Francisco 49er quarterback Colin Kaepernick $10,000 for doing so at an after-game news conference. Beats by Dr. Dre (and now owned by Apple) headphones may be preferred by the players, but that company will no longer be getting free advertising at the hands of the NFL.

Bose Professional has also cranked up the volume as it has recently made a big push into installed sound. Once an also-ran in the sector compared to companies like JBL, the sound systems division has recently introduced a line of modular speakers and amplifiers designed for large venues and houses of worship. And don’t forget Bose noise-canceling headphones, which are the standard by which all others are measured. It’s rare not to see at least a few pair on just about any airline flight you take, despite their high price. Read more on Forbes.

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You Now Have To Pay To Play At The Superbowl

Pay to play is the bane of musicians everywhere, but it's especially prevalent in New York City and Los Angeles. For decades, club promoters have effectively been auctioning off time slots to any band or artist willing to purchase 100 advance tickets that they're then free to resell, or most likely just give away. Musicians in most other parts of the country are used to getting paid for their services, but that all changes in the "big city."

But now the NFL is turning the Superbowl halftime show into the ultimate pay-to-play gig. Instead of the league paying a top-shelf act like U2 or Bruce Springsteen to play the show, it's now asking the acts to pay in order to get in front of 100+ million viewers that will be watching.

The price the NFL is asking hasn't been revealed, but the first three "candidates" that were chosen for the 2015 Superbowl to be held in Pheonix, Coldplay, Rihanna and Katy Perry, have been decidedly cool on the idea.

That said, an appearance at the world's largest gig can lead to years of prosperity afterwards, as evidenced by the 2007 appearance by Prince, who's sold-out venues ever since. His career had been lagging before the appearance.

To be fair, the NFL has never actually paid performers to appear at the Superbowl, but has supplied what's amounted to millions of dollars in expenses, which can be extensive for most acts appearing.

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Has The Superstar Torch Been Passed To Bruno Mars?

For a number of years now, those in the higher echelons of the music business have worried about a lack of upcoming superstars who might be able to sell out stadiums for decades to come after the current legends stop touring. Of course, there may not ever be another Rolling Stones or Eagles, but one still wonders if recent big hit recording artists like Taylor Swift, Katy Perry or Kenny Chesney have the long-term longevity that the concert industry needs to sustain into the future.

Perhaps the one with the brightest future is Bruno Mars, who just capped off a winning Superbowl half-time concert that brought him a level of exposure that could hasten his already accelerated race to the top. In a scintillating performance, Mars showed the craft and confidence that could well cement him as a superstar for years to come.

To some degree, Mars (real name Peter Gene Hernandez) was a both a stretch and a risk for the National Football League. After years of presenting well-established stars like Paul McCartney, Prince, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Madonna and Beyonce (who graced the stage last year) for their Superbowl half-time shows, having someone who hasn’t quite attained such legendary status caused some to question the wisdom of the NFL’s choice. In order to hedge their bet, the league added California funk-rockers Red Hot Chili Peppers to the bill for one song. This actually turned out to be a fit since Mars has credited them as a major influence in the past, and their music, while more agressive in nature, meshed well with Mars. 

Still, Bruno could have easily carried the show by himself, as he proved with his excellent high-powered performance. After selling 10 million albums in just a three year period (quite a feat in this new music business we currently live in), with four #1 records, 18  Grammy nominations (!!), more than a billion YouTube views, and a well-earned reputation as an spectacular performer, the NFL should have stuck to their initial plan and let the man do his thing sans guests. Read more on Forbes.

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