Photo Credit: Courtesy FC Barcelona
Sony Music and FC Barcelona have announced a new deal that will bring together football stars with music artists.
The new two-year contract will see FC Barcelona make use of the Sony Music catalog for promotional content. To celebrate the new agreement, Sony held a small event in Miami. Numerous FC Barcelona players were in attendance, including Sergio Busquets, Ivan Rakitic, Ousmane Dembélé, Antoine Griezmann, Arturo Vidal, Rafinha, Samuel Umtiti and Jordi Alba.
FC Barcelona says the new joint venture with Sony Music is part of the club’s goal of creating new partnerships.
“With this initial collaboration agreement, we intend to improve the fan experience for our supporters through musical content and innovative audiovisual materials.”
Sony Music Latin Iberia chairman CEO Afo Verde says both companies will benefit from a unique platform to tell stories. The deal with FC Barcelona establishes alliances with leading brands that allow the soccer club to be at the forefront of the sport and entertainment industry.
FC Barcelona says other projects will be revealed in the coming months featuring music from Sony’s catalog.
Sony Music recently underwent a restructuring to form Sony Music Group. Sony Music Entertainment CEO Rob Stringer leads the consolidated company.
The move makes sense for the Japanese company as rivals Warner and Universal both operate with recording and publishing arms under one umbrella. The only outlier is Sony Music Entertainment Japan, which will remain a separate entity.
Sony has been under pressure to form new partnerships after a flat fiscal year ending on March 31st. Fiscal Q2 2019 financials were much better, with Sony’s music business growing 11%.
27% of that recent growth can be attributed to streaming platforms, as streaming revenue pushed Sony’s recorded music revenues over $1 billion. Sony’s recent acquisition of EMI Music Publishing means the company administers roughly 4.53 million tracks according to disclosures. Exiting Sony/ATV CEO Marty Bandier minted more than $100 million in compensation bonuses on the deal.
