I must admit – I was caught off-guard and even found it comical when I heard that Rihanna was lauching her own line of umbrellas (or should I say, um-ber-ellas) and I found the song Air Force Ones pathetic – but the blurring of lines between ”music” and “promotional piece” is seemingly here to stay.

An increasing number of artists are now signing recording deals with consumer product companies such as Nike, Red Bull and Procter & Gamble, who are acting as de facto record companies - finding, funding, promoting and in cases even distributing new music.  In an effort to promote various product lines, these companies have now begun to look outside of their core businesses for a new way to get their brands “out there.” Continue…