Super Bowl, Grammys Still Music's Top Promotional Venues: Billboard
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The Super Bowl halftime show and a performance during the music industry's annual Grammy Awards are once again the top venues to maximize a musician's exposure to consumers, the trade publication Billboard said on Friday.
The National Football League's February Super Bowl, which draws more than 100 million TV viewers, ranked first in the annual list followed by the Grammy show, music's biggest night, which features several performances by top music acts.
The magazine's list of the 75 most effective promotional outlets for exposure for singers and artists will be available on newsstands on Monday.
Billboard compiled the "Maximum Exposure" list by polling industry experts on media, marketing and promotion, and which venues are able to produce the most sales and public exposure.
Pop singer Beyonce used this year's Super Bowl as part of her carefully crafted comeback after giving birth to her first child in January 2012. Singer Bruno Mars will headline this year's halftime show.
A performance on Comcast Corp's NBC late-night comedy show Saturday Night Live ranked third on the list in part for its ability to help boost sales of emerging acts, Billboard editor Joe Levy said.
"What you're looking at is people reacting to the fact that Saturday Night Live reaches not just a large audience but an audience passionate about music," Levy said.
Hip-hop duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis saw an 83 percent jump in album sales after performing on the show while Icelandic folk-pop band Of Monsters and Men saw a 78 percent sales bump.
NBC's singing competition The Voice moved up to sixth from 37th on the list primarily due to its ability to boost songs sales of its guest performers, Levy said, noting that it boosted sales of Robin Thicke's hit Blurred Lines.
"It has consistently garnered ratings and produced results for its musical guest," Levy said.
Last week, The Voice judge Christina Aguilera performed Say Something as a duet with pop group A Great Big World that helped the song to become the No. 1 song on Billboard's digital songs chart this week.
Licensing a song for a television advertisement during top events, such as the Oscars, Olympics or Super Bowl, placed fourth on the list for the second consecutive year.
Placement on Apple's iTunes store homepage, the biggest music retailer in the United States, ranked fifth. An artist's first headlining arena tour was seventh while a performance on MTV's Music Video Awards ranked eighth.
A performance on the main stage at the annual Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in California placed ninth and licensing a song for a widely exposed TV car commercial ranked tenth.
The magazine also compiled exposure lists for emerging artists, R&B/hip-hop acts, country musicians, Latin music, Britain and Japan, among others. A full list will be posted on billboard.com.
