Bacardi Spreads Music
Bacardi, a name associated with rums and spirits, is launching a music label. The Bacardi Bat Project, the label’s name, will commission songs from various musicians and artists and give them for free as MP3 downloads.
The Bacardi Bat Project is patterned after the free online music provider RCRD LBL. RCRD LBL, a music blog that provides downloadable music through the Internet, started its operation in the middle of 2007. They offer MP3 versions of various songs with description of the artists and their respective record labels. RCRD LBL pays the artists a cash advance ranging from $500-$5000 depending on the label artists’ bankability.
The Bacardi Bat Project follows the same scheme. The only difference is that the Bacardi Company acts as the program’s sole sponsor. Apart from commissioning studio recordings, the Bacardi Bat Project also plans to include remixes and live performances.
The Bacardi Bat Project has already posted its first single, A Thing For Me by Metronomy. The song was originally composed for a film Bacardi showed in Miami in April. Four remixes of the song will be available soon.
A follower of the trend observed that this move by Bacardi is a win-win situation for those involved. People get free music, artists get paid, and the Bacardi name enjoys immense publicity.
The name of the label was derived from the company’s logo, the fruit bat. The first Bacardi distillery was inhabited by fruit bats when Don Facundo Bacardi, the founder, bought the building in 1862.
Aside from the Bacardi Bat Project, the Bacardi Company is also involved in other musical and entertainment endeavors, most notably the Bacardi B-Live Project. Such highly popular events have made the Bacardi name a constant and favored party drink for party goers and music lovers.
