Mattel isn’t just the toy giant whose brands include Barbie, American Girl and Hot Wheels. It also has a catalogue of more than 1,000 songs linked to some of those brands (see also: Fisher-Price, Thomas & Friends). Now the company has signed a multi-year deal for Warner Music Group to become the sole distributor of that catalogue.
And, in the toy world’s equivalent of the legendary Prince vault (er, sort of) the deal will see hundreds of songs made available digitally for the first time. The first frontline release for the partnership, meanwhile, will be a Thomas & Friends birthday album that will hit streaming services this Friday (8 May).
This is part of a bigger picture of partnerships and integrations between the worlds of children’s brands and entertainment, and music.
Universal Music Group recently announced a deal with Lego to develop “a new suite of Lego products launching in 2021, created to encourage and inspire the next generation of musicians, creatives and fans”, while another megabrand of the toys and children’s brands world, Hasbro, acquired Entertainment One (music division included) last year.
Image by David Tonelson / Shutterstock.com
Tools: platforms to help you reach new audiences
Tools: Kaiber
In the year or so since its launch, AI startup Kaiber has been making waves,…