Create. Promote. Protect.
Challenge
What is a music publisher?
Does copyright reform make your heart beat faster? Sadly, most people say no. Which is what the Canadian Music Publishers Association was up against when trying to catch the attention of government stakeholders. It's urgent that Canada’s copyright laws catch up to the modern streaming environment, but many policy-makers still thought music publishing was all about sheet music. They didn’t know that the CMPA swims with big fish like Google and YouTube. And they were getting confused with that other CMPA in the same space: the Canadian Media Producers Association.
Approach
This CMPA needed a clear corporate identity aligned with their strategic goals and a quick, evocative way of explaining their role. To get a full picture of the publisher’s role, yesterday, today and tomorrow, Jackpine Interviewed key stakeholders in the music industry. We brainstormed a simple new name and memorable, repeatable tagline and positioning statement that could quickly explain music publishing to policymakers. We explored concepts for a new visual identity that balanced creativity with business, one that looked dynamic to dispel the myth that publishers just sit on catalogues and make money. To amplify a small comms budget, the brand would invite interaction.
Positioning
For their 70th anniversary in 2019, the CMPA adopted a new name—Music Publishers Canada—to avoid confusion with the other CMPA. A beautifully simple new positioning statement—There is value in the song—cleanly communicates that songs have inherent value outside of performance and recording. The new tagline—create, promote, protect—sums up the publisher’s key roles as a champion of the rights of Canadian music publishers, finding homes for songs to realize their true value.
Visual Identity
Music and technology are inextricably linked. Evolving technology continues to transform how we make, distribute, listen to, share, and track rights for songs. From sheet music, records and CDs to iPods, GarageBand and Spotify, the music landscape changes constantly, with the rights of artists imperiled at each disruption. To demonstrate our client’s leadership position in the modern environment, we built the logo around the concept of the sound bars you see moving on recording and listening equipment as the song plays, placed beside the Music Publishers Canada wordmark.
Expressing the brand
Being able to place songs in movies, TV shows, video games, and other media is critical for songwriters and composers. Music publishers find these “sync” opportunities for their artist clients. We created a video encouraging video producers to work with a MPC member to find songs for their productions. We were even able to experience the process when selecting music for the video we created!
Liam and the team Jackpine led us through a successful rebranding exercise for our organization in 2019. We are now known as Music Publishers Canada. The Jackpine team were both creative and strategic in their actions and they worked well with both our staff and our Board of Directors.
- Margaret McGuffin, Executive Director at Music Publishers Canada
Outcomes
Music Publishers Canada has a new name and brand that speaks to today’s music industry. And it has clear positioning to quickly communicate what their members do and what they stand for. Together, they are helping MPC connect with policy-makers.
More to Explore
Copyright laws written years ago have been slow to respond to the rapid pace of innovation and the massive shifts in how we engage with content. Artists and publishers need legislation and policy that meet today’s needs and will flexibly adapt to the needs of tomorrow. Is your organization grappling with these questions and how to communicate them to your stakeholders? Give us a call.