Def Jam's Jeff Burroughs on how labels decode culture for brands.

Genero helps some of the world's biggest brands scale their content production today, but the business was originally launched for the music industry. The first five years were spent building the production platform and global creative network while running briefs for official music videos for artists like Moby, Alicia Keys, James Brown, Duran Duran and Muse. Music industry clients remain a core part of the work.

So we were thrilled to sit down with Jeff Burroughs, Senior Vice President of Brand Partnerships at the home of hip hop, Def Jam Recordings.

Jeff is a pioneer in using the power of brands to amplify activations in the music business, and is known for integrating multi-platinum, award-winning superstars into the cultural conversation. His career includes senior positions at Columbia Records, Bad Boy Recordings with Sean 'Puffy' Combs and Simon Cowell's Syco Entertainment, plus two labels of his own and a management company, Rise Entertainment.

We spoke to Jeff for our interview series Masters of Disruption, where marketing leaders discuss the forces reshaping the industry, from strategy and structure to in-housing and technology.

On the tech disruption that transformed the industry

Jeff argues there's never been a more exciting time in the music business than right now.

"Thank god for streaming. The advent of streaming really saved the traditional model of the music business in terms of the majors, and completely shifted the way that people digest their music and keep their libraries."

On how music marketing has changed

"The most seismic shift would be the power of radio. Where radio was our number 1, 2 and 3 marketing and promotional output - radio is now perceived as 3rd base...Timing of records has also completely shifted. Now records come out on Thursday night. And we're looking to position them on playlists - that's the new radio."

On the role of content

Jeff takes some of the credit for changing the game on music videos, having invested heavily in videos for artists like The Notorious B.I.G., Faith Evans and Mase during his time at Bad Boy.

"There was a strategy behind us spending a tremendous amount of money to make those videos. That's how we got mainstream success, because we were able to get on MTV which put us in front of an audience that we traditionally wouldn't have been in front of. And that shifted the game. And I think that that shifted culture."

Today, video is a key part of the label's revenue modelling, because most content can be monetised. Videos are commercial products in their own right. "They all have a skew and a code to generate income, and they live on well beyond the initial release of an album. So we're always looking to collect on the longtail of videos."

And labels are no longer limited in the type of content they can produce, from the traditional three-minute video to mini-movies, lyric videos and animation.

"There's an unending amount of options to create content that is going to make the audience excited about what the artist is kicking, and how they're kicking it. If it's a conversation, if it's an acoustic piece, whatever we find exciting, we're able to create it."

On brand partnerships

Brand partnerships have been a career-long focus for Jeff. These deals, he says, are "critical to helping us break new artists. And putting artists in places that we wouldn't be able to, in the way that a major brand can." Brands, in turn, do very well by engaging with music and artists.

"Everyone understands that music drives culture. And today, marketers are trying to figure out how to get into people's culture and into their mind in a way that feels organic. I think there's a continual evolution of that conversation as people start to understand that it's really very difficult to buy people's belief."

His advice for brands considering the space:

"So if you're going to be a brand that's gonna get down with the music industry, then you should probably get down and stay down. Because if you're in and out - I think kids are very suspicious and get it right away. The equity that brands get from the power of artistry and their influence on culture, and their ability to move kids emotionally - it's pretty much impossible to exchange it for anything else."

If you're exploring music content or artist partnerships for your brand, Genero has been producing for the music industry since day one and can help you find the right creative team.