EXCLUSIVE: Bose, the more than 60-year-old consumer audio company, has announced the launch of Bose Studios, a music-centered branded entertainment platform whose output will span music, film, TV, digital and live events.
Created by music fans, for music fans, Bose Studios launches its film and television slate with the support of Academy Award-winning producer Michael Sugar and his company, Sugar23.
Projects at launch include an original documentary series developed in collaboration with Academy Award-winning filmmaker Steven Soderbergh that will examine the intersection of creativity, innovation, and artistic expression.
Bose Studios is also working on a docuseries exploring the creative journeys of influential artists, as well as an original YouTube series, bridging music and community through intimate performances. The latter show will debut this fall with an episode centered on Sienna Spiro, the British-born singer-songwriter blending soul, jazz, and pop.
Bose’s work through Bose Studios also includes the launch of Bose Records, which is billed not as a traditional record label, but rather, as a human-curated discovery platform for emerging and underappreciated artists. With Alissia, the Grammy-nominated songwriter/producer known for her funk-infused sound, as its first signing, Bose Records will offer fans new means of engaging with their favorite music via a pipeline of experiences, partnerships, and content offerings.
Bose is one of more than 20 global brands partnering with Sugar23 amid a transition from traditional advertising into branded entertainment, as a primary means of engaging with their audiences. Other previously announced notables include Starbucks, Chick-fil-A, and Procter & Gamble, to name just a few. The focus: Premium, creator-led and entertainment-forward content, rather than the ad-agency-style product of yesteryear.
Whereas traditional advertising has been getting pricier and less effective in recent years as audiences fragment, skip ads and avoid ad-supported tiers, Bose has already been reaping rewards from early endeavors in content production.
Projects launched so far include Perfect Pitch, a social series hosted by Amber Singletary built around music recommendation, memory and discovery; the series Turn the Dial, aimed at addressing the gender gap in music production and creating opportunities for women and non-binary producers; an activation with Grammy-nominated artist PlaqueBoyMax during this year’s NBA All-Star break; and the C-Series mixtape compilation with NME.
“Bose has long been one of the world’s most iconic music and lifestyle brands. As companies increasingly shift from competing for attention to creating the assets that generate it, Bose Studios represents a bold investment in culture, creativity, and storytelling,” Sugar23’s founder and CEO Michael Sugar told Deadline. “We’re honored to partner with Bose as it builds meaningful relationships with artists, creators, and audiences around the world.”
Explaining his participation, Soderbergh said, “I sparked to this idea because I use Bose headphones, I have a McIntosh amp, and I love music. The goal here is for signature filmmakers to do a personal deep dive on music they feel connected to, and if we succeed, the audience will never listen to that musician or group the same way again.”
Generating around $3.5 billion in annual sales of headphones, speakers, soundbars, earbuds and other sound technology, Bose hasn’t disclosed exactly how much it’ll be pouring into Bose Studios, though sources indicated that the company has a “significant” marketing budget and would ultimately like to juggle a packed slate of TV and film projects, social series, record releases, podcasts and live events.
The financial model will vary by project: Bose Studios will take on partners in some cases, and fully finance other efforts.
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