Culture Can’t Be Bought—But It Can Be Partnered With

By Helen Myers, Advertising Week Correspondent

Dion Baez, VP Music Marketing at SoundCloud, sat down with artist Honey Bxby to discuss the intersection of culture and brand.

Baez started the conversation by reiterating that SoundCloud cares about the early stages of creators. He then asked why it is important for the world to hear from those who are just breaking through and might be misunderstood.

Honey Bxby mentioned that being able to relate to someone is a powerful phenomenon. “The world is so big that everybody that’s misunderstood, like myself, we feel like we’re so alone. We feel like it’s only just us, and we feel like it’s only one out of the 7 billion when half of those 7 billion people feel the same way as you, and it’s so good to hear people that make you feel the same way that you feel inside,” she said

SoundCloud is always looking for what’s next in culture and how culture is being defined. “It’s raw, it’s undefined. It’s something that can’t really be spoken, but it connects and hits with people. Getting in early is something that is really important for communities,” Baez said.

Underground artists have a lot to offer and Honey Bxby has experience with how hard it is to get noticed when you are just starting out. “I feel like nowadays there is just so much music now in the streaming era, that people don’t take the time out to find artists that they really like, or music that they really like. They’re just so focused on what’s being put in front of their face,” she said,

When artists are first starting out, they view brand partnerships differently than larger brands do. Honey Bxby recalls the early days in her career and how it felt to be noticed. “When you’re very small, and you’re just coming out, you feel like nobody sees you until people start to see you. Even one person seeing you makes you feel so big,” she explained.

Authenticity is a buzzword in the advertising and marketing sphere, but Baez sees it as a vital aspect of brand partnerships, especially when it comes to smaller artists. There’s a difference between sponsored by, when you just slap your logo on something, and when it’s powered by, or you get producer credit for something because you took an early gamble. And that gamble, that return is really big” he said.

Gen Z and Gen Alpha care about the creators they follow, and can often spot inauthentic behavior. As fandom culture shifts to be more personalized, artists and brands must learn to shift with it.

Honey Bxby explaines that as barriers break down, creators feel more real to their fans. “They feel like real human beings. And we take that and we run with it. So it’s like whatever they do, we want to do. Wherever they’re at, we’re at. It’s not just music for them, its a lifestyle,” she said.

Baez challenges brands to create authentic partnerships by working with smaller creators. “Just going for amplification based on someone’s social media followers is something to rethink. Authenticity, connection. Who is this person? Do they connect with the audience they currently have? Do we think they’ll connect with the audience in the future? Fans want to see authenticity. They want to see culture. They want to see respect and investment,” he said.

To end the conversation, Honey Bxby emphasized the importance of taking chances on up-and-coming artists. “Take that bet, because you could have missed out on a very great opportunity,” she said. Successful partnerships can benefit both parties, and the bigger the chance, the larger the reward. “The worst that can happen is it doesn’t work, and the best that can happen is that it works way better than you thought it would,” she concluded.