Coldplay's Chris Martin & Jonny Buckland Announced for Little Noise Sessions 2011 2nd November, 2011

Mencap’s Little Noise Sessions, curated by Jo Whiley are today proud to announce Coldplay’s Chris Martin and Jonny Buckland will be headlining on Thursday 24 November, completing the line up for the series of atmospheric gigs. Joining the bill for what will be a night to remember are: Ben Howard, Emile Sande, Michael Kiwanuka and Bebe Black. Tickets go on general release from 7 November with an exclusive presale for subscribers from 4 November. Sure to sell out fast subscribe NOW at www.littlenoisesessions.org.uk

Due to unprecedented demand Mencap have also released additional tickets for the following SOLD OUT shows: Tuesday 22 November with Elbow, Maverick Sabre and Ren Harvieu. Friday 25 November with Goldfrapp and Alpines. Saturday 26 November with Example, Ed Sheeran, Birdy and Fenech Soler. Also performing at this year’s Little Noise Sessions areMarina & The Diamonds, Icona Pop, Spark on 23 November and Sinead O’Connor and King Creosote on 27 November.

This year Mencap’s Little Noise Sessions are heading to a new home St. John-at-Hackney to once again showcase a series of stunning stripped back performances from some of the hottest names in music. Our new iconic venue is set in the heart of Hackney, with over 700 years of history and now plays host to it’s FIRST EVER music festival.

Chris Martin said:

Jo does amazing work for Mencap, we are thrilled she asked us to play and are honoured to be part of this special night

Mencap ambassador Jo Whiley said:

We are delighted to welcome the return of Chris Martin and Jonny Buckland to headline an extra special night for Mencap’s Little Noise Sessions. With a week of unbelievable shows, this year is set to be one of the most exciting and inspiring we’ve had to date. I can’t wait!

Subscribers to the Little Noise Sessions website have exclusive access to a host of great content including; priority ticketing, backstage footage, audio, photos and all the latest news from the Little Noise backstage blog, for just £6 for six months. Your subscription fee will go directly to Mencap to raise vital funds to support people with a learning disability. Visit www.littlenoisesessions.org.uk to subscribe now!

To keep up to date with all the latest information on Mencap’s Little Noise Sessions follow us on Twitter @Little_Noise and #LittleNoiseSessions or stop by and check us out on Facebook www.facebook.com/littlenoisesessions

The Line-Up So Far:

OPENING NIGHT – Elbow, Maverick Sabre solo performance, Ren Harvieu
WEDNESDAY 23 NOVEMBER – Marina & The Diamonds, Icona Pop, Spark
THURSDAY 24 NOVEMBER – Coldplay’s Chris Martin and Jonny Buckland, Ben Howard Emile Sande, Michael Kiwanuka, Bebe Black
FRIDAY 25 NOVEMBER – Goldfrapp, Alpines
SATURDAY 26 NOVEMBER – Example, Ed Sheeran, Birdy, Fenech Soler
SUNDAY 27 NOVEMBER – Sinead O’Connor, King Creosote

There are 1.5 million people with a learning disability in the UK. Mencap works to support people with a learning disability and their families and carers by fighting to change laws and improve services and access to education, employment and leisure facilities. Mencap supports thousands of people with a learning disability to live their lives the way they want.

Fanatic.fm – a new sponsorship model for music 3rd March, 2011

As the social media channel becomes increasingly important for brand communications, brands need to find creative ‘story-telling’ elements in their communication contents that people can easily and readily share with their friends. As music is one of the most widely shared content on social media, brands are discovering that association with music and musicians is a great way to create buzz and deliver customized/branded messages.

fanatic .fm is a platform that allows brands to

select music albums to sponsor. By sponsoring music albums on fanatic .fm, brands can benefit in various ways:

● Brands can establish and express their identity through music. Starbucks, for instance, can be the #1 Jazz station while Red Bull can be the #1 Hard Rock station.

● Sponsored musicians co-promote the branded campaign to their fans because 1) they directly monetize each time their music is played, and 2) 5% of the sponsorship is donated to charities of their choice. It creates a unique message tha

t the “brands-bands-fans-charities” relationship forged changes the world for the better.

● Fans of the sponsored musician appreciate the sponsorship in a whole new level, forming an emotional bonding to the brand. Not only can they enjoy free music thanks to the brand, but also they know that their favorite musicians are being fairly paid by the sponsors.

Samsung Case Study

Samsung has recently partnered with fanatic.fm and is currently sponsoring Sydney Wayser, an emerging artist from New York. They wanted to promote their programme called “Imagelogger” and thought that associating with emerging artists would be more engaging than going the traditional route of buying media inventories. As expected, Sydney Wayser is spreading the word to her fans through her social networks including Facebook and Twitter. In regards to investment, Samsung pays only when the music is played alongside Samsung’s marketing campaign based on detailed analytics reporting.

Premier League Football is an excellent example of how fan engagement creates a strong brand association and awareness than consumer marketing. When speaking to Manchester United fans, almost all of them would be able to recall previous sponsors: beginning with Sharp in the early 80’s, to Vodafone, AIG and Aon today.

If football fans were simply consumers of the entertainment each team provides, these sponsors would have absolutely no meaning to them. However, becoming a fan is different. It creates an emotional bond that forms between their favorite football team and those brands that support it.

fanatic.fm is aiming to create the same emotional fan engagement by providing brands an opportunity to step beyond product-consumer relationships and leverage the affinity between musicians and their fans.