LOUD PARADE - THE SOUNDTRACK FOR GEN Z..
Award - Winning Music creative agency Loud Parade are pretty unique if you looking for a fast track insight into Gen Z!.. because that is exactly who founders Rahmon Agbaje and Maatin Adewunmi are. They are riding the crest of the wave... listed in Forbes 30 under 30, Campaign Magazine's Media Week 30 Under 30 and winners of the KPMG Entrepreneur of the Year Award! These two are set for success.
Rahmon Agbaje Maatin Adewumi
When we met Loud Parade we were struck with their composure and self assurance. They know their stuff and are quietly, and gracefully, confident because of that.
Having spotted a gap in the advertising and social media market (Gymshark were sued over $44m in 2021 by Sony Music for infringing on music copyright on TikTok and Instagram and most recently Twitter were sued $250m by music publishers) the guys decided to take their know-how and turn it into a business, and they are going from strength to strength.
Loud Parade uses music as a form of storytelling, creating unique sonic identities for brands to increase individuality and uniqueness of their campaigns. Through viral sounds they increase brand love, recognition and awareness as well as support with the problem of music licensing through authentic and scientifically backed music solutions.
Their success to date is pretty impressive, with clients like Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty, Nike, JBL, Sour Patch Kids, Little Moons, JD Sports, WPP and Havas, amongst others. A sonic branding agency with over 8 billion views on their brand campaigns already.
Loud Parade make bespoke music compositions for brands and creative agencies, and what makes these guys really interesting is that Maatin also has a Masters degree in Behavioural Science, which he leverages alongside AI tools which can test the emotional resonance of sounds and music created for brand clients.
Loud Parade is working at the intersection of psychology and music, creating sonic identities which match a brand’s aspirational brand personality and bringing objectivity to the usually subjective world of music in advertising. It's a lot.. in two so young.
Rahmon can you tell us a bit about the background and what inspired you to set up Loud Parade.
We started Loud Parade to give a platform to the array of talented music artists and producers in our network who were struggling to break through in the music industry. We all know the power of music as fans and wondered why the advertising industry hadn’t been using music more strategically to build authentic connections with audiences.
When we read about the number of brands who had been sued for incorrectly licensing music, we saw a huge opportunity to fix this problem by connecting the talented independent artists we’d been supporting with the major consumer brands who needed support with music rights whilst advertising and could benefit from the cultural capital of working with emerging artists and having catchy music in their ads.
Rahmon, do you and Maatin make music? Are you composers?
I grew up as a music player and fan of different genres. I played the saxophone, piano and sang and still have a musical ear. Now i enjoy discovering new talent and being an executive producer on music projects
Where does your love of music stem from?
I truly believe music is the one thing that brings us all together as human beings. Seeing the reaction from people at concerts watching their favourite artists, or how certain songs bring back memories and draw out emotions.. it’s always been such a powerful force in all of our lives. Music has powered me through difficult times, and helps shape my mood and feelings on a daily basis. As I began to study the creative industry I observed the importance of music when setting the tone. I love music because we all have a soundtrack for our lives.
Tell us a bit about the KPMG Entrepreneur of the Year Award. This was a massive boost for Loud Parade.
It was fantastic to win the KPMG Black Entrepreneur of the year awards. It was a competitive process, over 90 businesses applied and we had to go through a few rounds of pitches and interviews. It was truly humbling to win and receive the credibility and validation from a huge player in business. We were also boosted by the £25k equity free grant investment from KPMG which was a great resource for us. Winning the awards validated that we are onto something special with what we are building.
You are getting a LOT of recognition from the industry. You were recently listed in Campaign Magazine's Media Week 30 Under 30 - What does that feel like?
It was an honour to be recognised by Campaign Magazine. As newer players in the space, with a specific niche in music, it is great that the industry recognises our contribution to the creative industry and how unique our offering is. Seeing the array of talent from the other nominees was very inspiring and to have the support of Campaign has really increased our visibility and opened up new conversations with potential brand clients
Maatin, you were invited to talk in Cannes. How did it go and what knowledge did you share?
I really enjoyed speaking at Cannes, it was my first time going and I had the opportunity to speak on the terrace on the official agenda alongside great advertising experts
I spoke about the importance of music for brand engagement, played some examples and highlighted how brands have got it wrong in the past and what they can do to be better for the future
How do you feel AI is going to impact on the music industry as a whole?
AI is currently, and is going to be a gamechanger for the music industry. The way people look at copyright & royalties will need to change but the uptake of generative AI commercially in music will be slower than in other industries such as design. This is due to the copyright issues with the data which you train the AI on and then comes the business of commercializing it.
What we’re seeing already however is big technology players like Facebook and Google are already launching their own A.I. language models but they haven’t launched tools that generate music with lyrics yet due to the copyright complications.
How does AI augment the work that you do at Loud Parade?
We use AI to bring objectivity to the subjective world of music. We have an AI tool that can test the emotional resonance of music, meaning that we can ensure that the music we produce is always on brand and hits the brand’s desired attributes
We can also test our tracks against a panel of the client’s target demographic so we can get real-life responses which inform ROI-type metrics including brand recall, brand favorability and intent to purchase.
Tell us a bit about your network of artists and composers, are you constantly looking out for the next big artist?
We have a wide range of talented artists globally. Whilst we have access to famous signed artists through our industry connections, we mainly work with independent artists and producers across a range of genres such as Hip Hop, R&B and Pop. Many of these artists have actively been trying to get into the brand space, are hungry and ready for new opportunities to showcase their talents in brand campaigns. Through our relationships, we are always building our pool of artists and constantly looking for new talent that can help us answer the wide range of briefs we receive.
Have you had any mentors who have helped you forge your path?
We’ve been fortunate to have a few really incredible mentors along the journey so far, who have seen our vision and believe in us as budding entrepreneurs. Senior leaders at big agencies and in the music industry have endorsed our work and this has helped us in winning new clients.
What keeps you both motivated?
Our motivation stems from our desire to change the industry. By bringing fresh ideas and music into the advertising space, we really are motivated by the impact we are having and the journey so far. We are motivated to help the talented artists in our network and give them an opportunity to shine. We are motivated by our friends and family and the people around us who believe in our vision and can make a difference. We want to represent for our generation, and show how much talent is out there and that brands should be highlighting talented musicians more as it benefits both the artist and the brand associated with them.
What would you say to someone looking to get into the industry?
To remain resilient and build relationships for the long term. We’ve had a lot of success by building authentic connections with people and they have genuinely wanted to help us build. Also to have that hustle… media and advertising is an industry where if you’re out of sight, you’re out of mind so it’s important to keep knocking on the door.
How do you appeal to the “Gen Z” audience and what makes something Gen Z oriented?
Gen Z are the fixer generation. We’ve been through a lot of memorable events and we’re in dire need for authenticity from brands. We’re also a very creative generation and enjoy moments that capture music authentically. Gen Z find power in communities and we try to ensure all of the campaigns that we are involved with have that authentic element.
Campaigns which are rich in cultural capital are more likely to get the attention of Gen Z but ones that don’t feel real will be identified quickly.
What’s trending and what’s popular can change on a daily basis especially in the world of social media, so how do you keep on track with what’s hot and what’s not?
We keep on trend by having friends in the creator space, the actual trendsetters that the culture looks up to whether that be dancers, actors, singers. It also helps that we are coming from the target audience so naturally understand where they are coming from and how to make campaigns authentic
Tell us something about yourselves that someone could only know if they’ve read this interview.
Maatin: I was ranked top 3% in the world in online poker during my uni years, competing in a number of tournaments
Rahmon: I am a fluent Spanish speaker, attending exchange trips to Spain during my school years. I’ve visited the country 10 times so you could say it’s a favourite!