You may remember back in May, we reported on the oversaturation of music-focused branded entertainment on TV. Don’t get us wrong, there were no toys thrown from the Contagious pram (our researcher values his iPhone far too much). However, we felt rather inclined to agree with Guardian journalist Stephen Armstrong, who questioned: ‘Can it really be true that all music programmes require a leg-up from leering youth brands?’ Like a mother or favourite teacher, we weren’t angry - just disappointed... Click here for the full story:

http://www.contagiousmagazine.com/News%20Article.aspx?REF=812&IsArchive=true

However, we concluded that as long as the live music scene was thriving, there would always be opportunities for brands to get involved in more productive, event-based projects. However, as the festival season draws to a rainy close and the hordes of skinny jean-clad fans follow their favourite bands into murky venues across the country, we find ourselves presented with a number of new branded events which look set to test our theory. Read on to see how they are shaping up...

Cult clothing brand Ben Sherman is looking to build on its quintessentially British, culture-defining status by sponsoring a series of four gigs in four UK cities. The Big British Sound will feature the finest breakthrough talent showcased over the summer including headliners The Raveonettes, Delays and Daggers. Providing these events aren’t populated by Ben Sherman clad ruffians in bovver-boots, we think they could prove to be a hit. So FAR so GOOD...

www.bensherman.com/bigbritishsound

Last week, Red Bull threw what promised to be a culturally inclusive event as part of their Music Academy initiative, featuring eclectic pigeon hole-dodgers, Diplo & Switch. However, despite taking place at London’s annual celebration of diversity - the Notting Hill Carnival - Contagious found the atmosphere to be anything but culturally inclusive, with the majority of those entering the gated event appearing to have stepped straight off the Shoreditch shuttle bus...

It is with slight trepidation therefore, that we consider the claims of Bacardi B-Live to transform London’s seOne club into a ‘Cuban Street Festival’ for the forth-coming La Fiesta event on September 4th. The line-up is impressive - DJ Yoda, Beardyman and a secret ‘very special guest’ (could this by any chance be Groove Armada - the dance act which has an exclusive branded record deal with Bacardi?). The venue and the acts sound spot on, but is there any amount of rum that could fool you into mistaking crowds of sweaty, pasty UK clubbers for a street full of tanned, exotic Cuban revelers? Let’s see, shall we?

http://www.bacardi.com/lafiesta/

Finally, in stark contrast, we find the Magners Irish Sessions - celebrating the tradition of the intimate live gig. Musicians such as Sharon Shannon, Mundy and Damien Dempsey will take to the stage in a different UK city every night between 1 and 10 November. By becoming a friend on the MySpace page dedicated to the event, music fans have a chance to win tickets to the concerts. Blogger Mike Smith of nothingbutgreenlights.net will follow the tour, uploading blog entries, images and video onto the MySpace page. Content is also being uploaded onto Facebook, Flickr, YouTube and Last.FM. Content specialist Story Worldwide developed the concept which was conceived by Young Euro RSCG in Dublin.

http://www.myspace.com/magnersirishsessions

We don’t want to sound cynical towards the larger-scale events mentioned here, however, one of the main criticisms of the branded TV shows was simply - what’s the point? What does the brand bring to the party? We have no doubt that Ben Sherman’s Big British Sound and particularly Bacardi’s La Fiesta will be decent gigs, but we are forced to question whether the branded involvement will facilitate the entertainment at all, or simply feel like another cut & paste. The gold star must therefore, go to Magners for providing fans with genuinely useful ways to engage with the content - both through social networking and the blogosphere. By doing this, Magners has not only thought outside the box (or venue) but in doing so, carefully woven their brand message into the entertainment on offer. We’ll drink to that...