London Underground and CBS Outdoor offer opportunity to sponsor busking sites

London Underground and CBS Outdoor are offering one brand the opportunity to sponsor all the busking sites on the London Underground, in what could be a six or twelve month partnership. Following previous partnerships with Carling, Capital 95.8 and thelondonpaper, the sponsorship will see one or more advertisers brand all thirty-five busking pitches throughout twenty-three Tube stations. The pitches operate as mini-stages and only auditioned licensed buskers can perform.

The sponsorship, which is available from November, can be customised to suit the advertiser's needs and creative aspirations. Brands could, for example, build specific music genres or themes into their set or even extend the branding above ground and link it in to other advertising or marketing activity they are doing. The chosen advertiser will be able to use the long-term benefits of the association to captivate million of consumers, say CBS Outdoor, while aligning themselves with the vibrancy of the London music scene. Exposure The company quotes examples of a number of musicians who have found that busking provides them with great exposure to new audiences, including two buskers being invited to meet the Queen at a Buckingham Palace reception for the music industry, a busker playing in Tom Jones' band, one playing with dance band Chicane and several artists securing gigs at Glastonbury and WOMAD festivals. Buskers Hadar Manor and Vashti both supported Beth Rowley on her 2008 UK tour. Hadar has also recently released an album called Crossing London.     John Ball, Director of Strategy and Service Development, London Underground, said: "London Underground's busking scheme has been a great success and is extremely popular with both customers and artists. The scheme is constantly evolving and continues to attract world-wide media attention. Sponsoring the scheme will give the successful candidate access to an audience of millions of customers a day." Donna Price, Group Account Director, Sponsorship & Experiential at CBS Outdoor, was also upbeat about the opportunity: "It's not only the buskers who want to connect with over three and a half to four million people passing through the London Underground system everyday, but brand managers who are looking for more innovative ways to engage their target audiences. "This sponsorship opportunity offers clients the chance to align their brands with music culture and to play their part in brightening up journeys for passengers, creating once-in-a-lifetime opportunities for artists."