• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, January 6, 2014

Clear Channel Media and Entertainment, formerly known as Clear Channel Radio, is staying abreast of the electronic music trend through a partnership with SFX Entertainment, which produces live events and digital content catering to electronic music fans.
 
The partners will collaborate on three projects targeting the electronic music audience. The first is a national DJ-producer contest, which will air live on certain Clear Channel stations, as well as on Evolution, iHeartRadio’s hub for dance music.

The second is a weekly Top 20 Countdown for electronic music, drawing on popular content SFX’s online Beatport platform and airing on Clear Channel stations nationwide, including Z100-WHTZ FM in New York, KIIS-FM in Los Angeles and 103.5 KISS-FM/WKSC in Chicago, among others. The third collaboration is an original live event series culminating in a national electronic music program around Halloween 2014.
 
Clear Channel has been bolstering its capabilities for live events and associated experiential marketing opportunities, most prominently with its annual iHeartRadio Music Festival, which in 2013 featured experiential marketing integrations from various brands, including 20th Century Fox, Anheuser Busch, Unilever, Macy’s, Smirnoff, Pepsi, State Farm, and MasterCard.
 
In October, CCME created a new content marketing business headed by Tim Spengler, previously CEO of Magna Global, charged with creating new opportunities for brand advertisers to engage the audience through entertainment content, including live events.
 
Other big radio groups are also bolstering their live event operations. In December, CBS Radio named Jennifer Morelli to the position of vice president for integrated marketing, where she will direct advertiser programs and campaigns that foster brand engagement through CBS Radio’s growing event and live experience business, including concerts, business conferences and seminars, food festivals, sports fan experiences and special holiday programs .