Hotel guests offered free, site-specific music downloads
Travel & Tourism
It was several months ago this year when we last had occasion to write about Morgans Hotel Group. At the time, we had just come upon the company’s Minibar for the Mind, launched through a partnership with The School of Life. The latest spotting? A new initiative whereby hotel guests are given free access to a bank of curated music downloads chosen specifically to reflect the personality of the property they’re staying in.
Launched last month through a partnership with music download site RCRD LBL, Morgans’ new effort serves up unique, 20-song playlists compiled to suit the unique feel of each Morgans hotel. Morgans has a long tradition of collaborating with up-and-coming musical artists through live performances at its hotel properties, but this new initiative takes such efforts even further by offering downloadable music and playlists for free via scannable QR codes on guests’ keycards. Individual hotel playlists can be found on the company’s website; they include new songs by cutting-edge artists including Free Energy, Memory Tapes, Best Coast, Wavves and The Drums and are refreshed with new content every three months. Guests also get a complimentary, downloadable song via email with their reservation confirmation.
“Music has always been an important part of the experience at our hotels, from the carefully selected playlists in the background in each of our lobbies and the underwater music at Delano’s ‘Water Salon’, to the exciting performances we have featured in our hotels through programs such as Sanderson Predicts in London and our new Mondrian sessions in Los Angeles,” said Kim Walker, senior vice president and creative director for Morgans Hotel Group. “Delivering custom musical content unique to each of our hotels and making it available on a complimentary basis to our guests, through multiple online channels, is the next step in keeping our amenities fresh and our guests excited to see what’s next from Morgans Hotel Group.”
In an area as crowded as the hospitality industry, outside of the box thinking such as this is often what’s needed to stand out from the crowd. And as the music industry continues to search for new outlets in light of struggling record sales, this latest initiative is, of course, advantageous for artists as well. How could you enhance your brand’s image through a mutually beneficial collaboration with musicians and other entertainers?
“Music has always been an important part of the experience at our hotels, from the carefully selected playlists in the background in each of our lobbies and the underwater music at Delano’s ‘Water Salon’, to the exciting performances we have featured in our hotels through programs such as Sanderson Predicts in London and our new Mondrian sessions in Los Angeles,” said Kim Walker, senior vice president and creative director for Morgans Hotel Group. “Delivering custom musical content unique to each of our hotels and making it available on a complimentary basis to our guests, through multiple online channels, is the next step in keeping our amenities fresh and our guests excited to see what’s next from Morgans Hotel Group.”
In an area as crowded as the hospitality industry, outside of the box thinking such as this is often what’s needed to stand out from the crowd. And as the music industry continues to search for new outlets in light of struggling record sales, this latest initiative is, of course, advantageous for artists as well. How could you enhance your brand’s image through a mutually beneficial collaboration with musicians and other entertainers?
16th June 2011