According to Nielsen, 52 percent of Canadian music listeners say they’d be completely lost without their music. And advertisers are taking a cue from Jay Z and “smarting up and opening the market up” by aligning with music on all platforms to give their brands a lift in the eyes (and ears) of consumers.

Responses to the recent Nielsen Music 360 Canada survey indicate that music listeners are more likely to prefer a brand that is aligned with the music industry in some capacity. And this increase in preference is maximized across the population of heavy music listeners. Notably, 46 percent of music listeners view a brand more favorably when offered a free download of a newly released single from a well-known or liked artist, compared with 56 percent of self-identified heavy music listeners. In fact, heavy music fans show the greatest favorability toward nearly all brand/music alignment tactics.

The tactics that make music listeners in Canada more partial to brands are those involving free music from well-known or emerging artists. Samsung is the latest brand to get in on this trend, as it recently formed a strategic partnership with rapper Jay Z to bring free music to Galaxy smartphone owners. In doing so, Samsung created a connection between the brand and music listeners by offering owners a free first listen to the hip-hop star's album Magna Carta Holy Grail, which sold more than half a million units in North America during its first week.

Other approaches that brands can employ to resonate well with music listeners include featuring music from well-known artists or bands in advertisements (41%), sweepstakes that offer music-based prizes, like CDs, band merchandise or free concerts (40%), and tour sponsorships with giveaways of promotional items (38%).