
The connection between music & football industries
Music and sport were always on the same page. From athletes to fans, music has always played very interesting and important role, and lately it’s becoming more and more integrated into sports marketing.
At the end of January, German champions Bayern Munich announced their partnership with Apple Music, but that’s not the first and it won’t be the last collaboration between sports clubs and music streaming industry. A number of music streaming services is growing and they decided to expand their war to football fields. Before Bayern Munich, there was Borussia Mönchengladbach, five-time Bundesliga winners and proud partners of Spotify – another music streaming service.
#Borussia have begun a new digital partnership with @Spotify! Be sure to follow our playlist at https://t.co/ubJKkGMStY 🎶 #fohlenelf pic.twitter.com/r0X0bpTqk3
— Gladbach (@borussia_en) November 8, 2016
“We believe music is part of the daily life. It’s the soundtrack that goes with you and football fans, just like anyone else, will enjoy music as part of their daily life experience.” – Golan Shaked, Deezer’s chief commercial officer.
million - the approximate number of songs on Deezer

But Apple Music and Spotify are still far behind Deezer, online music streaming service which has been the most involved one in securing deals with football clubs around the world.
Deezer already made partnerships with clubs such as Manchester United, FC Barcelona and FC St. Pauli, offering their fans matchday playlists and players playlists, with access to service’s signature feature – FLOW, which automatically gives each user a personal soundtrack, put together by a combination of Deezer’s in-house musical curators as well as algorithmic data. Deezer also made deals with TalkSport (UK) and Sport1 (Germany) in the past. Those deals allowed Deezer to play a significant role in sports broadcasting sphere as well.
“Music and sport have the power to bring people together, something we experience first-hand with the appeal of football and the unique passion for Manchester United. As Deezer is also an innovator and an industry leader, we look forward to providing our fans around the world with a new way to interact with the Club they love through music and digital media.” – Richard Arnold, Manchester United Group managing director.
Conclusion
Music is a powerful tool for connecting people, and like we said in the beginning of this article, there is a strong link between music and sport. Deals between clubs and music streaming services can be beneficial for both sides because they represent very entertaining and interesting partnerships for developing clubs’ relationship with fans. Don’t be surprised if this trend starts appearing more and more frequently in the relatively near future.

Nikola Popović
Overtime Sports Marketing
If you have any questions about sports marketing, feel free to contact me at ni.popovic@outlook.
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