During Tuesday’s Rethink Music Conference a slew of guests came to discuss how aritsits are able to further build their brand with the help of agency and external partners. One of the more interesting, and innovative, examples of this external help comes from some initiatives put together by Converse, which Chief Marketing Officer, Geoff Cottrill, spoke in detail about.

For those unaware, Converse, has had a direct link with musicians and artists for many years. Cotrill talked about Converse’s mission highlighting that “at [their] core, musicians are [their] primary consumer”. Because of this, the brand has taken a stance to support struggling musicians, desperate for professional studio time, by funding and building their own community based recording studio in the heart of NYC, free of charge to musicians. The vision is simple and explicitly stated over at their website,  www.converse.com/rubbertracks:

 ”Rubber Tracks serves as a catalyst for originality by giving new and emerging bands the opportunity to record their songs in a high-quality studio setting. Musicians of all genres are able to apply in advance for a time to use the studio – for free. As in no cost.”

See below for a video which serves as an introduction to the inspiration behind the creation of Rubber Tracks as well as an example of a track recently recorded in the studio, Saint Motel’s “1997″.

Rubber Tracks-Intro

Saint Motel- “1997″

~B. Jones