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Published in final edited form as: Subst Use Misuse. 2013 Aug 23;48(14):10.3109/10826084.2013.793716. doi: 10.3109/10826084.2013.793716

Alcohol Brand References in U.S. Popular Music, 2009–2011

Michael Siegel 1, Renee M Johnson 1, Keshav Tyagi 1, Kathryn Power 1, Mark C Lohsen 1, Amanda J Ayers 1, David H Jernigan 2
PMCID: PMC3830686  NIHMSID: NIHMS458238  PMID: 23971875

Abstract

This study aimed to assess the prevalence and context of alcohol brand references in popular music. Billboard Magazine year-end charts from 2009–2011 were used to identify the most popular songs in four genres: Urban, Pop, Country, and Rock. Of the 720 songs, 23% included an alcohol mention, and 6.4% included an alcohol brand mention. Songs classified as Urban had the highest percentage of alcohol mentions and alcohol brand mentions. The context associated with alcohol brand mentions was almost uniformly positive or neutral. Public health efforts may be necessary to reduce youth exposure to these positive messages about alcohol use.

Keywords: Alcohol, brand, lyrics, music, promotion, youth

INTRODUCTION

Despite public health efforts to discourage underage drinking, it still remains a major public health problem in the United States. More than 70% of high school students have consumed alcohol, and about 22% engage in heavy episodic drinking (Eaton et al., 2012). Alcohol use among underage youth causes an estimated 4,700 deaths annually (CDC, 2011) and the estimated annual cost associated with the consequences of underage drinking is $27 billion (Bouchery et al., 2011). A growing body of literature has identified exposure to alcohol portrayals in the mass media as a factor that significantly influences youth drinking behavior (Anderson et al., 2009; Smith & Foxcroft, 2009). Importantly, these factors include not only traditional media exposures (i.e., alcohol advertising), but also exposure to alcohol portrayals on television (Engels et al., 2009; Koordeman, Anschutz, & Engels, 2012; Van den Bulck & Beulens, 2005), in the movies (Dal Cin et al., 2009; Dalton et al., 2002, 2006; Hanewinkel et al., 2008, 2012; Hanewinkel, Tanski, & Sargent, 2007; Hunt et al., 2011; Koordeman et al., 2010, 2011; Koordeman, Anschutz, & Engels, 2012; Sargent et al., 2006; Tanski et al., 2010; Wills et al., 2009), and in popular music (Chen et al., 2006; Koordeman, Anschutz, & Engels, 2012; Robinson, Chen, & Killen, 1998; Wingood et al., 2003).

Adolescents in the U.S. spend approximately 2.5 hours per day listening to music (Rideout, Foehr, & Roberts, 2010), and it is particularly important to the processes of identity formation and coping (Arnett, 2005). Thus, the potential exposure to alcohol portrayals conveyed in music lyrics is substantial. The portrayal of alcohol in the lyrics of popular music has been previously studied and this work provides a picture of the prevalence of alcohol mentions and the context and associations of those mentions (Chalfant & Beckley, 1977; Christenson, Roberts, & Bjork, 2012; Herd, 2005; Primack et al., 2008, 2012; Roberts, Henriksen, & Christenson, 1999). However, there are two significant limitations of the existing literature. First, most of the studies have examined alcohol portrayal generally rather than the presence of specific alcohol brands. Alcohol is marketed and consumed at the brand level and understanding the relationship between the specific alcohol brands mentioned in popular music lyrics, the context of those mentions, and the actual use of those brands among underage youth would provide a deeper understanding of the potential influence of music on youth drinking behavior. Second, we are not aware of any studies that examined popular songs within the past four years. The most recent analysis examined songs up until the year 2008 (Christenson, Roberts, & Bjork, 2012).Patterns of consumption of specific types and brands of alcohol may have changed in the past five years, so it is important to have an up-to-date analysis.

Only two previous studies have specifically examined alcohol brand portrayals in popular music lyrics (Herd, 2005; Primack et al., 2012). Herd (2005) examined the number of alcohol brand mentions in 341 rap music songs from 1979 to 1997. Although she does not list the number of mentions for each brand, she does note that during the study period, there was a dramatic increase in the number of brand mentions for several specific Champagne brands and high-end spirits brands. Primack et al. (2012) examined alcohol brand mentions in the top 793 songs according to Billboard Magazine from 2005 through 2007 and concluded that one-fifth of songs reference alcohol and that one-fourth of those referenced a specific brand. Primack et al. (2012) also analyzed the context of alcohol use in songs with brand mentions and found that partying was a frequent theme.

While these two articles have substantially added to our understanding of the portrayal of alcohol in popular music, three significant gaps remain. First, neither of the studies presents the relationship between the genre of the song and the specific brands portrayed. Primack et al. (2012) compare the number of brand mentions between songs of different genres, but do not indicate the specific brands that are mentioned most frequently within each genre. Second, neither of these studies presents or analyzes differences in the context of alcohol use between alcohol brands referenced in the songs. Primack et al. (2012) present data on the context for all songs that mention alcohol brands, but they do not compare context between various brands. Third, neither study provides a picture of alcohol brand mentions in music after 2007.

Identifying the context in which alcohol brand use is depicted in popular music is important for several reasons. First, it may help elucidate the imagery and values associated with alcohol brands in the minds of young people. For example, are particular alcohol brands associated with partying or sex? Second, it will help predict the likely impact of the portrayals on underage alcohol use. For example, are the consequences of alcohol use for specific brands depicted in a positive or negative way? Are the emotions associated with use of a particular alcohol brand positive or negative?

The purpose of this study was to examine the nature and extent of alcohol brand mentions in U.S. popular music between 2009 and 2011. This study builds on the existing literature in three major ways: (1) it specifically examines the relationship between music genre and the specific brands that are mentioned; (2) it specifically examines and compares the context of alcohol use between various brands; and (3) it updates the previous work by studying music lyrics up to the year 2011.

METHODS

Sample Selection

Billboard Magazine year-end charts were used to identify the most popular songs in 2009, 2010, and 2011. Billboard uses an algorithm based on song sales data, radio airplay, and digital streaming to determine the top songs, and classifies them by genre. We examined the six most popular music genres reported by Billboard: “Pop” (n = 40 in 2009 and 2011, and n = 50 in 2010), “Billboard Hot 100” (n = 100 each year), “Hot Country Tracks,” (n = 60 each year), “Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs” (n = 100 in 2009 and 2010, and n = 40 in 2011), “Rap Songs” (n = 40 in 2009, n = 50 in 2010, and n = 25 in 2011) and “Rock Tracks” (n = 50 each year). Due to high overlap in songs on charts across these six genres, we reclassified R&B/Hip-Hop and Rap songs as “Urban,” and Pop and Billboard Hot 100 songs as “Pop.” Therefore, we had four genres: Country, Rock, Urban, and Pop.

Lyrics

The Web site www.azlyrics.com was used to obtain the lyrics for each identified song. This Web site has a databank of lyrics for most songs available to the public. While visitors have the ability to add songs and their lyrics to the database, the Web site managers monitor changes made to the lyrics, ensuring that they are correct and not erroneously added. In the rare event that a song did not appear in the azlyrics.com database, we conducted an Internet search to identify another lyric database that contained the song.

Coding Procedures

Coding procedures were adapted from a previous study of alcohol brand appearances in U.S. popular music (Primack et al., 2012). In this study, the purpose was primarily to quantify the number and nature of alcohol brand references in popular music. Therefore, the coding scheme focused on whether each brand was used in a positive or negative context and whether the consequences of alcohol use were portrayed as being positive or negative. Three trained coders familiar with popular music independently analyzed the lyrics of all songs and screened for references to alcohol and alcohol brands. Using a qualitative approach, the coders examined the contextual associations of each reference within the song, developing a final code book of all the unique references to alcohol and alcohol brands from their sample. A final coding scheme was created to examine the connotation and relevance of each code based on six categories – alcohol types, brands, context, consequences, emotional states, and activities.

The lyrics for all songs were reviewed and coded for references to alcohol by identifying words that referred to alcohol (e.g., drunk, beer, six pack). Additionally, the following variables were coded: (1) Brand(s) mentioned; (2) Type of alcohol; (3) Positive, negative, or neutral context; (4) Positive, negative, or no/neutral consequences of alcohol use; (5) Positive, negative, or neutral emotional states associated with use; and (6) Activities associated with use, including partying, violence, and sex.

Each coder was designated one year to code. After all songs were evaluated for the presence of an alcohol reference, a different research assistant re-checked the songs for any missed references. Disputes as to whether text constituted an alcohol reference were resolved by the lead authors. Nineteen of the songs with references to alcohol were randomly selected for an inter-rater reliability analysis. All three raters coded the presence and – if applicable – specific type of brand reference for the 19 songs. Agreement among raters was high. Raters 1 and 2 agreed on 18 songs, raters 1 and 3 agreed on 17 songs, and raters 2 and 3 agreed on 16 songs. Respectively, the pairwise Kappa coefficients were 0.88, 0.76, and 0.62, all of which indicate a substantial level of agreement (Viera & Garrett, 2005).

Data Analysis

First, the number of references to alcohol and to alcohol brands was quantified by year and genre. We used the Cochran-Armitage test to assess whether there was a statistically significantly trend in alcohol and alcohol brand mentions by year, and used Chi-square tests to assess the differences in mentions by genre. Next, the number of alcohol brand references was examined by genre and alcohol beverage type. Finally, the context, consequences, emotional states, and activities associated with use of each alcohol brand were examined.

Of the 775 songs on the charts for 2009, 2010, and 2011, 55 appeared in more than one year-end chart, whereas 665 appeared in only one year-end chart. Thus, there were 775 songs in total and 720 unique songs. We used the full sample (N=775) to conduct trend analyses by year, and the sample of unique songs (N=720) for all other analyses. Analyses were conducted using SAS 9.1.

RESULTS

Of the 720 unique songs, 167 (23.2%) contained alcohol mentions (Table 1). Alcohol mentions were most common in Urban songs (37.7%), followed by Country (21.8%), Pop (14.9%), and Rock (7.3%). Alcohol brand mentions occurred in 46 (6.4%) of the songs and varied substantially by genre; 11.8% of Urban songs and none of the Rock songs contained alcohol brand mentions. Compared to the other three genres, combined, Urban songs were 2.47 times more likely to contain an alcohol mention (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.89, 3.22), and were 3.42 times more likely to contain an alcohol brand mention (95% CI: 1.90, 6.15).

Table 1.

Percentage of Songs with Alcohol and Alcohol Brand Mentions, by Genre and Year

Alcohol Mentions Alcohol Brand Mentions
Percentage Number of Songs Measure of Association Percentage Number of Songs Measure of Association
Genre (n=720) 23.2% 167 X2=55.56, <0.0001 6.4% 46 X2=24.00, <0.0001
 Country (n=179) 21.8% 39 6.2% 11
 Rock (n=138) 7.3% 10 0.0% 0
 Urban (n=255) 37.7% 96 11.8% 30
 Pop (n=148) 14.9% 22 3.4% 5
Year (n=775) 23.5% 182 Z=2.34, 0.01a 6.7% 52 Z=0.83, 0.20a
 2009 (n=273) 27.1% 74 7.3% 20
 2010 (n=280) 24.3% 68 7.1% 20
 2011 (n=222) 18.0% 40 5.4% 12
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Note: In the analyses by year, the total number (N=775) includes duplicate songs that were in year-end charts for multiple years. The analyses by genre include only the 720 unique songs.

a

The Cochran-Armitage test was used to examine trends by year.

There was a statistically significant decline in the number of songs with alcohol references during the study period. In 2009, 27.1% of songs contained alcohol mentions, compared to 24.3% in 2010, and 18.0% in 2011 (Table 1). Although the number of alcohol brand mentions was lower in 2011 than in 2009 and 2010, the trend was not statistically significant.

In the 46 songs containing any alcohol brand mentions, there were 64 references to 24 unique brands of alcohol. Thirty-four of the songs referenced just one brand, and 12 referenced two or more. Eight of the 12 songs with more than one alcohol brand mention were Urban.

Alcohol brand mentions were heavily concentrated among a small number of brands (Table 2). More than half (51.6%) of the 64 brand mentions referenced just four brands: Patron tequila (23.4% of brand mentions), Hennessy Cognac (12.5%), Grey Goose vodka (7.8%), and Jack Daniel’s whiskey (7.8%). In fact, 26 of the 46 songs with brand mentions referenced these four brands (56.5%).

Table 2.

Number of Alcohol Brand Mentions, by Type and Genre

Brand/Type All Genres Genre
Country Urban Pop
Patron 15 2 13 0
Tequila 15 2 13 0
Hennessy 8 1 7 0
Remy Martin 2 0 2 0
Conjure 1 0 1 0
Cognac 11 1 10 0
Grey Goose 5 0 5 0
Ciroc 4 0 4 0
Banker’s Club 1 0 0 1
Clique 1 0 1 0
Vodka 11 0 10 1
Jack Daniel’s 5 1 1 3
Jameson 1 0 0 1
Whiskey 6 1 1 4
Cristal 2 0 2 0
Moet 2 0 2 0
Dom Perignon 1 1 0 0
Champagne 5 1 4 0
Corona 4 2 2 0
Budweiser 3 2 1 0
Bud Light 1 1 0 0
Amstel 1 1 0 0
Miller 1 0 0 1
Heineken 1 1 0 0
Pabst Blue Ribbon 1 1 0 0
Beer 12 8 3 1
Nuvo 1 0 1 0
Jagermeister 1 1 0 0
Hpnotic 1 0 1 0
Liqueur 3 1 2 0
Bacardi 1 0 1 0
Rum 1 0 1 0
Total 64 14 44 6
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Note. Data represent only the 46 songs with alcohol brand references, 12 of which contained >2 brand references. Rock was omitted because no songs in the genre contained alcohol brand references.

There were substantial differences in the number and type of brand mentions by genre, and 68.8% of the alcohol brand mentions were in songs classified as Urban (Table 2). All of the brand mentions for Remy Martin, Grey Goose, Ciroc, Cristal, and Moet (2 references each) occurred in Urban songs, as did nearly all of the brand mentions for Patron (13 of 15) and Hennessy (7 of 8). By contrast, references to Jack Daniel’s (4 of 5), Jameson Irish whiskey (1 of 1), and specific beers (9 of 12) were primarily in Country or Pop songs. In general, references to brands of tequila, Cognac, vodka, and Champagne were more common in Urban songs, whereas references to brands of whiskey and beer were more common in Country or Pop songs.

Among the 30 unique urban songs with alcohol brand mentions, there were 14 artists who appeared in more than one song, either as the primary or a featured artist. Five artists were involved in three or more different songs with alcohol brand mentions, while nine were involved in two different songs with alcohol brand mentions.

The majority of brand mentions were positive in context (81.3%), and did not reference any negative outcomes of alcohol use (96.9%) (Table 3). This pattern was evident for three of the four most commonly mentioned brands, i.e., Patron tequila, Hennessy Cognac, and Grey Goose vodka. In 13 of the 15 references to Patron, the context was positive and there were no depictions of negative consequences, whereas all of the brand mentions of Hennessy Cognac (n=8) and Grey Goose vodka (n=5) were positive in context and depicted no negative consequences.

Table 3.

Alcohol Brand Mentions: Context, Outcome of Use, Emotion, Party Context, and Sexual References

Type, Brand Number of Mentions Context Outcome of Use Emotion Party Reference Sexual Reference
+ 0 − + 0 − + 0 −
Patron, Tequila 15 13 1 1 6 9 0 14 0 1 10 2
Hennessy 8 8 0 0 4 4 0 8 0 0 7 2
Remy Martin 2 2 0 0 1 1 0 2 0 0 2 0
Conjure 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 0
Cognac 11 10 0 1 5 5 1 10 0 1 10 2
Grey Goose 5 5 0 0 1 4 0 5 0 0 4 2
Ciroc 4 3 1 0 1 3 0 2 2 0 3 0
Banker’s Club 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 1
Clique 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0
Vodka 11 10 1 0 3 8 0 9 2 0 9 3
Jack Daniel’s 5 2 2 1 1 3 1 2 3 0 2 1
Jameson 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0
Whiskey 6 3 2 1 2 3 1 3 3 0 3 1
Cristal 2 1 0 1 0 2 0 1 0 1 1 0
Moet 2 1 1 0 1 1 0 2 0 0 2 0
Dom Perignon 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
Champagne 5 3 1 1 1 3 0 4 0 1 3 0
Corona 4 3 1 0 3 1 0 4 0 0 2 1
Budweiser 3 2 1 0 2 1 0 3 0 0 1 0
Bud Light 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0
Amstel 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0
Miller 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 1
Heineken 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0
Pabst 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
Beer 12 9 3 0 7 5 0 12 0 0 6 2
Nuvo 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0
Jagermeister 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
Hpnotiq 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0
Liqueur 3 3 0 0 1 2 0 3 0 0 2 0
Bacardi, Rum 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0
Total 64 52 8 4 25 36 2 56 5 3 43 10
Percent 100% 81.3% 12.5% 6.3% 39.1% 56.3% 3.1% 87.5% 7.8% 4.7% 67.2% 15.6%
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The emotional context of alcohol brand mentions was overwhelmingly positive, with 87.5% depicting positive emotion (56 of 64 mentions), 7.8% depicting neutral emotion, and only 4.7% depicting negative emotion. Where negative context, outcomes, or emotions were depicted, they tended to occur together in the same song. Thus, a total of only four songs that contained an alcohol brand mention (10.9%) depicted negative context, negative or neutral consequences, or negative or neutral emotion.

The most common context for alcohol use was use during partying, which occurred in 72.6% of brand mentions (Table 3). A party context was most common for the tequila, cognac, and vodka brands. Sexual references associated with alcohol use occurred in 16.4% of brand mentions. No songs with alcohol brand mentions contained images of violence.

Many of the songs analyzed portrayed heavy alcohol use as leading to sex or enticing women to have sex. For example, the song “One More Drink” performed by Ludacris (with T-Pain) portrays sex as the result of drinking excessively: “Was taking shots and tipping the bartender/Surrender to the woman end up bringing me home/Cause she started looking better every shot of Patron (yup).” Intoxication resulting in sex is also present in the song “Crack a Bottle” performed by Eminem (with Dr. Dre and 50 Cent): “So crack a bottle, let your body waddle/Don’t act like a snobby model you just hit the lotto/O-oh o-oh, bitches hopping in my Tahoe/Got one riding shotgun and no not one of them got clothes,” as well as in the song “Wasted” performed by Gucci Mane (with Plies): “Party party party, let’s all get wasted/Shake it for me baby girl do it butt naked/I’m so wasted she so wasted/Tell the bartender send me 20 more cases.” In each of these examples, intoxication or excessive alcohol consumption is followed by sex, the promise of sex, or sexual acts.

Another prominent theme in the song analysis was the encouragement of intoxication and underage drinking. “Say Aah” performed by Trey Songz (with Fabolous) states: “We don’t buy no drinks at the bar/We pop champagne ‘cause we got that dough/let me hear you say Aah (Aah, Aah, Aah, Aah),” implying that his wealth can supply great amounts of alcohol, and also encouraging patrons to open their mouths as if they were taking a shot of liquor or drinking out of a bottle (i.e., “Say Aah”). “I Love College” performed by Asher Roth glamorizes both underage drinking and excessive intoxication by encouraging college freshman—who typically are not of legal drinking age—to participate in competitive drinking games: “Chug chug chug chug chug chug chug/Freshman freshman freshman freshman/Do something crazy! Do something crazy! Do something crazy! Do something crazy!/Keg stand Keg stand Keg stand Keg stand.”

DISCUSSION

This is the first article to provide a comprehensive, contextual analysis of brand-specific references to alcohol in popular music in recent years. The most striking finding was that alcohol brand references are concentrated among a small number of brands, even though there are well over 1000 brands in the marketplace. Four brands alone – Patron tequila, Hennessy Cognac, Grey Goose vodka, and Jack Daniel’s whiskey – accounted for more than half of all alcohol brand mentions, and 57% (n=26) of the 46 songs with alcohol brand mentions referenced these 4 brands.

There was substantial variation in the proportion of songs with alcohol brand references by genre. The majority (69%) of alcohol brand mentions occurred in Urban songs and there were no alcohol brand mentions in any of the Rock songs. In addition, the specific brands referenced were quite specific to genre. For example, nearly all of the brand mentions for Patron, Hennessy, Remy Martin, Grey Goose, Ciroc, Cristal, and Moet occurred in Urban songs, whereas 4 of the 5 brand mentions for Jack Daniel’s occurred in Pop and Country songs, and 9 of the 12 the references to brands of beer were in Country songs. Within Urban songs, alcohol brand mentions were concentrated among a small number of artists, with 14 occurrences of the same artist appearing in multiple songs with an alcohol brand mention.

The context associated with brand-specific alcohol use was overwhelmingly positive, with only two songs depicting negative consequences of alcohol use. The emotional context associated with use was also overwhelmingly positive. All told, only four of the 46 songs with alcohol brand mentions depicted a negative context, negative consequences, or negative emotion associated with alcohol use. Partying was the most common activity associated with brand-specific alcohol use and the prevalence of partying themes was particularly high for mentions of brands of Cognac (10 of 11 mentions) and vodka (9 of 10 mentions). It therefore seems clear that popular music is largely portraying alcohol use as a fun part of the youth lifestyle that is free of consequences. Furthermore, we found evidence that many songs glamorize underage drinking and excessive alcohol consumption and their association with sex and partying.

Results with regards to the prevalence of alcohol and alcohol brand mentions are similar to those of previous studies. In this study, 23.2% of songs in year-end charts from 2009–2011 contained an alcohol reference and 6.4% contained an alcohol brand reference. By comparison, Primack et al. (2012) found these percentages to be 21.3% and 5.2%, respectively, for songs on the charts from 2005–2007. Christenson, Roberts, & Bjork (2012) found that 19% of songs in 2008 contained an alcohol reference.

Of note, we found a statistically significant decline in the proportion of popular songs with alcohol mentions during the study period (from 27% in 2009 to 18% in 2011). We cannot explain the reason for this change, but it may be that the number of alcohol mentions was particularly high in 2009 and 2010, since our finding for 2011 was nearly the same as Christenson et al. (2012) for 2008. There has not been a corresponding decline in alcohol use or alcohol marketing during the study period.

The recurrent appearance of a small number of alcohol brands in Urban songs, concentrated among a small number of artists, may not be coincidental. There are numerous examples of rap artists being sponsored by alcohol brands, having their concerts sponsored by these brands, or in some cases, being paid to endorse these brands in their songs (Table 4) (Alcohol and hip hop, 2012; Austin City Limits Alternatives, 2012; Bad Boy Records, 2012; Diddy, 2011; Event lineup, 2012; Guzzle up, 2010; Harr, 2011; Moore, 2012; Nuvo presents, 2010; Parekh, 2012; Patron XO Café, 2012; Rappers flock, 2012; Rising Icons, 2012; Sponsors, 2012; Trey Songz, 2012; Winslow, 2012). For example, Diddy is a paid spokesperson for Ciroc vodka and has a $100 million marketing deal with Diageo, the manufacturer of Ciroc (Diddy, 2011). Grey Goose sponsors a television show on Black Entertainment Television (BET) that highlights up and coming Urban artists (Rising Icons, 2012). Patron sponsored a concert at the popular Austin City Limits Music Festival which featured a number of Urban artists (Austin City Limits Alternatives, 2012).

Table 4.

Examples of Promotion of Alcohol Brands in Popular Music by Alcohol Companies

Brand Promotion
Patron Patron XO sponsored a 2012 concert during the Austin City Limits Music Festival, featuring urban artists such as DJ Prepmode, Hot Sauce ATX, Neon Emu, and Jennifer Argenti. (Austin City Limits Alternatives, 2012)
Patron XO sponsored a 2012 Halloween party featuring Adam Levine and Maroon 5. (Patron XO Café, 2012)
Hennessy Hennessy sponsors numerous parties and concerts featuring urban artists, including Trey Songz and Nas. (Guzzle up, 2010; Trey Songz, 2012)
Grey Goose Grey Goose sponsored a tour of urban artists (the Grey Goose Vodka Music Tour), including 8 Ball & MJG, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Lady May, Lil Jon and the Eastside Boyz. (Rappers flock, 2012)
Grey Goose (through Grey Goose Entertainment) sponsors a television show called “Rising Icons” on BET (Black Entertainment Television) which features up and coming urban artists.(Rising Icons, 2012)
Grey Goose sponsors album release parties and cocktail parties for urban artists, including Trey Songz and Big Sean.(Event lineup, 2012)
Jack Daniel’s Jack Daniel’s sponsored an outdoor party in 2011 at the Nashville Songwriters Association International, honoring Nashville-associated songwriters who had number 1 hits in 2010–2011. (Harr, 2011)
Ciroc Diddy (Sean Combs) is paid spokesperson for Ciroc and has a $100 million marketing deal with the company. (Diddy, 2011)
Diddy owns a music management company called Ciroc Entertainment and a group called Ciroc Boyz, which manages artists including Rick Ross, Fabolous, Red Café and French Montana. (Bad Boy Records, 2012)
Budweiser Budweiser sponsored the “Made in America” concert series, which is now being made into a film which will be co-produced by Jay-Z. (Parekh, 2012)
Budweiser sponsored an outdoor party in 2011 at the Nashville Songwriters Association International, honoring Nashville-associated songwriters who had number 1 hits in 2010-2011. (Harr, 2011)
Moet & Chandon Moet & Chandon champagne sponsors album release parties and dinner parties for urban artists such as Nas, Ne-Yo, and Trey Songz. (Moore, 2012)
Conjure Ludacris developed the brand in collaboration with a French cognac house. (Alcohol and hip hop, 2012)
Bud Light Bud Light sponsored a Pitbull music video “Get It Started” featuring Shakira and is using Pitbull in a new bilingual advertising campaign. (Winslow, 2012)
Bud Light sponsored the Austin City Limits Music Festival in 2012. (Sponsors, 2012)
Bud Light sponsored a “House of Champions” party, featuring T-Pain, during the NCAA Basketball Tournament in Indianapolis in 2010. (Nuvo presents, 2010)
Nuvo Nuvo sponsored a “House of Champions” party, featuring T-Pain, during the NCAA Basketball Tournament in Indianapolis in 2010. (Nuvo presents, 2010)
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Even in cases where alcohol companies are not directly promoting the mention of their brands in music lyrics, they still may be tacitly endorsing the way in which their brands are portrayed. These study results should be considered in light of the marketing concept of “brand safety” (Brand safety and social media, 2012). Brand safety refers to the efforts of marketers to monitor the content of brand portrayals – especially in the digital media – to ensure that the content is consistent with the brand’s image (Brand safety and social media, 2012). If companies are not protesting or disavowing the mentions of their brands in contexts that are inconsistent with the industry’s voluntary codes for portraying their brand images in advertisements, this could suggest that the companies are endorsing the context in which their brands are being portrayed in popular music, such as being associated with intoxication, underage drinking, or the use of alcohol to entice women into having sex.

Given the heavy exposure of youth to popular music and the particular importance of Urban music among African American youth (Christenson & Roberts, 1998), these results are alarming because they suggest that popular music may be serving as a major source of promotion of alcohol use in general – and of the consumption of several specific brands in particular – to underage youth. These findings are particularly important in light of the recent report that African-American youth are more heavily exposed to alcohol advertising in other venues, including television and magazines (Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth, 2012). The next research step needed is to examine whether the brands mentioned most often in Urban music are popular among African American youth who consume alcohol, as such an investigation would help determine whether the exposure identified in this study is actually influencing youth drinking behavior.

This research is subject to several limitations. First, it examined only the top songs in each genre and therefore is almost certainly underestimating overall youth exposure to alcohol brand references in popular music. Second, it is possible that the analysis missed certain vernacular references to alcohol, a second reason why these findings may underestimate the extent of alcohol references. Third, it is important to emphasize that while this study documents exposure to alcohol brand mentions in popular music, it does not examine youth alcohol use and therefore cannot draw conclusions about the potential influence of exposure to popular music on youth drinking behavior. Finally, our findings are limited by the accuracy of the azlyrics.com Web site.

Despite these limitations, this research adds important information to our understanding of the depiction of alcohol use in popular music. It demonstrates that the majority of alcohol brand mentions refer to a small number of specific brands, and also that many of the artists of these songs – particularly within the Urban genre – have agreements with alcohol companies to promote their brand. Thus, alcohol companies may be indirectly promoting brand-specific alcohol use among underage youth through sponsorship of popular artists. If this exposure is subsequently found to be influencing youth drinking behavior, then public health and regulatory efforts will need to find ways to reduce or mitigate such an effect.

Acknowledgments

Support for this publication was provided by a grant to Renee M. Johnson from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA, 5K01-DA031739-02), and by a grant to Michael Siegel from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA, R01-AA020309-02). The content is the sole responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

Footnotes

Declaration of interest

None of the authors have any financial conflicts of interest to disclose.

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