Over his short yet prolific career, Jimi Hendrix prided himself on being a nonconformist. Through Sony Music’s Thread Shop, however, he is set, at least from a commercial perspective, to join a roster of music legends and current artists who have received the branded merch treatment.
.@sonymusic's @thethreadshop has signed a worldwide deal for @JimiHendrix merch https://t.co/S6Jiryn352
— billboard (@billboard) December 16, 2019
We are not even two weeks removed from writing about how Sony Music Entertainment secured the opportunity to become the exclusive North American provider of Beatles merchandise. We love occasions where something old becomes new again, so we admire both merch announcements for paying tribute to figures who have not issued new material since 1970. That year marked the breakup of The Beatles and the death of Hendrix, but 49 years after those sad occasions, Sony Music is committed to giving end-users ample ways to honor their heroes.
With respect to Hendrix, whose three studio albums all made their way to the top 5 of the Billboard 200, the Thread Shop’s website has added him to its list of artists, but because the agreement that binds Sony Music, Authentic Hendrix LLC and Experience Hendrix LLC is in its infancy, Sony’s website does not yet contain a link to merch.
That makes us curious about what kind of branded merch the entertainment bigwig will offer to give a promotional boost to the Hendrix legacy. We obviously expect records, posters and psychedelic T-shirts, but we feel someone like Hendrix deserves something unique. Owing to that, we wonder if Sony will be a maverick and release, say, a makeshift flaming guitar to celebrate when Hendrix lit his axe at the Monterey International Pop Music Festival. After all, can the world ever have too much fire-centric merch?
