Posts Tagged: "PyeongChang"

How Do Musical Artists Get Paid When Skaters Use Their Songs at the Olympics?

The somewhat jarring Olympics tradition of juxtaposing athleticism and grace with instrumental versions of popular songs you might hear in the grocery store came to an end in Pyeongchang. After the Sochi games in 2014, the International Skating Union (ISU) decided to shake things up (or shake it off, Taylor Swift?) and began allowing skating to music with lyrics. This is not at all surprising given the demographics of the skaters, who are much more likely to enjoy “Single Ladies” than “Clair de Lune.” Pleasing Generation Z and millennial skaters, however, was not the main goal of the rule change; rather, the ISU wanted to appeal to younger audiences who tune in to watch the Olympics and other major figure skating events.

Olympics and Intellectual Property: What Brands Need to Know

“The purpose of Rule 40 is to prevent over-commercialization of the games and to protect the exclusivity of the official sponsors, who spend many millions of dollars to market during the Olympics,” she explained. “So, there was a blackout period (Feb 1- Feb 28 this year) where brands who sponsor athletes, but are not official Olympic sponsors cannot run ads featuring their athletes or even wish them good luck/congrats on social media.”