Quick Hits: Marriott tests in-room Pandora; why big brands use indie music

Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web:


Marriott trials in-room streaming entertainment: Marriott International is making a small trial run of offering streaming entertainment directly to guests in their rooms. Eight hotels will try out offering Pandora, Netflix, and Hulu through the in-room televisions. According to TechCrunch, guests will likely pay for the streaming services as a premium tier of the WiFi package, but few official details have been disclosed about how Pandora and others will be made available.

Why big brands go indie for ad music: If you’ve watched an ad for Coca-Cola or McDonald’s, it’s possible you raised an eyebrow at their music choices. A large number of major brands opt to use independent artists for their ads, and Forbes spoke with some marketing execs to understand why. The execs cited indies’ breadth of creative voices and entrepreneurial spirit as reasons to pursue those collaborations. The chance to grab indie tunes for a cheaper license fee than top 40 hits probably doesn’t hurt either.

Anna Washenko