There used to be a time when artists kept mum about their use of the Auto-Tune. Pitch correction software, although commonly used, worked in a different context than it does today. Once utilized to make fans believe that their favorite artists were belting out perfect harmonies, pitch correction software has now become much more prolific–and one company is banking on the Auto-Tune‘s popularity.
In order to combat the virtual secrecy associated with pitch correction software, Antares Audio Technology, developer of the Auto-Tune, aggressively advertised their product, which would eventually increase exponentially in popularity.
“We were not the only pitch-correction software out there,”Marco Alpert, VP-marketing at Antares said to AdvertisingAge. “We worked for 10 years to establish the Auto-Tune brand as synonymous with pitch correction. There had been a concerted effort to establish a brand position. So when the whole idea of this effect came out into the popular music world, immediately we’re who people come to.”
According to Advertising Age, it was Cher‘s ’98 monster hit “Believe” that popularized the Auto-Tune, and that would eventually lead to the recent youtube parody “Auto-Tune The News,” T-Pain‘s “I Am T-Pain” iPhone app, and of course, Jay-Z‘s “Death of Auto-Tune” single.
Alpert says that Hov‘s death cry was actually good PR for the company. “Sometimes things fall into our lap. I made myself very available to people trying to put together a ‘Is Jay-Z going to kill Auto-Tune?’ story.”
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According to Antares, “We’re having our best year in history.”
