Brands pay £100m for music endorsements, as performers get savvy UK musicians earned more than £100m from product endorsements and major brand tie-ins for the first time last year - in a sign that artists are becoming more commercially savvy as they grapple with the decline in CD sales. Artist endorsements - such as Madonna's backing of a Smirnoff vodka line and One Direction's deal to become the face of Pepsi - were one of the fastest-growing sources of performers" income, rising by a third. The figures are a boost for the music industry, which suffered more than a decade of declining music sales until last year, when global recorded music industry revenues rose for the first time since 1999 thanks to digital revenue. "There has been an increasing recognition recently of the power of music to add value for brands," said Robert Ashcroft, chief executive of PRS for Music, the collecting agency which backed the research. Overall commercial tie-ups - including Volkswagen's sponsorship of the Channel 4 series Abbey Road Studios, which featured performances from musicians such as Paul Weller - generated £104.8m in 2012. That represented a rise of 6 per cent from the previous year, despite a fall in sponsorship of live events, induced partly by the Olympics. "Artists, agents and labels are looking for incremental ways in which they can develop revenues," said Howard Davies, a partner at Deloitte. It's been driven as much from the music industry as it is by brands. It definitely feels like hard work, but I'm encouraged by the degree of experimentation. Commercial tie-ups tend to offer artists upfront payments, rather than the drip-feed of royalties generated by streaming services. But they have not been without hitches, with Smirnoff accused of targeting underage drinkers through its partnership with Madonna. The vodka maker was cleared after the Advertising Standards Authority ruled the singer's age meant she was unlikely to appeal strongly to under 18s.