At long last, we have our answer: Barbie is a Fender gal.
Videos by American Songwriter
The parent company of the infamous doll giant, Mattel, recently announced its partnership with the longtime guitar maker, Fender, to create a new Barbie Collection of song lessons on the Fender Play guitar lesson app.
The announcement comes on the heels of the 2020 release of the Netflix musical movie, “Barbie: Big City, Big Dreams.” And the app will allow aspiring musicians to play songs from the movie. This fall, customers who buy the guitar-wielding Barbie dolls inspired by the movie will also get three months of free Fender Play lessons via a QR code on the box, Variety reports.
“At Fender, we already work with and support an increasingly wide array of incredibly talented women in music. With that said, we believe it’s important for young aspiring musicians to see themselves in the heroes they look up to,” Fender CMO Evan Jones said to Variety. “We want young women to see they can be anything—whether that’s a guitar player, songwriter, producer or any other career—in the music industry.”
Lessons will be instructed by Fender Play guitar teachers, Abby Hwong and Sydney Ellen, Jones added. And all teachers on the Fender Play app hail from schools like UCLA, USC, Berklee College of Music.
“The lessons are video-based and feature step-by-step, guided instruction for two songs from the special,” Jones continued. “Throughout the process, players can play along, pause, rewind and track their progress. Everything is completely on demand, so they can learn anywhere, anytime and at home as a family.”
Andrea Carpenter, Mattel senior director, content distribution and partnerships, told Variety that music is and always has been important to her toy company.
“Our original music, from a wide range of genres, is a key element in creating compelling content at Mattel Television and integral to our brands’ ability to connect with children of all ages to help them learn and grow,” Carpenter said to Variety. “We have an incredible assortment of music in our library from some of our most iconic brands including Barbie, Thomas & Friends, Masters of the Universe, American Girl, and Fisher-Price, all available through our exclusive distribution partnership with Warner Music Group. Barbie has been inspiring, empowering, and entertaining kids for decades and in ‘Barbie: Big City, Big Dreams,’ we see Barbie ‘Malibu’ Roberts and Barbie ‘Brooklyn’ Roberts realize their dreams through music. Our partnership with Fender is just one of the ways we leverage original music to inspire the limitless potential in every child.”
Visit Fender for more details here.
