Abstract

This article explores emerging branding landscapes in modern Muslim consumer culture through a focus on the Islamic music industry and the marketing of its popular artists. Specifically, I look at the work of Awakening Records and its impact on the cultivation of new entertainment tastes through music video production and digital marketing techniques. I argue that our interest in the marketing of new Muslim consumer lifestyles should move beyond the novelty of branding in Islam and turn to a substantive exploration of how contemporary Muslim actors negotiate their religious sensibilities in a secular global culture and re-imagine the terms of their identities through pious art productions. I ask how a burgeoning market of Islamic "clean" music creatively appropriates secular symbols and production values to position the modern Muslim consumer as an agent in a larger piety movement that promotes an active form of religious devotion and cultural participation.