When I started out playing bass, endorsers seemed to be almost mythical figures: Ingenious bassists or guitarist that played such downright freaky stuff that musical instrument companies fought to swamp them with valuable equipment. I guess the coverage in the respective magazines did its part in creating that image.

Of course, over time that image did change. At the end of the day, endorsement contracts are marketing instruments. Being well-known in the scene is much more important than being freaky or ingenious.

But even though there doesn't seem to be so much swamping anymore, an endorsement contract can be quite attractive (I wouldn't complain, actually ;-)). In a blog entry from March, Meinl gives some insight into how they handle endorsement contracts: They published an application form for people interested in endorsing them.

The Meinl blog itself is quite interesting as well (at least for people interested in drums).