AdAge just announced that the technology and sound that T-Pain made famous is now one of the Hottest Brands of 2009. Jay-Z would not be happy as Antares Audio Technologies’ Auto-Tune made AdAge’s yearly hot list of top brands. Ad Age states:

“Consumer spending may have gone cold in 2009, but that didn’t stop these marketers from turning up the temperature. Here Ad Age chooses the upstarts and established brands that are setting the pace for innovation — and getting results — right now. Auto-Tune, the vocal pitch correction software, may be the most obscure product that almost everybody knows,” and go on to describe Auto-Tune’s ubiquitous presence and brand name recognition in everything from hip hop music and popular YouTube videos to the I Am T-Pain iPhone app.”

Although Auto-Tune clearly has its haters there is no denying that it was one of the most popular branded names of the year in music and in popular culture. Parent company Antares was quick to capitalize on the new found publicity that T-Pain brought their company and technology and licensced their Auto-Tune technology for everything from TV commercials to iPhone apps.