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In a brief movie proven on the finish of the Super Bowl halftime performer information convention, the present’s headliner Usher comes up lacking. The singer’s sudden absence prompts instantaneous panic from his buddies together with Ludacris, Lil Jon and Taraji P. Henson, sparking a search at varied Las Vegas landmarks.
Finally, Usher is discovered splashing water whereas dancing in a Caesar’s Palace fountain within the seven-minute film “Where’s Usher!?” It’s one of many many artistic initiatives from Apple Music, which has made a concerted effort to amplify the anticipation round Sunday’s halftime present.
Since Apple Music turned the halftime present sponsor, the streaming service is pushing to depart an influential mark like by no means earlier than.
“We’re attempting to increase the marketing campaign to greater than only a present on a Sunday afternoon,” stated Oliver Schusser, the Vice President of Apple Music and Beats. The streaming service became the sponsor for the show in 2022 changing Pepsi, which held the place for a decade.
Schusser stated Apple Music stepped in as an organization that understands the music panorama. He referred to as their partnership a “very highly effective” one with the NFL and Jay-Z’s Roc Nation, which has produced the halftime present since 2019.
To date, Apple Music has gotten off to a promising begin. Final yr, the streaming service constructed a marketing campaign for Rihanna — whereas retaining her pregnancy a secret — main as much as her efficiency, which turned the most-watched in Tremendous Bowl halftime historical past with greater than 121 million viewers.
As Usher prepares to headline this year’s festivities, Apple Music created a strategic plan earlier than he hits the Tremendous Bowl stage. The streaming service has been working with the singer and his workforce since assembly with him throughout final yr’s Paris Style Week.
“It’s been a journey with him and his administration ever since,” Schusser stated. “We need to make this an even bigger and international occasion. Between Apple Music, Apple Music Radio, the expertise who’ve a deep understanding of music and tradition and clearly Apple’s ecosystem, I believe we will amplify that.”
Main as much as Sunday, it’s all about Usher. Via the streaming service’s app, listeners can try the singer’s halftime present trailer, his curated My Highway to Halftime playlist that includes his personal hits and collaborators. Usher and Jermaine Dupri created a mixture of songs in spatial audio with jams together with DJs Tiësto, Gryffin and BLOND:ISH.
Apple Music Radio’s Nadeska Alexis had a livestreamed sit-down interview Thursday with Usher the place the brief movie was proven.
There’s a narrative of Usher in 20 songs, an editorial characteristic that offers an in-depth have a look at his 30-year profession as a performer. The platform provides a four-night Usher takeover by means of their reside broadcasting reveals hosted by Lil Wayne and Estelle together with unique programming on Apple Music Radio that may chronicle the singer’s evolution; exercise music by previous halftime performers by means of Health+ and methods to revisit his previous initiatives earlier than the discharge of his ninth studio album “Coming House,” which comes out Friday.
“From a advertising standpoint, we strategy it like a product launch,” stated Tor Myhren, Vice President of Advertising Communications at Apple. “You may have all of the distinctive issues about it then deliver these to life. With Usher, the strategy is that Usher is enjoyable. Usher is a celebration. He desires to have a great time. It’s actually about capturing the essence of that artist, placing that along with the essence of Apple Music.”
Myhren stated there’s nonetheless a concentrate on Usher’s efficiency after the Tremendous Bowl. He stated it’s crucial to capitalize off the singer’s present earlier than turning the corporate’s consideration to subsequent yr’s performer.
“We nonetheless need individuals to bask within the glory of the present,” he stated. “After any halftime artist performs, their streaming of their music the subsequent week or two goes by means of the roof. We need to be in the midst of that. We need to give our prospects a significantly better expertise.”
Myhren stated the inspiration has been laid.
“It’s concerning the lead as much as the present and the way we will proceed to reinvent that step,” he stated. “We need to proceed to deliver this very cool musical expertise to a way more international viewers.”
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Republished with permission of The Related Press.
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