Our Goal: Create a Sound Identity to Underscore this Iconic Brand in Africa 

How: Encapsulate the diverse musical styles found in South African Culture 

The musical journey of Spotify Premium was to present a premium sound that has an understanding and interest in South Africa and the diversity of our people. Since Spotify was introducing themselves to the African market for the first time, our challenge was to take the listener on a musical journey through different genres executed in an authentic, yet cinematic way. The styles we decided to incorporate into the music were Amapiano, Neo Soul, Kwaito, and an element of Rock – the music styles the youth of the country were currently identifying with. We achieved this by finding a common tempo that would help glue different moments together but also fit the rhythm and flow of the beat poem which was expertly delivered by Koleka, the poet and voice over whose poem you can hear throughout the spot. Rhythm was going to be the most important element as the driving force of both the poetry and the dance, so we used bass heavy drums and percussion elements along with melodic instruments so that the vocal delivery had space to shine and groove. We had so much fun exploring and experimenting the ways we could unify all these styles into one powerful, inspiring piece worthy of the Spotify brand. As we crafted the piece, we were inspired to develop tones that contrasted between various parts of the ad. This is particularly evident in the beginning of the spot which presents a dark cinematic visual style that we had to reflect in the music and sound design using darker tones and drones in the instrumentation and half-time rhythms. Ultimately, this would grow and transition out to the more fun and brighter tones of the music South Africans know and love. Ultimately representing the unshackled freedom of the Spotify premium brand as we switch from song to song, and genre to genre.