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Now that the 2017 Cannes Lions Festival has wrapped, it's time to get down to the business of actually implementing many of the big ideas that were posed particularly within the track that examined the intersection of entertainment, technology and advertising. Shazam, a leading music app took a bold lead in this category by hosting a dynamic panel discussion regarding the music industry and advertising forecast, in general, and the company's plan for a deeper push into augmented reality with Grammy-winner Wyclef Jean, specifically. And they are planning for big market impact, particularly with the Millennial music-loving audience. The company's energy and vision around their new model is definitely big, but whenever new models are created, particularly around tech, the main question is always the same: will they get it right?
Shazam's Chief Revenue Officer Greg Glenday and recording artist Wyclef Jean seem to have no doubt as they sit at a chic restaurant safe from the hot sunny skies of Cannes, France just off the Croisette and with their entourage in tow. Watching the two men interact, one might think that they had known each other for decades. There is a natural ease as they play off each other to discuss this holy trinity of music, technology and advertising. Though perhaps this is due to the fact that this is not quite their first conference appearance together. Glenday and Jean actually unveiled Shazam’s Augmented Reality (AR) offering together just a few months ago in March during SXSW. However, now they are gearing up for fall 2017 with the full-length album release by Jean entitled "Carnival III" and the intersection of that album with AR. The intent is to leverage Jean's popularity and mystique via extended performances and conversation with fans enabled by augmented reality in order to create engagement and drive sales. Jean is the kick-off to, perhaps, a stable of artist collaborations to follow at Shazam.
If works, it will work in a very big way because Shazam is currently being used by hundreds of millions of people. In fact, according to the company, the app has been downloaded over one billion times, in over 190 countries with over 20 million usage cases each and every day. But such dominant penetration has led Shazam to ponder how to better leverage its access to consumers, particularly music-loving Millennials. The company's challenge was how to expand further into technology after now 15-year reign, yet not leave the music element behind for which the app is known.
"So we had data scientists see which recording artist is researched most," explains Glenday. "And it had to be on an international level, and it needed to be a consistent search. And Wyclef Jean kept coming up each and every time. He's a global superstar with millions of Shazam followers."
Once approached about the collaboration, Jean was more than ready. "Actually, I'm not new to tech," he says. "In fact, I would have been an audio engineer if I weren't a recording artist. You see 'The Score' was produced in my basement. It sounds typical now, but back then, it wasn't. Before this, I would go into Sam Ash, but I couldn’t afford anything so I would just go in and stay as long as could until I got kicked out." But all this prepared him to write what would become a world-wide selling album using technology. "I learned that all the ears here is noise. It is the brain that actually translates that sound into music, so I figured if I could manipulate the sine waves just right via technology, I could get a sound that the brain would interpret as a Fender guitar that I couldn't afford at Sam Ash. These are the first few notes you hear on 'Killing Me Softly.' " He continues, "So I'm saying all this to say that I've always been down to see how technology can enhance music. With my new album, we were trying to figure out how to use technology to cut through all the noise of the industry today so when the idea of a partnership with Shazam was created, it seemed perfect. The concept is a new way of presenting music to be part of a new future."
Jean was actually only supposed to produce a spot for Shazam promoting the AR portion of the app, but once he realized that he could create a two-way connection-of-sorts with the consumer, he stayed for hours and created additional elements. "AR, like any medium, when used effectively," Jean surmises, "can be more than a promotional tool. It can also be used as a vehicle for your creativity. It gives artists a chance to forge new ways to present their personal brand and connect to fan on a deeper level. Actually, I see it as a new transmission vehicle for performance.
But it took Shazam a bit of a journey to arrive at AR enabling for Jean. Once committed, the company hired 100 engineers to manifest Shazam's AR vision. "You have to remember, " says Glenday, "that we were only audio recognition before, but now it's all about video and additional AR technology so, believe me, the work was 24 hours a day in order to achieve our goals!"
Some may not be convinced that the effort will or should pay off. There has been much debate about AR contributing to people becoming more disconnected from the physical world given the level of experience that the technology offers. There have also been interoperability questions between mobile devices and AR offerings.
But Shazam does not seem worried about the naysayers. In fact, the focus now is on further monetizing their AR component. Glenday explains, "Advertisers would call us and know that they want AR but wouldn't know what they want but they just knew that they wanted to get in front of Shazam users and in a new way. So now we are working them and testing out pre-roll, post-roll as well as testing the code at brand events."
Shazam has already done a few AR campaigns with such companies as Fanta in Spain and Jim Beam in the U.S. Says Glenday, “ We always let people know, if want something new, that’s us. If they want tradition, go buy TV.”
If Shazam gets this approach right, they could be leaders within the future intersection of music and tech in quite an even deeper manner. The company receives about a billion data points per day on music, and they AR component will increase this number. Such data could be a gold mine to artists and labels looking for that secret access to formulas that consistently generate hits, that is, certain keys, note combinations, rhythms and more that an algorithm can easily supply. This interest is not unlike Sean Parker's thoughts that technology could one day supersede recording artists to create music hits. But Glenday is quick to caution against such an approach, "We all need to be clear that data can inform, not replace the human being. Our stance is that technology enhances the human being, nothing more."
True to form, the tracks on Jean's new album are derived from inspiration over data. "I think the fans are gonna love 'What happened to Love' and 'Fela Kuti' off this new album," explains Jean. "They can expect 1997 'The Carnival" meets a 2017 sonic set of 'Carnival.' It's like 24-year old Wyclef from the original version meets 40-year old. Fans can expect a zoo." While these two singles are available now, the full album, which will be released in the fall, can only be pre-ordered.
But album aside, one of the most powerful elements to come out of a successful AR offering around the music could be the new business model which it creates. "You see, the human factor of tapping into emotion is going to be the future," Jean says. "Musicians are in a great position for future because the analytics must tie back to the human and the emotional response. Musicians know how to reach humans. And brands need to reach humans. So I see technology bringing all this together. Brands will become, actually overtake, the record label as we now know it. In fact, there will be no need for a record label any longer because a brand can do what they can do by helping to drive visibility."
Jean continues, "Brands are and will and democratize discovery of new artists and expand the reach of established ones. Sell-out does not exist anymore. Music and brands can work even further together to reach the same audience through a music-technology union like what I have going on. And in my six days on the Cannes Lions Jury, I witnessed first-hand brands taking chance on unknown artists. That's exciting! Technology is moving the label out as the middle man so that artists can finally make bigger and better moves directly. That's the future."
