LAS VEGAS (Keynote USA) — In a short film shown at the end of the Super Bowl halftime performers’ press conference, the show’s main star, Usher, disappears. The singer’s sudden absence causes instant panic among his friends, including Ludacris, Lil Jon, and Taraji P. Henson, prompting a search of several iconic locations in Las Vegas.
Ultimately, Usher is found splashing water while dancing in a fountain at Caesar’s Palace in the seven-minute film “Where’s Usher!?” It’s one of many creative projects from Apple Music, which has made a concerted effort to amplify the anticipation around Sunday’s halftime show.
Since Apple Music became a sponsor of the halftime show, the streaming service is striving to make an influential mark like never before.
“We’re trying to extend the campaign to more than just a show on a Sunday afternoon,” said Oliver Schusser, vice president of Apple Music and Beats. The streaming service became a sponsor of the show in 2022, replacing Pepsi, which held the position for a decade.
Schuster said Apple Music stepped in as a company that understands the music landscape. He called his partnership “very powerful” with the NFL and Jay-Z’s Roc Nation, which has produced the halftime show since 2019.
“We want the halftime show press conference to be the artist’s moment,” Schuster said. “We wanted to elevate that and make it great. We did that last year. This year we made it even bigger.”
So far, Apple Music is off to a promising start. Last year, the streaming service created a campaign for Rihanna, keeping her pregnancy a secret, before her performance, which became the most-watched in Super Bowl halftime history with more than 121 million viewers.
As Usher prepares to headline this year’s festivities, Apple Music created a strategic plan before taking the Super Bowl stage. The streaming service has been working with the singer and his team since meeting with him during last year’s Paris Fashion Week.
“It’s been a journey with him and his management ever since,” Schuster said. “We want to make this a bigger and more global event. Between Apple Music, Apple Music Radio, a talent that has a deep understanding of music and culture, and the Apple ecosystem, I think we can amplify that.”
Before Sunday, everything revolves around Usher. Through the streaming service’s app, listeners can watch the trailer for the singer’s halftime show, and his curated playlist My Road to Halftime featuring his hits and collaborators. Usher and Jermaine Dupri created a spatial audio mix of songs with jams featuring DJs Tiësto, Gryffin, and BLOND: ISH.
Apple Music Radio’s Nadeska Alexis had a live-streamed interview Thursday with Usher where the short film was shown.
There’s a Story of Usher in 20 Songs, an editorial that offers an in-depth look at his 30-year performing career. The platform is offering a four-night Usher takeover through its Livestream shows hosted by Lil Wayne and Estelle along with exclusive programming on Apple Music Radio that will chronicle the singer’s evolution; workout music from past Halftime artists via Fitness+ and ways to revisit their past projects ahead of the release of their ninth studio album “Coming Home,” out Friday.
“From a marketing standpoint, we approach it like a product launch,” said Tor Myhren, Apple’s vice president of marketing communications. “You have all the unique things and then you bring them to life. With Usher, the focus is that Usher is funny. Usher is a catch. He wants to have a good time. “It’s really about capturing the essence of that artist, marrying it to the essence of Apple Music.”
Myhren said there is still attention on Usher’s performance after the Super Bowl. He said it’s imperative to capitalize on the singer’s show before turning the company’s attention to next year’s artist.
“We still want people to enjoy the glory of the show,” he said. “After any part-time artist plays, the streaming of her music for the next week or two skyrockets. We want to be in the middle of that. “We want to give our customers a much better experience.”
Myhren said the groundwork has already been laid.
“It’s about the lead-up to the show and how we can continue to reinvent that step,” he said. “We want to continue bringing this great music experience to a much more global audience.”
Keynote USA News
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