Partnering with DSPs: A Masterclass From Billie Eilish
Credit: Matt Winkelmeyer
Alongside the release of her highly-anticipated sophomore album, ‘Happier Than Ever’, Billie Eilish has partnered with Spotify to deliver three enhanced album experiences, and the platform’s first-ever Artist Hub.
Happier Than Ever: The Destination is a Spotify-exclusive, where Billie Eilish fans can access the artist’s catalogue, personally-curated playlists, surprise Easter eggs, as well as the Fan, Billie and Lyric modes of her latest album.
In Fan Mode, Spotify users can access exclusive video content, where Billie reacts to some rather touching recorded messages from her fans.
In Billie Mode, visuals are the focus. A trio of Billies can be seen on screen - with one discussing her journey and evolution as an artist. Billie Mode also includes full length playlist videos for tracks ‘Lost Cause’, ‘Your Power’, ‘NDA’, and ‘Happier Than Ever’.
Lyric Mode sees Billie explore some of her favourite lyrics from the album, discussing their inspirations and meanings. A selection of lyrics are explored on camera, while the Lyric Mode playlist includes audio recordings of Billie diving into the lyrics of each album track.
Thanks to this partnership, Billie Eilish and her team have found a way to harness Spotify’s visual capabilities, and offer further audio content to the fans who want it most. Not only does it offer Spotify users three alternative ways to experience the album, it’s also giving fans more reasons to revisit the album and boost streams. With the first-ever Spotify Artist Hub up and running, we’re excited to see how other musicians will jump on board to make the most of their releases.
Spotify isn’t the only DSP Billie has joined forces with. The ‘Happier Than Ever: A Love Letter to Los Angeles’ film is due to drop on Disney+ on September 3rd, and promises fans a ‘cinematic concert experience’. Over on Apple Music, a ‘Happier Than Ever’ video playlist includes exclusive video content, offering fans more than 30 minutes of extra content to engage with. Apple Music also released Zane Lowe’s interviews with Eilish, one of which includes her reaction to learning that ‘Happier Than Ever’ had broken the platform’s record for the album with most pre-adds. An official live edition of ‘Male Fantasy’ was released on Vevo as well.
The ‘Happier Than Ever’ release is a fantastic example of content’s increasingly important role in release roll outs. We suspect we’ll be seeing plenty more enhanced streaming experiences from other artists, and potentially even a shift in how we engage with music on streaming services.
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