This morning, the 2025 Clio Grand Music Award winners were announced. I’ve been in these closed-door debates before, and it’s always a riveting conversation.Normally, they reveal the big winners at the show. But this year, there was a delay when the show was canceled due to the wildfires in Los Angeles. All of the winners were announced last month except “the grands,” which they saved for today. With this announcement, we can dive deeper into what the esteemed panel of jurors deemed best in class music marketing for 2024.Here are some key themes and takeaways:Trend: Cultural Regional StorytellingWhy It Matters → Act local and think global. Brands that embrace local storytelling, languages, and traditions create deeper, more meaningful connections with their audiences. This approach fosters authenticity, making campaigns feel more personal, rooted, and impactful within a specific culture, rather than appearing as globalized, one-size-fits-all advertising.Clio Winner Examples:
Oliveira Dos Cen Años: C. Tangana created a football anthem that honors Galician culture by spotlighting local musicians instead of singing himself. Featuring the Coral Casablanca choir, Lagharteiras tambourine group, and Celta fans, the campaign fuses tradition with modern artistry, making it a deeply authentic and emotional tribute to the club’s 100-year legacy.
Magnificent" (Yotkan Ancient City): This campaign promotes the historic Yotkan Ancient City in Xinjiang, China by creating a visually poetic short film featuring traditional performances, historical figures, and local culture. The video’s dreamlike journey through time, paired with the song, “A Thousand Years” by Ma Shang You, brings the city’s rich history to life, inspiring both tourism and cultural appreciation.
Trend: Fusing Music and Technology to InnovateWhy it Matters → Being early on technology and leveraging it in new, creative ways is a surefire way to get people’s attention. The integration of music and technology allows brands to push creative boundaries, offering interactive, immersive, personalized experiences and trendsetting. This trend reflects the growing role of AI, data visualization, and digital storytelling in shaping how audiences engage with sound and culture.Clio Winner Examples:
Spreadbeats, Spotify: a B2B campaign that transformed an Excel spreadsheet into a dynamic, animated music video, speaking directly to advertisers in their own language. It visually reinforces Spotify’s message—that music enhances ad effectiveness—while proving B2B marketing can be as creative as consumer-facing campaigns.
TEKOÁ Music Album Digital Graphic Design: by fusing graphic design and digital interactivity, this project enhances album artwork as an experience, showing how music packaging can evolve beyond static visuals in a digital-first world.
Trend: Creative Levels Up CollabsWhy it Matters → In a brand bonanza… How do partnerships get their due respect and cut through the noise? We see that bold creative direction elevates brand collaborations, transforming them from simple partnerships into culturally significant moments. These campaigns prove that when brands, artists, and agencies take risks, they create unexpected, memorable experiences that go viral and resonate deeply.Clio Winner Examples:
Cuckoo" (NEON): instead of relying on existing tracks, the score was crafted specifically to heighten the film’s unsettling atmosphere, using jarring electronic stabs and an '80s Cronenberg-style horror sound to immerse audiences in the film’s eerie world. The result? A viral horror trailer that built massive anticipation for the film.
No Smiles (McDonald's Japan): faced with a Gen Z workforce shortage, McDonald’s Japan partnered with the Gen Z icon “ano” to reframe its “Smile: 0 yen” slogan. By releasing a song titled “I won’t give you a smile”, they transformed smiles from a job requirement to a personal choice, improving brand perception as an employer.
Trend: Artist Driven CreativeWhy it Matters → When artists take creative control of their brand collaborations, the output is more authentic, emotionally resonant, and culturally impactful. It allows the work to extend beyond a song or an ad, influencing broader social and artistic conversations. With moves like PgLang, they can have the final say on their own creative while applying their lens to other brands that want that same lens.Clio Winner Examples:
PgLang (Not Like Us): More than just a diss track, Kendrick Lamar’s self-directed visual storytelling turned the song into a larger cultural commentary on music, power, and artistic independence.
Trend: Music Amplifies EmotionWhy it Matters → Music, when applied right, has a compounding effect that can create exponential impact. An emotional campaign can be made more powerful with the help of music. It can come in the form of a sync, an original song, a voice, or a single instrument…but music is the universal language that can take a message and make it that much more emotionally resonant.Clio Winner Examples:
A Piece of Me (KPN): To combat online shaming, KPN collaborated with Dutch pop star MEAU, who interviewed victims and wrote a song inspired by real experiences. The emotional storytelling, showing how a private moment of flirtation turns into devastating public humiliation, resonated deeply with Gen Z. The campaign’s emotional impact led to massive online engagement, a viral music video, and real legislative change, proving that music can drive both cultural and legal shifts.
BEATS
The Brands Dominating with Influencers, from Giants like Spotify and Netflix to Fast-Growing Celebrity BusinessesInfluencer marketing platform CreatorIQ ranked the top brands that creators posted about in 2024 in a new report. These brands generated the most conversation and impact in creator marketing, based on CreatorIQ's data (Business Insider).
Beyoncé Takes Her Cue in Levi's 'Pool Hall' RemakeSet to her Cowboy Carter hit “Levii’s Jeans” featuring Post Malone, the ad sees her denimed down, sporting a bedazzled Levi’s denim jacket and matching jeans, as she beats actor Timothy Olyphant in a game of pool. The spot is a remake of the brand’s 1991 ad in which a young man wagers his 501 jeans against a pool shark (Adweek).
Charli XCX and Tyler, the Creator Star in Converse's "Love, Chuck" Campaignhe most timeless silhouette, worn by athletes, musicians and artists alike, the shoe remains a symbol of countless subcultures, earning deep loyalty and adoration from fans worldwide. In celebration of the icon, Converse dropped a brand new, star-studded “Love, Chuck” campaign (Hypebae).
Scotch & Soda launches SS25 campaign starring Joe JonasHe’s wearing the SS25 collection that “evokes the energy of a weekend getaway, designed to bring elevated style to a coastal adventure, city escape or summer staycation”. It’s clearly a transitional collection with plenty of options for cooler weather but also adaptable for when temperatures climb (Fashion Network).
Pharrell Williams and adidas Unveil Superstar 92, Featuring Clipse in Virginia Beach CampaignPharrell Williams and adidas continue their longstanding partnership with the launch of the Superstar 92, a bold reimagining of one of the brand’s most iconic sneakers. Blending exaggerated proportions with premium materials, the new silhouette celebrates individuality and cultural legacy while pushing the evolution of a classic (The Source).
Spotify To Hold Press Conference (With No Press) for Lady GagaGaga is teaming up with Spotify for an online event on 6 March, where she will answer questions submitted by fans around her new album ‘Mayhem’. Spotify has launched a website for fans to submit their questions, with a countdown to the Q&A. It will be simulcast across YouTube, Instagram and TikTok on the day (Music Ally).
James Blake on How Musicians Can Take Control of Their Careers, Touring and Releasing Music Off the GridBy most measurements, James Blake is quite a successful musician: a popular, Grammy-winning singer-songwriter-producer specializing in electronic-based, pop-leaning music, who released eight albums on major labels over the past decade, sells out major venues regularly and has guested on songs by Jay-Z, Kendrick Lamar, Travis Scott and Kanye West. He even performed with Timothee Chalamet on “Saturday Night Live” last month (Variety).
Tumblr Users Did Something Unhinged AgainLast week, one of the biggest songs on iTunes was an (Australian-accented) robot voice reading a list of homophobic slurs and slang. Given, well, everything, you might be worried, but the song is not some far-right stunt (Garbage Day).
Big Dill And The Brat Are Fortnite’s New Virtual Music ArtistsTalk to any hip-hop expert and they’ll almost certainly agree: there simply aren’t enough dill pickles and hot-dog sausages in the rap game. Fortnite’s publisher Epic Games is doing its bit to change that, thankfully.Meet Big Dill and The Brat, two new characters launched as part of Fortnite’s new season, which began this weekend. Together they form a hip-hop duo called the Tasty Bois, and they have already dropped a single on SoundCloud called ‘Runamok’ (Music Ally).
Roger Vivier Names K-pop Star Yeji as its Newest Brand AmbassadorNow Roger Vivier has announced Yeji as brand ambassador. The French luxury footwear and accessories company said that “as a leading figure in the K-pop world, Yeji embodies a bold and contemporary vision of style, perfectly aligning with the Maison’s heritage of elegance, creativity, and innovation” (Fashion Network).
The Day After Tomorrow: The Weeknd Cover StoryHere he is: The Weeknd. Like some edgelord of the algorithm era, materializing through clouds of synthetic smoke and digital incense, while somewhere, way in the background, a producer (probably Mike Dean, Max Martin, or Metro Boomin) finds the files that will send The Weeknd's falsetto soaring into the stratosphere — where it does, in fact, belong (Complex).
Artists With The Most Monthly Listeners On Spotify Currently Can you guess who’s top dogs on the list? (Chart Data via X)
South Beach Hot Spot Medium Cool Launches Record LabelIn the heart of South Beach's pulsing nightlife, a unique venue is quietly carving out a name for itself, one that blends the sultry sounds of live jazz with the infectious energy of dance music. Medium Cool is a hybrid club that has become a beacon for those seeking a more refined, underground experience amidst the city's often frenetic party scene (Miami New Times).
Rémy Martin Celebrates Local Music Scene In 4 US citiesRémy Martin is homing in on the markets of Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit and New York with a limited-edition collection meant to celebrate the music scene in each city, according to a press release. The Very Superior Old Pale (V.S.O.P.) “This is My City” collection is available in the four markets, with a unique bottle design celebrating the unique hip-hop culture of each. Live events in each city will promote the bottles and local culture as well as feature special-edition merchandise designed by Jon Stan (Marketing Dive).
BYTES
The pathbreaking New York rap group, which has rarely performed as a full unit, is hitting the road for the last time (New York Times).
Andrew Watt recalls the time Paul McCartney came to his house for tea and taught him how to play the Beatles’ “Blackbird” on The Howard Stern Show.
Vault empowers you to build a direct relationship with your audience and reach them at any time. Fans want to feel part of your inner circle. Vault makes it easy for you to treat them like family, not transactions.
The Beginning is Mike Posner's fifth studio album showcasing a journey of self-reclamation and emotional transformation. With 13 tracks, including singles "Is It Just Me?," "Beautiful Day," and "I’m Not Dead Yet," the album explores the healing power of love, faith, and personal growth.
This week's newsletter was carefully curated by the Nue Agency staff and our editor Rachel Meisner If you think we missed something this week or have any suggestions/comments for next week's newsletter, let us know!