Mastercard unveiled its first-ever music album titled Priceless at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity featuring two MENA artists. Algerian artist Raees contributed the song ‘Zina’ to the album while Shiraz from Lebanon released the song titled ‘Ya Leil’.
The album has 10 songs by 10 artists from around the globe in total. Each song incorporates the recognizable melody of Mastercard’s brand sound. It was released first on Spotify, then followed by other streaming platforms.
To enhance its commitment to music fans and emerging talent, Mastercard has joined forces with acclaimed producer Timbaland’s Beatclub music creator platform. Inspired by the original songs developed for Mastercard’s album, up-and-coming Beatclub music creators were mentored by Timbaland as they remixed two standout tracks.
“Our first-ever music album featuring the inspiring, original work of 10 rising stars takes our innovative sonic branding approach to an even higher, unmatched level,” said Raja Rajamannar, Mastercard’s chief marketing and communications officer and president, Healthcare. “From Algeria to Australia and Slovenia to Sweden, each of the artists integrated our melody into their songs and created something that we are all truly proud of! We hope others will enjoy these songs as much as we do.”
As part of the Beatclub collaboration, Mastercard will purchase and provide one-year memberships to the Beatclub platform to hundreds of up-and-coming creators from disenfranchised communities.
“This partnership was a natural fit given Mastercard and Beatclub’s mutual goal of supporting artists and the industry,” said Timbaland. “Together we’re elevating emerging artists through the power of music and mentorship. Providing platforms, tools, and connections for creators to pursue their passions opens doors for countless artists to break into an industry that is often impenetrable.”
Mastercard collaborated closely with executive producer Niclas Molinder to find artists who span a variety of cultures, languages and genres – a core element of the album’s identity. Each artist was tasked with incorporating the brand’s melody into their song, demonstrating how audio branding can be used innovatively. The full album will feature tracks from up-and-coming artists including Michael Rice (United Kingdom), Shiraz (Lebanon), Good Harvest (Sweden), Alma Lake (Colombia/USA), Raees (Algeria), Tejas (India), Nadine Randle (the United Kingdom/Sweden), Tania (Australia), Elle B. (USA) and Amaya (Slovenia).
The music was introduced at a launch party with Spotify, Mastercard’s exclusive launch partner and the world’s most popular audio platform with 422 million users across 183 markets. As a fellow global leader in their respective industry, Spotify is committed to lifting up and supporting emerging artists and will provide an even larger platform for them to connect with a robust global audience of listeners and fans.
Mastercard has a longstanding relationship with the music industry, through its Priceless platform and works with artists like Jennifer Hudson, SZA and others.
Björn Ulvaeus of ABBA, a co-founder of Sessions, a platform empowering music creators and a Beatclub partner said, “Mastercard’s one-of-a-kind album and Beatclub partnership shines a light on supporting emerging artists and creators, which will help these talented performers become recognized on a global scale.”
Client: Mastercard
Agency: Mastercard in-house team
