That’s a Wrap on Cannes Lions 2024! Inside the Awards, Spotify Beach Action, and More
This week, Spotify returned to the South of France for the 2024 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, which recognizes excellence in the world of marketing and advertising. This annual gathering of the biggest brands, coolest creators, and most famous faces is an exciting opportunity to showcase how our platform inspires creativity, connection, and innovation.
This year, we’re thrilled to share that Spotify Advertising took home nine awards for Spreadbeats, our latest B2B marketing campaign that features a first-of-its-kind music video made and distributed entirely in a media plan spreadsheet. The campaign earned one Grand Prix Lion, two Gold Lions, three Silver Lions, and three Bronze Lions across several categories, including Digital Craft, Creative B2B, Creative Data, and more. It was the most shortlisted of all Cannes Lions submissions. Additionally, Spotify won a Bronze Lion in the Creative Effectiveness category for our 2023 Wrapped On-Platform experience, our biggest Wrapped yet.
These wins cap off a jam-packed week for Spotify at Cannes. With it being our 10th year at the festival, we wanted to make sure the Spotify experience was more alive than ever. As Cannes Lions lit up the Croisette, Spotify Beach was at the center of the action, home to inspiring conversations during the day and unmissable musical performances at night. Relive all the festivities and see photos from each day below.
Monday, June 17
We kicked things off with some fascinating conversations with singer-songwriter Shaboozey and PepsiCo International Beverages Chief Marketing Officer Mark Kirkham, who touched on brand partnership and creative content, with a special focus on the relationship between music, sports, and culture.
From there, comedian, content creator, and Therapuss host Jake Shane sat down with Brad Ross, VP of Global Sports and Entertainment Marketing & Partnerships at The Coca-Cola Company, to discuss building a community on Spotify and defining your brand. We capped the conversation off with the exciting announcement that Spotify is bringing daylist—our ever-changing playlist feature—to even more fans in more languages around the world in the coming months. “I love using Spotify to document my life—I add songs kind of like a diary. With daylist, it’s really fun getting playlists that capture what I’m feeling on a random Tuesday afternoon or a Sunday morning,” said Jake. “It’s like a musical diary entry made for me.”
Last but not least, we gathered some of the week’s hottest stars at a scenic villa in the hills for our annual Spotify Soirée. The evening featured an acoustic performance from John Legend, as well as DJ sets from Tinea Taylor and Pearl Thusi. Guests included Jessica Alba, Joe Burrow, Her Royal Highness Princess Beatrice of York, Alix Earle, and Sophia Bush, among others.
Shaboozey and Grace Kao, Global Head of Business Marketing at Spotify. Photo by Antony Jones/Getty Images for Spotify
Mark Kirkham and Rak Patel, Head of EMEA Advertising Sales at Spotify. Photo by Antony Jones/Getty Images for Spotify
Jake Shane. Photo by Antony Jones/Getty Images
Rak Patel, Gustav Gyllenhammar, Grace Kao, Shaboozey, and Mark Kirkham. Photo by Antony Jones/Getty Images for Spotify
Photo by Antony Jones/Getty Images for Spotify
Photo by Antony Jones/Getty Images for Spotify
Photo by Antony Jones/Getty Images for Spotify
John Legend. Photo by Dave Benett/Getty Images for Spotify
Pearl Thusi. Photo by Dave Benett/Getty Images for Spotify
Jeremy Erlich, Global Head of Music at Spotify, Dustee Jenkins, Chief Public Affairs Officer at Spotify, John Legend, and Lee Brown, Global Head of Advertising Business and Platforms at Spotify. Photo by Dave Benett/Getty Images for Spotify
Pranav Yadav, Jessica Alba, Dustee Jenkins, Jay Shetty, and Her Royal Highness Princess Beatrice of York. Photo by Dave Benett/Getty Images for Spotify
Tuesday, June 18
An intimate conversation with John Legend. A live, custom Spotify game show. A surprise DJ set from Martin Garrix. What more could you want? Spotify Beach was a sunup-to-sundown hub of activity on day two.
First up, EGOT winner, entrepreneur, and member of Spotify’s Billions Club John Legend sat down with Spotify’s Chief Public Affairs Officer, Dustee Jenkins, to discuss everything from mentoring inspiring artists on The Voice and building brands with his wife, Chrissy Teigen, to leveraging AI as part of the creativity process for artists.
Up next, our Podcast Trends Tour came to life with a game show hosted by creator Robyn Delmonte, aka GirlBossTown, featuring the cohosts of U Up? and The Colin and Samir Show.
Last but not least, Dustee sat down with Ghanaian-American singer-songwriter Amaarae to discuss embracing her identity, reaching Gen Z, and the intersectionality of people, music, and culture.
That evening, Spotify Beach transformed into a star-studded party featuring performances from Benson Boone, Tyla, and Shaboozey, as well as the aforementioned Martin Garrix set. Guests included Queen Latifah, Bono, Jared Leto, Janelle Monáe, KAYTRANADA, and more.
John Legend and Dustee Jenkins, Chief Public Affairs Officer at Spotify. Photo by Antony Jones/Getty Images for Spotify
Jared Freid, Emma Vaughn, Global Head of Advertising Business Development and Partnerships at Spotify, Robyn DelMonte, Colin Rosenblum, Samir Chaudry, and Jordana Abraham. Photo by Antony Jones/Getty Images for Spotify
Dustee Jenkins and Amaarae. Photo by Dave Benett/Getty Images for Spotify
Benson Boone. Photo by Dave Benett/Getty Images for Spotify
Tyla. Photo by Dave Benett/Getty Images for Spotify
Shaboozey. Photo by Dave Benett/Getty Images for Spotify
Martin Garrix. Photo by Dave Benett/Getty Images for Spotify
Janelle Monáe. Photo by Dave Benett/Getty Images for Spotify
Queen Latifah. Photo by Dave Benett/Getty Images for Spotify
Alex Honnold and Jared Leto. Photo by Dave Benett/Getty Images for Spotify
Bono. Photo by Antony Jones/Getty Images for Spotify
Wednesday, June 19
On day three, Spotify’s Head of Global Creative Lab in Advertising, Kay Hsu, sat down with Heather Freehand, Chief Brand Officer at Adobe, to discuss the future of creativity. This was followed by a celebration of the most innovative ideas from the 2024 Future Lions competition with digital design and communications agency AKQA.
Up next, Spotify’s Global Head of Music Partnerships and Audience, Joe Hadley, and the voice of Spotify’s AI DJ, Xavier “X” Jernigan, joined Grammy award nominee and singer-songwriter Janelle Monáe to talk creativity and authenticity in the age of AI.
Spotify Beach closed out with a bang with performances from Justice and Arcade Fire, along with DJ sets from Pearl Thusi and Arthi. Stars like Diplo, Karlie Kloss, Tinashe, and more gathered to take in the music and celebrate our final night of revelry on the Croisette.
Kay Hsu, Head of Global Creative Lab in Advertising at Spotify, and Heather Freeland, Chief Brand Officer at Adobe. Photo by Antony Jones/Getty Images for Spotify
Gemma Redgrave, Global Marketing Director at AKQA, Tye Comer, Creative Director at Spotify Advertising, Chloe Wix, Global Director of Product Marketing at Spotify, and Future Cannes Lions award winners. Photo by Antony Jones/Getty Images for Spotify
Joe Hadley, Global Head of Music Partnerships and Audience at Spotify. Photo by Antony Jones/Getty Images for Spotify
Xavier Jernigan, Head of Cultural Partnerships at Spotify. Photo by Antony Jones/Getty Images for Spotify
Justice. Photo by Dave Benett/Getty Images for Spotify
Arcade Fire. Photo by Dave Benett/Getty Images for Spotify
Mr Eazi, Diplo, and Arthi Nachiappan. Photo by Dave Benett/Getty Images for Spotify
To see even more of all the happenings from the French Riviera, check out @SpotifyNews on Instagram.
