Sync Spotlight aims to showcase the best examples of licensed music and songs in web series, ads and films across the globe.
Brands strive to achieve and retain success by curating, celebrating and becoming a part of pop culture. This entails making creative and strategic partnerships on all fronts.
A great example is Facebook’s recently launched We Change the Game When We Find Each Other. This is an ad campaign conceived by New York based agency Droga5. The campaign celebrates skateboarding’s debut in the 2021 Olympics. It features 4 ads by different Directors and production companies, shot across 17 days.
Skate Nation Ghana is a cool and fast paced story which follows the evolution of skateboarding culture in Ghana. It showcases real people like Joshua Odammten and Sandy Alibo who have helped build a thriving community.
If done right, licensing music for advertising can make a brand and its message feel immensely relatable to its audience.
True to the vision and experience, the film exclusively features music by Ghanaian artists.
The film sets up the scene with the intro to Heaven by Ebo Taylor – a 1977 afro-funk classic by a Ghanaian legend.
The first section of the ad follows Joshua’s journey – from a childhood obsession to learn and fulfil his dream, to starting a movement. This is perfectly scored by the retro, funky, upbeat song Break Through by Marijata. The vibe and pace of the song goes well with the look and feel of the production, and the fast cuts.
Act 2 starts when Sandy comes in, a pioneer of surf culture. She takes the crew on tour to skate all over Ghana, which is when the movement begins to gain real traction. The music shifts gears and switches to a faster, fresher, bouncy and percussion-driven track called Mama Dey Party by Bryte – a UK based Ghanaian hip-hop artist.
The goosebumps inducing sign-off, which begins at 1:53, takes the cake. It ends on a wise line by Joshua, who acknowledges that they aren’t just “blowing up” – they are building something. We hear barely 10 seconds of Agyeiwaa by O’Kenneth featuring Reggie and City Boy. These few seconds are just enough for the viewer to believe that Facebook is the coolest, and to wish they could witness the skateboarding revolution in Ghana firsthand.
Skate Nation Ghana is directed by four directors of production house Love Song – Daniel Wolfe, Bafic, Elliott Powers and Justyna Obasi, with music supervision by Curation Music.
To know more great examples of licensed music, read other editions of Sync Spotlight here.