Sony Music and Ogilvy & Mather Japan unleash unique headbanging music promo to promote Japanese electrocore metal band Crossfaith

Trash metal band Slayer performed recently on Jimmy Fallon’s “The Tonight Show” and according to Spotify, heavy metal is ruling the streaming airwaves across the world, revealing metal fans as the most loyal among music fans.

To announce Japan’s electrocore metal band Crossfaith’s latest “Freedom” EP with the first single ‘Diavolos’, the band introduces a one-of-a-kind promo, by engaging with their fans digitally, where visitors of the interactive site are required to earn the music by headbanging in front of the webcam to unlock live-streaming of a new track not available anywhere else in the world. The moment the fan stops the headbanging movement, the music stops.

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“Traditional ways of promoting music albums just aren’t as effective anymore as it was in the past. In its place is a new era in which musicians blend art, advertising and technology in smart and exciting ways. That is why we created this unprecedented piece to help launch and propel the band’s new music.” said Ajab Samrai, chief creative officer of Ogilvy & Mather Japan (pictured right).

In addition to fans earning the exclusive rights to sample the new song, they are rewarded along the way with a long sequence of tantalizing visual effects that showcases the contemporary artwork of the album cover that morphs into a metal aesthetic that the community are more accustomed to as the song proceeds towards a crescendo.

Upon the completion of the song – by utilizing the site’s deep learning API, capturing the varied prowess of the headbanging movement – fans are further rewarded with an artwork generated from the image-tracking algorithm and depending on how well they had done to successfully make it metal as the bragging rights.  

“There’s a need to find a balance that resonates to the target audience and beyond; the band has been known for fusing metal with hardcore, dubstep and other electronic forms, but is ultimately a metal band,” added Ogilvy Japan creative director Aaron Phua. “It is important that the idea is authentic and natural for the band and their fans to engage in without being a “sellout”, headbanging certainly connects them with the music both physically and emotionally.”

“We are really excited to release our new ep called ‘Freedom’. We had some very cool guest vocalists  from our friends Rou and Jesse (Rize, The Bonez) and we can’t wait for all of our fans to hear it!  We worked with Ogilvy to bring on the new single in a cool new way.” said the band’s frontman Kenta Koie.

This experiential idea out of Ogilvy Japan alongside Sony Music Japan, is a unique promo fitting to Crossfaith – whom originated from Osaka, Japan –  citing the likes of Slipknot, Bring Me The Horizon, Trivium even electro band Prodigy as their many influences, is also renowned for their intense live performances. They made history as the first Japanese band to play the prestigious main stage at Download; UK’s premier rock festival just a few years ago. This adds to the momentum as the band gear up for a brand new upcoming tour across the nation and beyond.

Creative credits

Sony Music Artists (Japan) Inc./Artist Manager: Rew Kubayashi