Concord Music Publishing Announces Creative Partnership with Playlister to Showcase the Breadth of Catalogue with Ongoing MUSIC SEEN Curation Project

22 February 2021 - Press release

Leading music publisher, Concord Music Publishing, today announces a new innovative music and art partnership with music curation trailblazer Playlister.

Developed throughout 2020 by Playlister and Concord Music Publishing’s sync team, MUSIC SEEN is a new initiative that will see the curation specialists showcase the breadth of the publishers 400,000 songs, across evergreen hits, hidden gems, and future classics, from pop and rock, electronica, musical theatre (Concord Theatricals), and classical (Boosey & Hawkes).

Within the first few weeks, the project has featured seminal tracks from George Harrison, A Tribe Called Quest, Sergei Prokofiev, Pink Floyd and KRS-One, and recent music from James Blake, Frank Ocean, Wilkinson and Kaytranada.

MUSIC SEEN launched on January 1^st, presenting a track a day with each week tied together under a theme linked to song anniversaries, writer events, lyrical motifs and cultural moments. Recent theme titles include Love, Blues and Dreams, A Reason To Rhyme,  Tales of an (Empty) dancefloor and Freedom, Positivity & Hope, celebrating Martin Luther King day.

Alongside the website, playlist audio which will be available on Spotify, an accompanying Instagram account (musicseen.fm) sees an associated playlist visual unveiled weekly by both up and coming and well-known illustrators. To date, the project has invited new work from Mark Wigan, Harry French (Rare Pleasures), Rude Studio and Jennifer Hayashi.

As part of the initiative Concord Music Publishing have teamed up with War Child UK – a specialist charity for children affected by conflict. As the charity partner Music Seen will shine a light on War Child’s mission to protect, educate and stand up for the rights of children affected by conflict.

War Child UK will work with Playlister and Concord Music Publishing to mark important moments throughout the year such as World Refugee Day, Universal Children’s Day and Giving Tuesday

Sara Lord, SVP International Sync and Project Development at Concord Music Publishing comments, “The main focus of our work here in sync is making sure that the right people hear our music. A real driving force for us has been to create new and innovative ways to showcase and platform our wonderful songs to our commercial clients and partners.

“When we started talking with our good friends at Playlister it felt like the perfect fit – their job is literally in the name, and a whole year’s worth of curation meant I could put my feet up… No, It’s a beautiful thing that will continue to grow throughout the year, culminating in an incredible 365 days of sound and vision”.

Playlister Director Dan Lywood adds, “We’ve always wanted to work on something with Concord and Music Seen has become a wonderfully collaborative effort. It’s a project which has engaged our team and given everyone something positive and original to concentrate on. We love a rolling project and we’re excited to see it continue to unfold throughout the year. I come from a visual arts background so getting to work alongside artists and illustrators, with an amazing catalogue of tracks to refer to and inspire, is really rewarding”.

Continuing, Playlister’s Pete Bowker adds, “MUSIC SEEN is such an exciting project for me, bringing together and celebrating music and illustration in a slightly different way to normal.  In the world of sync more often than not the choice of music is in response to the ‘visual’ element, supporting the message intended -  Music Seen flips that on its head!  The illustrators are all being given the tracks and playlist ‘themes’ for the relevant week and largely have carte blanche to respond visually in their own styles.  We’re using a broad church of artists from some great new up & coming talents to some better established faces, working across a wide range of illustrative styles, mediums and techniques.  The work so far has been really great - I can’t wait to see more as the project develops throughout the year”. 

Richard Clarke, Head of Music and Events at War Child UK comments, “We’re delighted to be part of the Music Seen campaign and help showcase the amazing catalogue of Concord Music Publishing to a new audience. Concord and Sara have been brilliant supporters of War Child and it’s a pleasure to work with the creative team at Playlister as they bring the campaign to life with illustrators, designers and, of course, the music. War Child has always grateful for the generous support of the music industry to help raise awareness and funds for our vital work with children whose lives have been torn apart by war. So it’s great to be part of this innovative and exciting project.”

Concord Music Publishing also enlisted London based design studio, Studio BND, to develop the brand and identity for MUSIC SEEN. Studio BND founder Ben Mottershead added “MUSIC SEEN shines a bright light on the importance of music within the creative process and subsequent output. We are thrilled with having been invited to develop the look and feel for the campaign and work alongside two incredible household names. We're also extemely excited to continue working together to bring songwriting and music production to the forefront of creative conversation."