A Location-Aware Music Video

The music video for singer/song-writer Lissie‘s single, ‘Cuckoo’, is controlled by the weather currently experienced in your location. The video runs on the artist’s site, which will determine your location upon entering (pending your permission, of course). You can also zoom in on a city or area of your choice, which will change the background according to current weather. If you decide to select a new location mid-stream, the song will continue, but a TV weatherman will provide a new forecast prior the video transitioning to the new location’s weather.

How was this executed, from a production perspective? The artist and her band were shot against 5 different types of weather. The more challenging aspect must have been designing an interaction based on the different actions a user might take; actions like changing location multiple times, and what would happen each time as the database determined the weather of each location – or what would happen if the weather for a given location could not be determined.

A unique approach by a musician and entertainment property to engage with audiences and allow them to somewhat customize an otherwise static music video – and to promote a new release. With executions like this, Diesel’s ‘A Hundred Lovers’, and Editors’ ‘hacking’ of Google Street View to promote the album they released late last year, we see more music and entertainment properties experimenting more with interactive video in order to better engage fans’ with their music – and to promote a new album. The opportunity also applies to brands.

Lissie

[via Creative Review]