Spotify Made Giant Crop Circles of 3 Country Music Superstars

Spotify may be a cutting-edge tech company that makes better use than most of 21st century marketing tools. But it’s not above carving images into wheat when it has to. 

The streaming music service is making an effort to shine a spotlight on country music this year. So, for a new campaign, it got renowned artist Stan Herd to create giant crop circles outside Lawrence, Kansas, featuring superstar country artists Luke Bryan, Kelsea Ballerini and Jason Aldean. 

Each crop circle took about a week to make and will last for about three weeks. A fourth crop circle shows the logo of Spotify’s flagship Hot Country playlist, which was relaunched in April as a newly enhanced video playlist. 

Brittany Schaffer, head of artist and label marketing at Spotify’s Nashville office, said the work is meant to “pay homage to the Heartland and country music today.” 

Herd says promoting country music in this way is a natural fit. 

“Country music grew out of the experience of working men and women with a true connection to the land and to United States history as it relates to and informs that cultural essence,” he says. “It is called ‘country music’ because it is about a ‘country’ or rural lifestyle that includes that agrarian connection.”

Of his process, he adds: “I create a gridded drawing to the site and try to gauge how it might fit the field or terrain. I work with crews to lay out the grid, maybe one inch equaling 20 feet, and begin the simple outline with a weedeater or other tools into existing crops or vegetation. Then we begin to gauge the work through aerial recon or drone shots.” 

Spotify Hot Country held high-profile events at CMA Fest in Nashville in June and launched the Hot Country Live concert series in New York City on July 4. 

CREDITS
Agency: Spotify

Chief Marketing Officer: Seth Farbman
VP, Marketing: Jackie Jantos
Senior Director, Brand: Alexandra Tanguay
Global Executive Creative Director: Alex Bodman
Associate Director, Brand: Amanda Butler
Marketing Lead: Eden Greenstein
Global Marketing Manager, Artist & Content: Blaike Ford
Senior Global Brand Manager: Aaron Melaragno
Head of Artist & Label Marketing, Nashville: Brittany Schaffer
Manager, Artist & Label Marketing: Laura Ohls
Coordinator, Artist & Label Marketing: Daniel Franquemont
Manager, Artist & Label Marketing: Copeland Isaacson
Head of Country: John Marks 
Director, Integrated Production: Belinda Lopez
Associate Director, Creative: Heather Brodie
Associate Director, Creative: Cecilia Azcarate
Art Director: Martin Berggren
Art Director: Angeline Toh
Designer: Josephine Tan
Producer: Jenna Allchin
Director, Social Media Campaigns: Rob Waite
Social Media Campaign Manager: Bob Dominguez
Global Media Manager: Teal Kratky
Manager, PR & Communications: Tamika Young
Business Affairs: Lauren King

Production Company: M ss ng P eces

Director: Jonny Mass
DoP: Sean Bagley
Managing Partners: Kate Oppenheim, Brian Latt, Ari Kuschnir
Executive Producers: Dave Saltzman, Edward Grann
Head of Production: Rebecca Davis
Head of Post Production: Josh Sussman
Producer: Jenn Duffy

Editorial: Wax

Editor: Kate Owen
Assistant Editor: Sophia Chen
Managing Partner: Toni Lipari
Head of Production: Evan Kerwood
Design and VFX: Garret Walter

Color: Co3

Senior Colorist: Tyler Roth 
Executive Producer: Lauren Roth

Sound Studio: One Thousand Birds

Sound Designer & Engineer: Calvin Pia and Torin Geller
Producer: Kira MacKnight

Music: 

Title: ‘Sunrise, Sunburn, Sunset’
Writers: Luke Bryan, Zach Crowell, Ryan James Hurd, Richard Chase McGill 
Courtesy of Warner Chappell, One77music, and Universal Music Publishing Group

Casting: Wright/Laird Casting – Heather Laird
Tractor Driver: Sage Ruis

Crop Art: Herd Arts
Artist: Stan Herd