Quentin Tarantino Takes Over Spotify's TV and Movies Hub

Quentin Tarantino has found a new screen to conquer. 

Last week, as the director’s ninth feature, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, opened in theaters nationwide, Columbia Pictures hyped the release with an immersive takeover of Spotify’s TV and Movies hub.

Exploring the filmmaker’s broader milieu, as well as the world of Once Upon a Time, the initiative includes an in-depth podcast interview conducted by Rolling Stone journalist David Wild. In the trailer below for the four-part conversation, Tarantino discusses his passion for classic rock, revealing that the first single he ever owned on a vinyl 45 was … 

… the Beatles’ “Lady Madonna,” while Sweet’s campy ’70s stomper “Little Willy” also ranked as an early fave. 

Elsewhere in the takeover, Tarantino guest-curates Spotify’s “Film and TV Favorites” playlist, programming music from many of his films (what else?). Selections range from Dusty Springfield’s “Son of a Preacher Man” (Pulp Fiction) to Johnny Cash’s “A Satisfied Mind” (Kill Bill Vol 2.) and the White Stripes’ “Apple Blossom” (Hateful Eight).

You can also groove to the Once Upon a Time soundtrack playlist. The Beatles, Neil Diamond, Neil Young, the 5th Dimension, Black Sabbath and Creedence Clearwater Revival are in the house, among many others.

Tarantino’s new film takes place in Charles Manson-era Hollywood, and several tracks have a connection to the serial killer, who’s cultish “Family” went on an L.A. murder spree in the summer of ’69. Manson performs “Cease to Exist” (he was a rock-star wannabe) and co-wrote the Beach Boys’ “Never Learn Not to Love.” Also present is the Beatles’ “Helter Skelter,” which Manson interpreted as a vision of racial apocalypse. (A Spotify rep declined to say whether the service is concerned such songs could spark controversy.) 

Given the vital role vintage hits play in Tarantino’s movies, this particular push—the first time Spotify has OK’ed a global takeover by a single motion picture—feels especially apt for the filmmaker. It should also help bolster Spotify’s push to become a multifaceted arbiter of popular culture, as opposed to mainly a source for music. 

“Our platform empowers entertainment marketers like Columbia Pictures to excite consumers about upcoming releases while delivering moments of discovery for our millions of users and celebrate creators,” says Andi Frieder, Spotify’s head of sales, entertainment industry. “Our goal with this takeover is to engage listeners about the rich music of the 1960s and inspire them to head to the theater to immerse themselves even more deeply in the era through the mind of Quentin Tarantino.”