Molly Egan (left) and Marlana Bianchi won the Grand Prix for their Spotify AI idea, “Break the Sound Barrier.” (Photo courtesy of AKQA)
This is part one of a two-part series documenting the first time Newhouse creative advertising students won the Cannes Future Lions Grand Prix.
In June 2024, Newhouse School creative advertising students Molly Egan ’25 and Marlana Bianchi ’24 walked across the stage to claim the most prestigious student award in the world: the Cannes Future Lions Grand Prix, at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in Cannes, France.
The Cannes Lions Awards are so prestigious, they are considered the Oscars of the advertising industry. And this year, Syracuse made history as the first U.S. undergraduate university to win a Cannes Future Lions Grand Prix. In 2018, Syracuse became the first U.S. undergraduate university to ever win a Cannes Future Lions award.
This year’s competition saw entries from 245 schools across 59 countries—three times the number of entries from the previous year.
Each year, the competition releases a brief for students to answer. The brief for the 2024 competition was for Spotify. Egan and Bianchi earned the award through their compelling entry, “Break the Sound Barrier,” designed to make music streaming inclusive for the deaf community.
“‘Break the Sound Barrier’ is phenomenal, bravo. My favorite ideas make me deeply jealous that I didn’t think of them. And they make me ask: ‘How has this not been done yet?’ Because it’s so good,” says Avi Steinbach ’14, creative director/writer at Ogilvy and alumnus of the Newhouse creative advertising program.
Steinbach also won his first Cannes Lions Grand Prix this year in the Social and Influencer Category for the “Michael CeraVe” campaign. He was involved in every aspect of its creation—from the initial concept and pitching CeraVe to the script, social concepts and Super Bowl spot.
Egan and Bianchi said their goal was to make music streaming inclusive for the deaf community.
“Sometimes the best ideas are your first ideas,” says Bianchi. “For me, they often come late at night when I’m exhausted and falling asleep at my desk. This idea started like that, and then Molly and I built on it to create something truly unique.”
Egan said their inspiration began with what she called the unforgettable halftime show at the 2023 Super Bowl.
“Rihanna headlined, but she wasn’t the only performer to leave a lasting impression,” she says. “At that time, Marlana was studying abroad in Florence, Italy, and I was in my college house without ESPN, so we both ended up watching the show on YouTube. From our separate corners of the world, we were mesmerized. Rihanna was split screen with Justina Miles. Miles, a deaf sign language performer, didn’t just translate Riri’s music—she embodied it.”
With electrifying energy, Miles created a whole new dimension to the performance. She brought every lyric and note to life, performing each word while dancing to Rihanna’s beats. Her hands told the story, and her body caught the rhythm so precisely that it felt like she was channeling the core of Rihanna’s music, Egan said.
“Marlana and I couldn’t stop replaying her performance, captivated by how she brought the music to life for both deaf and hearing fans,” Egan added.
Little did they know, this was the first time a deaf sign language performer like Miles was invited to join the Super Bowl halftime show. This major move for music inclusivity is what inspired Egan and Bianchi’s award-winning idea.
Another source of inspiration was MasterCard’s “True Name” campaign, which was shared during their Portfolio III course taught by Mel White, professor of practice in advertising. The campaign inspired them to think about how ideas can move the needle on inclusivity. “True Name” lets transgender and nonbinary people display their chosen name on their banking cards, regardless of the name on their identification or birth certificate.
“Break the Sound Barrier” is a digital idea for Spotify that aims to make music streaming more inclusive to the deaf community by integrating deaf sign language performances into the platform, ensuring that music streaming is accessible to all users, regardless of their hearing ability.
By partnering with deaf performers like Miles and using deepfake technology, “Break the Sound Barrier” can scale deaf performances into over 300 sign languages for each song on the platform. This approach ensures that Spotify will be accessible to the deaf community.
The next part of their idea lets musicians choose to opt into “Break the Sound Barrier.” If a musician opts in, Spotify will generate them signing with deepfake technology. This will let musicians perform in all the world’s sign languages for the first time, bringing deaf fans closer to their favorite artists than ever before.
‘‘‘Break the Sound Barrier’ is just so simple. Real problem. Real solution. While so many agencies are trying to find ways to use deepfake and AI, this idea uses it to address a real issue. This idea also starts on the app, but I could see it extending in a number of ways [like real-life concerts]—another good sign of a huge idea,” says Steinbach.
To read the full story, visit newhouse.syracuse.edu.
Story by Molly Egan, senior in the Newhouse School
