Put your own spin on music!
With the upcoming Rio 2016 Olympics, the Caribbean sound hopes to take a significant spotlight with the launch of a new Digicel digital platform designed to remix music, with some of the biggest Caribbean names as the face of the campaign.
“Bring the Beat” is a remixer platform launched last month, that allows users to remix music and add their own creative take on the namesake song, sung by Soca megastar Machel Montano, and The Voice season 5 winner, Tessanne Chin. With the recognizable faces of the fastest man and the fastest woman in the world, Usain Bolt and Shelley-Ann Fraser Pryce, creators hope that as representatives of their campaign, “Bring the Beat” builds support for all Olympic athletes, and brings the Caribbean region together.
“We wanted to come up with a platform that united all of the Caribbean,” said Peter Lloyd, director of marketing for Digicel. “When it comes to the Olympics, people want to support their island — and this platform will transcend to all. The campaign celebrates Caribbean culture, and unites all the islands. Usain Bolt can unite everyone.”
The brainchild behind Bring the Beat’s platform says bringing more digital opportunity to the Caribbean would encourage creativity, and how Montano was the best choice to promote it.
“We really want to bring more to the digital consumer,” said Laurence O’Byrne, creator of the platform. “The campaign, the music elements, the massive soca star — it was a long process, and we wanted someone who musically understood people with an anthem that can live beside the ad.”
Soca megastar Machel Montano is the voice behind the catchy, energetic tune “Bring the Beat,” which also features Tessanne Chin. Users can make changes to the song, as well as Bolt’s cover version to their liking, adding their own sound, and sharing it online. The platform comes equipped with a variety of options that users can use to slow down the track, speed it up, and even add special effects sounds, according to its creator.
“There’s a catalog of sounds — percussion, drums, cymbals — it’s very flexible and it’s been designed to be user friendly.”
The remixing platform is mostly aimed at a younger crowd — 16–22-year-old — but creators hope that all age groups find value in the overall goal of the platform, which aims to connect people with music and sports.
“We hope it’s really going to rally people — I think it will highlight the energy and the spirit of Caribbean,” said O’Byrne. “It’s going to be an amazing place for the Rio Olympics — they haven’t seen the beat and rhythm of the Caribbean.”
The remixer is available at www.Bring
