THE FIRST TAKE

Silver Spike

Case Film

Presentation Image

TitleTHE FIRST TAKE
BrandTHE FIRST TAKE MUSIC
Product / ServiceTHE FIRST TAKE
CategoryA10. Use of Digital & Social
EntrantTBWA\HAKUHODO INC. Tokyo, JAPAN
Idea Creation TBWA\HAKUHODO INC. Tokyo, JAPAN
Production MONSTER TYO Tokyo, JAPAN
Production 2 THE FIRST TAKE MUSIC Tokyo, JAPAN

Credits

Name Company Position
Kazoo Sato TBWA\HAKUHODO Inc. Chief Creative Officer
Keisuke Shimizu TBWA\HAKUHODO Inc. Creative Director / Art Director
Kana Takarada TBWA\HAKUHODO Inc. Art Director
Hiroshi Yamazaki HAKUHODO Inc. Copywriter
Kazuki Nagayama S-14 Director Of Photography / Photographer
Kazuhide Toya Freelance Lighting Director
Kentaro Kinoshita TYO monster/DINER Producer
Naoto Kusunoki TYO monster/DINER Production Manager
Genki Iwasaki TYO monster/DINER Production Manager
Masataka Hattori Hattori Pro. Stylist
Hirotaka Fukatsu TBWA\HAKUHODO Inc. Agency Executive Producer
Taisuke Kudo TBWA\HAKUHODO Inc. Agency Producer
Chikako Nagai TBWA\HAKUHODO Inc. Agency Producer
Nobuo Mita TBWA\HAKUHODO Inc. Movie Editor
Kohei Inoue TBWA\HAKUHODO Inc. Director
Kiyotaka Sumiyoshi TBWA\HAKUHODO Inc. Motion Graphic Designer
Asako Yano TWOPLATOON Graphic Designer
Natsumi Shimizu TWOPLATOON Graphic Designer
Shinnosuke Arima EDP graphic works Motion Graphic Designer
Ryuta Hoshi SIGNIF Motion Graphic Producer
Daiki Hanasaka SIGNIF Motion Graphic Designer

Why is this work relevant for Entertainment?

We challenged to counter the music industry that is full of "filtered music" that uses lip-synching, vocal effects, and excessive production, with a new genre of "unfiltered music" by creating one-shot digital content that captures the artist's real, authentic performances. By offering viewers a new liberating way to enjoy music, we sought to break away from the standard way hit songs are discovered.

Background

The major record labels (Sony Music, Universal, Avex, and Warner) has long faced the challenge of declining CD sales. In the midst of the industry transitioning to streaming services, the COVID19 pandemic happened. With lockdowns at a global scale, artists were restricted from live performances and participating in festivals, music companies needed to come up with ideas to promote their artists. That's where the concept of music content without filters became the big idea. Free from lip-synching, vocal effects, and excessive staging, this was a new music channel that sought to bring back the authenticity in music.

Describe the creative idea

THE FIRST TAKE is the creative idea. This is a music YouTube channel that captures the artists giving one shot performances with no direction, no retakes and no faking. Even as curated content on YouTube, the aesthetic platform creates a sense of intimacy, and excitement, allowing viewers to feel closer to the artists than even their live performances.

Describe the strategy

The channel made a conscious decision to hide any branding from any promotion of the channel thus allowing fans to feel closer to the music. New videos are uploaded twice a week at a fixed time, so subscribers to the channel can look forward to new content every single week.

Describe the execution

In order to shine a spotlight on the artists, and their authentic performances, we created a minimalistic recording space with just one mic in a white studio. Even if a mistake is made or an accident happens, everything is captured being faithful to the one-shot rule. The following content was also created as additional content for THE FIRST TAKE channel: ・THE HOME TAKE: One shot performances from the musician's home shot during the quarantine period. ・THE FIRST TAKE FES: An online THE FIRST TAKE event with multiple sets by artists ・THE FIRST TAKE STAGE: Audition to discover new talents through one-shot filming.

Describe the outcome

・In just one year since the channel was launched, the channel surpassed 750 million total views with over 40 million hours watched. ・3.4 million subscribers ・The channel has been viewed in over 219 countries, making it the channel with the most new subscribers in Japan in 2020. ・YouTube Gold Creator Award 2020 ・Regularly ranked #1 on the Twitter global trend list. ・THE FIRST TAKE has changed the way hit songs are made.

Links

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