Premier League: Premier League Rebranding by MassiveMusic

The Premier League hauls in over 2 billion viewers, as the 380 matches are being broadcasted worldwide, which makes it the most viewed football competition across the entire globe. With that many eyes logged in, the Premier League thought it would be apt to refresh their overall identity and present a new creative vision. MassiveMusic was invited to team up with DixonBaxi to do just this.

The aim

DixonBaxi, DesignStudio and Premier League aimed at an ultra-modern look for the visual appearance, which resulted in a diverse color palette and impactful graphics. The new and bold move calls for an audio identity with an equally innovative direction. This formed the foundation in approaching the composition of the soundtracks. We decided to complement these new visuals with a sound that is as impactful and colorful, whilst simultaneously keeping the theatrical aspect of the sport woven in.

“A brand can trigger certain emotions by using music and/or sound that elicit these emotions. This is incredibly powerful when you want people to feel a certain way when they experience your brand.” explains Tim Preston, Head of Production at MassiveMusic London.

The approach

We approached this project from a strategic sonic branding angle, where partnership with the agencies, the global network of the Premier League and creativity were central to the process. This means we took these elements in account when we created the sounds around the personality of the Premier League as a brand. Eventually, we honed in on three particular sonic territories: 1. Dynamic electronic production 2. Location field recordings 3. Re-processed classical instrumentation

The result

This resulted in an overarching master theme for the Premier League, which provides them with a contemporary and recognisable soundtrack. Additionally, we created 11 variations on the overarching theme so that the sound is applicable on multiple touch points, ranging from rock based alterations, to electronic, to more breakbeat inversions. The familiarity of the main theme ensures the coherence of the audio identity of the Premier League.

“The Premier League had an opportunity to own a space in music as we found that the majority of leagues around the world sounded exactly the same” says Roscoe Williamson, Head of Branding at MassiveMusic London.

Walk-on anthem

In addition to the rebranding of the broadcast sound, we also revamped the walk-on anthem, which is heard before the start signal of each game to get both the fans in the stadium and at home riled up.

FIFA 17 decided to implement the theme into the game for an even more realistic experience. With the global reach of the Premier League, this might well be the most viewed case in the history of MassiveMusic.

On August 8th 2017, due to high demand from Premier League fans, the anthem was released as a single on all digital music platforms. Check it out on Spotify.