‘A Star Is Born’ Is Even Impacting the Advertising World as Warner Bros. Debuts Groundbreaking 3D Sound Promo

“A Star Is Born” has already left its mark on the box office and the Billboard music charts, but those two spaces aren’t enough for the Bradley Cooper-directed music romance. Ad Week reports the film is pioneering 3D sound in the advertising world with the release of a new 30-second trailer, presented in partnership between distributor Warner Bros., the music streaming platform Spotify, and creative shop Red Apple.

“An ad like this helps break through a content-cluttered environment and get audiences to more deeply engage with our movies,” Andrew Hotz, EVP of Worldwide Digital Marketing for Warner Bros., told Ad Week in an email. “For ‘A Star Is Born,’ we were looking for breakthrough opportunities that remained true to the film’s themes and tone.”

The 3D sound promo “mimics the surround-sound effect of being in the theater when the viewer has on headphones.” Spotify and Warner Bros. say the ad is one of the first of its kind to take advantage of 3D sound technology, which is something Dolby Atmos has revolutionized in movie theaters. The ad features the song “Black Eyes” from the movie’s soundtrack, with the 3D sound panning the noise between the right and left headphone speakers to provide a concert soundscape.

“We used a specialized audio production technique that delivers audio to the Spotify user so that their ears and brain interpret the sounds as being omnidirectional,” Spotify’s Andi Frieder said. “This allows placement of sound not just left and right, but above, behind, and in front of the listener in a seemingly 3D space.”

Spotify is going to be teaming up with Warner Bros. again later this year for “Aquaman,” although the details of the collaboration have yet to be revealed. “A Star Is Born” is now playing in theaters nationwide. You can watch the 3D sound promo exclusively on Ad Week’s official website.