Munich. The collaboration between BMW and Coldplay
will witness a new highlight. Following the successful hit “Higher
Power” synced in the BMW i4/ix purpose film and the British band’s
performance in the virtual world of BMW JOYTOPIA at the IAA Mobility
in Munich, BMW will now provide the world’s first ever mobile,
rechargeable show battery for the bands upcoming Music Of The Spheres
World Tour. In the summer of 2022, the four musicians are also
scheduled to perform in Frankfurt and Berlin.
The show battery will provide the necessary electric power during the
live performances with more than 40 recyclable car batteries, making
the series of concerts more sustainable and one of the greenest tours
in music history. The collaboration between BMW and Coldplay sets new
benchmarks and could become the blueprint for the entire live industry.
The storage technology for the power supply during the live
performances will be provided by partly recycled BMW i3 batteries. The
show battery will provide the necessary super low emission, electric
power and replace the usual diesel and petrol generators, which will
in turn result in a significant reduction of the carbon footprint of
all the band’s live performances. It will be recharged using a range
of renewable sources including solar installations, a kinetic stadium
floor, power bikes and generators powered by Hydrotreated Vegetable
Oil. The kinetic stadium floor and the power bikes will harness the
collective power of the fans themselves.
These car batteries are the first worldwide to be rendered suitable
for second-life use. The technology is an essential part of the BMW
Group’s vision of sustainability and circular economy.
“We’re proud to partner with BMW to create the world’s first
tourable, rechargeable show battery – which will allow us to power our
concerts almost entirely from clean, renewable energy”, says
Coldplay’s Chris Martin. “
“A common awareness of sustainability has led during recent years to
an intensive, creative co-creation process between BMW and Coldplay,”
emphasises Jens Thiemer, Senior Vice President Customer and Brand BMW.
“The campaign song, “Higher Power“, marking the launch of our
all-electric models BMW iX and BMW i4, as well as Coldplay’s
performance at BMWs virtual world of JOYTOPIA during the IAA Mobility,
were the first major highlights of our successful cooperation. With
the use of second-life batteries from BMW i3 vehicles we are now
helping Coldplay’s world tour become even more sustainable.”
Collaborative successes: “Higher
Power” and JOYTOPIA
The long-standing collaboration between BMW and Coldplay goes back to
the year 2014. Then, the band featuring Chris Martin, Jonny Buckland,
Will Champion and Guy Berryman played in front of 1,500 enthusiastic
fans, marking the end of their “Ghost Stories Tour” at BMW Welt in
Munich. These initial contacts and the mutual awareness of
sustainability finally resulted in a collaboration between BMW and Coldplay.
The campaign for the electric vehicles BMW iX and BMW i4 in June 2021
was the first major success of this collaboration between a brand and
a band. BMW and Coldplay jointly developed the campaign in a unique
co-creation process. The campaign song “Higher Power“ became a massive
hit and the line “This joy is electric” the perfect brand message for
the two new BMW premium models.
Sustainable world tour as the blueprint for the entire live
industry
At the IAA Mobility in Munich in September 2021, which was held under
the motto “RE:IMAGINE TODAY” and very much in the spirit of the BMW
Groups vision of sustainability and circular economy, a further major
success of this co-creation was then achieved. BMW’s newly created
Metaverse JOYTOPIA presented an entirely virtual performance by
Coldplay. The musicians’ show could be viewed online for 24 hours and
was seen by more than 150,000 people worldwide. For the digital world,
JOYTOPIA was a quantum leap in terms of marketing and corporate communication
This successful collaboration between BMW and Coldplay has now been
further extended, leading to a new climax during next year’s world
tour. As a partner and supplier of recyclable car batteries, BMW will
support the British band not only with achieving the goal of becoming
even more sustainable. The cooperation is a game changer and could
become a blueprint for the entire live industry.
https://www.bmw.com/en/automotive-life/coldplay-sustainable-live-music-experience.html