Syracuse Sun

Molly Egan and Marlana Bianchi, students at Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, have been recognized with the Cannes Future Lions Grand Prix for their innovative project, "Break the Sound Barrier." This accolade was awarded for their work in creating an artificial intelligence concept for Spotify, developed during their Portfolio III course under Professor Mel White.

Professor Ed Russell, chair of the Newhouse advertising department, expressed his pride in the achievement: “Winning the Grand Prix in the Cannes Future Lions competition is the most significant award the advertising department at Newhouse has ever received.” He added that this accomplishment is evidence of their commitment to being a leading undergraduate advertising program.

Mark Lodato, dean of the Newhouse School, also shared his enthusiasm: “What wonderful news! I’m excited for our students and very grateful for the talented faculty that helped guide them toward this achievement.”

The project involved adding deaf sign language performers to songs on Spotify using deepfake technology. This initiative aims to make music streaming more inclusive by providing performances in over 300 different sign languages. Musicians can opt into this feature to engage with deaf fans through sign language renditions of their songs.

Avi Steinbach, a creative director at Ogilvy and Newhouse alumnus, praised the execution: “There’s terrific craft to this execution. The name [‘Break the Sound Barrier’] is provocative.” Tye M. Comer from Spotify commented on how well it met their brief: “The idea that this feature could bring [the deaf community] closer to the artists that they love meets the brief perfectly.”

Spotify plans to collaborate with Egan and Bianchi to explore bringing "Break the Sound Barrier" to life on its platform.

During the awards ceremony at Cannes Lions, Gemma Redgrave from AKQA presented Egan and Bianchi with their trophies alongside other winners from England, Italy, and Germany. Reflecting on their win, Egan stated: “We ran onto the stage, floating on cloud nine. In that moment, our dreams came true.”