Billboard is producing the first original music programming to appear on Snapchat.
“Artist’s Pass” is a music documentary series that gives viewers a behind-the-scenes look at how musicians prepare for their performances. Episodes, which are sponsored by Honda, run about four to five minutes long and will feature artists Luke Bryan, Demi Lovato and Rae Sremmurd, with more to be announced, according to CNBC.
The episodes will be available for 48 hours on Snapchat Discover, a platform for publications and live events to showcase content. The likes of the Lollapalooza music festival, Grammys, and NBA games have appeared on the service.
“We believe that Snapchat is the premier platform for younger millennials and we want to continue to find new opportunities to reach that audience,” John Amato, president of Billboard and Hollywood Reporter Media Group, told CNBC. “Snapchat’s Discover is a curated and selective environment. With a sea of options that exist across these new platforms, including social media, we believe that premium content benefits from curation.”
Snapchat is owned by Snap Inc., which went public in March. Its image and video sharing app reaches nine times more 18 to 34-year-olds in the U.S. than the average top 15 television networks, according to Nielsen.
“Millennials are practically native to the mobile experience,”Amato added. “It’s how they’ve learned to consume content including video and they want that information and entertainment quickly and in an organic tone.”