‘Movin & Shakin’: How SoStereo Crossed Borders at Sonic Speed for Macy’s

Sometimes, you just know you’ve found the right track. There are few better feelings than when the stars align and you can feel a rhythm perfectly match the tone you want a campaign to hit, combined with lyrics to drive it all home. That’s a feeling familiar to many who’ve used SoStereo’s industry-leading library of real music by real artists, and it struck the creative team behind Macy’s latest campaign. 

Movin & Shakin by Five Star Neon is a track that exudes cool confidence, but there was just one problem: they needed female vocals to perfectly match the campaign for their summer collection. After reaching out to the SoStereo team, a plan was hatched. “We immediately reached out to Five Star Neon, who are one of our trusted partners”, recalls SoStereo’s account manager Jenn Bailey. “They were open to the idea of recording a guest vocalist for the track, and they actually suggested an artist they already knew: Prita Grealy”. 

Prita’s soulful, expressive vocals not only matched with the inherent funk of the original track, but could potentially lend the perfect feeling Macy’s were looking for to elevate their creative.

But at this point, a new challenge popped up: Prita was based in New Zealand, a timezone some fifteen hours apart from the rest of the team. But SoStereo didn’t wait. Whilst the client was sleeping, new vocals were recorded on the other side of the world and a fresh version of the track was created.

“We were truly working around the clock, sending demos via WhatsApp and pivoting on a dime to ensure we were giving the client enough options to pick from, literally within hours”, says SoStereo Executive Producer, Joey Netter.

With all said and done, the track was turned around from suggestion to conclusion over the span of just two days. That’s fast for a team working in the same office together, but between artists working on different sides of the planet, it’s lightning-paced. 

The result is a punchy, vibrant spot in which the music serves to complement and elevate the central theme. Without sacrificing any of the feeling from Five Star Neon’s original, Prita’s vocals put Movin & Shakin into the perfect position to work as the score for Macy’s campaign. 

What’s most remarkable about the story of how this track came together is just how organic it is. It’s about as far away from the frustration of trawling through a robotic stock music library as it’s possible to be. Prita was able to collaborate on the track not because she was assigned to it by an algorithm, but because the real, human artists of the original knew she’d be a perfect fit. 

That’s why the Macy’s campaign sounds and feels so real; because it is. 

Even better, the final track itself - Movin' and Shakin' (soul mix) Feat. Prita - is detectable via Shazam for anyone watching the spot. And, as if by magic, Prita is currently in Europe on a tour which began April 12th. 

The tangible feeling of uplifting fun which can be felt in the Macy’s creative doesn’t come around by accident. It happens when you work with real, talented, creative people who are passionate about what they do. In an increasingly digitised era of convenience, there’s still no substitute for reality.