The much-awaited 61st Grammy Awards is happening this February 10, Sunday, and Apple is hyping up some of this year’s Grammy-nominated artists through “professionally animated” Memoji ads. The ads, mainly advertising Apple Music, features Ariana Grande and her latest track “7 Rings”, Khalid’s recently released single “Talk”, and Florida Georgia Line performing “Simple”, in efforts to gain higher share in the music streaming industry. Apple had also reported to have partnered with Grammys last December to exclusively announce some nominees.
The Apple Memoji, basically Animoji that is customizable, which debuted along with iOS 12, lets users of Apple iPhone X or later, iPad Pro 11″ or iPad Pro 12.9″ create animated versions of themselves and share it through messaging, and Facetime.
Ariana Grande is nominated for two Grammys this year, for best pop solo performance for “God Is a Woman” and best pop album for Sweetener. Although this year, she won’t be performing, or even attending the Grammys, as she had pulled out due to conflict and disagreements with the awards show producers.
Other Grammy-nominees are also featured along with Grande in Memoji billboards in LA, promoting Apple Music, including Shawn Mendes, nominated for song of the year and best pop vocal album, and Kacey Musgraves, nominated for album of the year, best country album and best country song.
Capitalizing on next Sunday's #Grammy Awards, Apple is running a series of billboards around #LosAngeles featuring #memoji versions of artists like @ArianaGrande and @KaceyMusgraves. https://t.co/CCJeerv5uD pic.twitter.com/shuUmWKVjP
— AppleInsider (@appleinsider) February 5, 2019