Maya Angelou x Coldplay
Inspiring Coldplay’s global audience with Maya Angelou’s message
What we did
- Licensed Maya Angelou’s recorded spoken word from Oprah’s Masterclass series
- Licensed the underlying script for use in two original songs
- Advised on titling, attribution, and respectful creative execution
- Reviewed and approved visual integration in concert tour footage
- Coordinated usage across recorded music, live performance, and video content
Inspired by Maya Angelou’s message, “Be a rainbow in someone else’s cloud,” Coldplay aimed to enhance the message’s impact through their distinctive sound and music. After discovering a video of Maya’s appearance on Oprah’s Masterclass series, Coldplay sought to make it the core of their newest song.
We licensed both Maya’s spoken word recording and the underlying script used in the original Oprah interview. The recording was featured in two tracks, Coloratura and Angelsong, on Coldplay’s Moon Music album. At concerts, Maya’s voice was paired with a powerful visual tribute played to stadium-sized audiences.
CMG ensured that the integrity and meaning of Maya’s message remained a continuous priority throughout the project. We collaborated closely with Coldplay’s creative and legal teams, guiding proper attribution, context, and usage. We were able to turn an initial idea from the band into a recurring centerpiece across the band’s global tour.
A Voice That Brought Color to the World.
- 🌈 “Coloratura” (Moon Music & Full Moon Edition DISC 1): 10,952,730 streams on Spotify; 518k views on YouTube
- Angelsong (Full Moon Edition DISC 2): 2,100,439 streams on Spotify, 335k views on YouTube
The Impact
- 2 songs featuring Maya Angelou’s voice released globally across 8 different streaming platforms
- Moon Music, the album containing Maya’s excerpt, will become a part of the 225 show of Music of the Sphere’s world tour, having sold over 10.3 million tickets since its announcement.
- A total of 14M streams across Spotify and YouTube
- Featured in Rolling Stone, USA Today, The New York Post, and more as a standout moment of the Coldplay tour
The tempo-shifting track, awash in vocalizations, includes dialogue from Maya Angelou about being a rainbow in someone’s cloud, and suddenly this notable musical excursion makes sense.