Modus Mio by Spotify

From playlist to cultural movement

Services

Millions of listeners, viral videos galore, namechecks in multiple songs: in case you’ve entertained even the slightest interest in German music and pop culture over the past few years, chances are high you’ve come across Modus Mio in one form or another. The brand is more than just Spotify’s most influential content brand: it’s a cultural movement and a household name amongst Gen Z music fans.

We kicked off this evolution and continue to shape it today, in close collaboration with Spotify – from the initial idea all the way to daily community management.

Modus Mio was born in 2018, as an evolution of the Generation Deutschrap playlist. The goal was to rethink an established in-app channel as a holistic content brand with cultural impact and marketing value beyond Spotify’s core product and the practice of streaming music. Together with Spotify’s consumer marketing and music teams, we developed the brand from the ground up – from researching the target audience and cultural landscape to coining the unmistakable name to fleshing out the visual identity and roll-out strategy.

The visual identity was updated in 2022 in collaboration with Studio Herrström.

Modus Mio logo, three arrows combined creating an M

Today, Modus Mio thrives as a modern multi-channel brand. In addition to the influential (and highly coveted) playlist, the brand comes to life across a variety of touchpoints, such as large-scale advertising campaigns and its own Instagram channel which has fostered a dedicated and active community. A podcast, a music festival and various merch drops have also been essential parts of the Modus Mio universe over the years.

A hand holding a phone that shows a Spotify media player, playing the trailer of the podcast "Vor der Mio"

Modus Mio has been mentioned in countless songs, including tracks by national superstars such as Sido, Juju or Summer Cem. It’s been praised, described as a life goal and used as a symbol for both personal aspirations and the loose sense of moral decay that has been inherent in hip-hop’s longing for the good ol’ days almost since its very inception. But regardless of how you feel about the state of hip-hop and pop music, Modus Mio has undoubtedly grown into a generational synonym for what it is and what it will be. In other words: a really strong brand.

Much like pop culture in general, Modus Mio keeps evolving at the speed of sound. Whether it’s a motivational claim or an expression of the right to be yourself – what the double-M means in detail is (re-)defined by Deutschrap’s ever-growing community day by day.

We capture these cultural nuances and shifts on the brand’s very own Instagram channel: through updates from the extended hip-hop universe, innovative and inclusive content formats, and eye-level fan communication.