Spotify use Times Square billboard to highlight West Cork songwriter

Bill Maybury is the latest artist to be featured on Spotify’s Radar program with a curated playlist containing the songs that he has collaborated on

Bill Maybury, a songwriter from Ballineen in West Cork, on a billboard in Times Square, New York. “It was surreal just seeing your face up in Times Square, with the ads after me was like a Marvel ad and then it’s a Samsung ad and then it's me and it’s like how the hell is this happening.”

From writing songs in a Cork City café to writing lyrics with artists like Cian Ducrot and James Bay, a young songwriter from Ballineen in West Cork said it was “surreal” to see his face on a Times Square billboard for the first time.

Twenty-seven-year-old Bill Maybury said he always wanted to be a songwriter, ever since he was 10 years old and went to pursue songwriting in the School of Music.

The London-based artist is currently signed with Sony Records and has written songs with the likes of Cian Ducrot and Kenzie. He also has a few songs that are due to come out with some big-name artists which include James Bay, Callum Scott and Kygo.

Bill is the latest artist to be featured on Spotify’s Radar program which features a roster of over 700 artists across 183 countries since its creation.

The program, according to Spotify, helps give creators a platform to help grow their careers as well as reach new and existing fans through social content, marketing and other opportunities.

For Bill, this meant shooting a video with Spotify in his home town in West Cork and in various locations in Cork City and MTU, as well as a curated playlist containing the songs that he has collaborated on and a billboard in Times Square that was revealed this week.

“Spotify chose me as their latest radar songwriter, which has been amazing because they’ve launched a written-by playlist. So all the songs that I have co-written for other people and everything is all in one place now,” he told the Irish Examiner.

Bill said he got straight on a flight after the Brit Awards afterparty to New York to gather with his family on Tuesday to see the billboard light up with his face on it.

“And then they came back to Ireland with me and filmed where I grew up and came to my home and my college and all that. So that was amazing.

“It was just really cool just to get the recognition of things like that and actually highlight songwriters because things behind the scenes don’t get talked about as much, you know.” 

Bill said he got straight on a flight after the Brit Awards afterparty to New York to gather with his family on Tuesday to see the billboard light up with his face on it.

“It was surreal just seeing your face up in Times Square, with the ads after me was like a Marvel ad and then it’s a Samsung ad and then it's me and it’s like how the hell is this happening,” he said.