To bring First Love to life in the real world, Audien took it to one of the busiest corners on the planet.
On September 12, 2025, he and his team staged a surprise pop-up DJ set in Times Square at 46th & Broadway, with TELYKAST (and Project 91 tied to the moment).
He teased the pop up on Instagram and drove fans to sign up for his Laylo list to receive more details about the surprise set via text.
The result: a high-energy set full of mashups and peak-time moments that doubled as an IRL teaser for First Love ahead of the album’s October release.
For his LA market, Audien captured and shared fan messages about their first love.
The activation started as a custom landing page: fans submitted a message and the page visualized entries in real time.
"It was a good chance to build a really nice bespoke form with a realtime visualization of entries coming in and also to learn about the Laylo API," shared Creative Developer Lee Martin. "The form was developed, messages were submitted, and email/sms was captured but it was what came next, that made this campaign special."
Audien and his team at PRODIGY ARTISTS and Armada Music purchased a billboard on Sunset Boulevard to display the heartfelt messages.
Here are a few of the fan submissions:
“I wouldn’t be where I am today without the lessons you taught me. Thank you.”
“The night market lights faded but my thoughts of you never did.”
“I will always remember you. Thank you for all of the memories, bad and good.”
"I’m just a kid from connecticut and if someone told me I’d play a show in the center of times square years ago I wouldn’t believe them.. at all. So much love to everyone that came, I’ll never forget it 🤍"
1,000+ billboard submissions
6,800 engagements on pop up announcement
174 million total playlist reach
