Four thousand years ago, it was customary to place personal items such as jewelry, amulets, and symbolic objects inside the sarcophagi of pharaohs—chosen to accompany the deceased into the afterlife. Today, fueled by rampant consumerism that devours everything and strips our belongings of their emotional value, Spotify arrives with a rather original solution. In collaboration with Liquid Death—a U.S. brand of canned water—the music-streaming giant has launched (for now only in the American market) the Eternal Playlist Urn.
It is a cremation urn made of white marble with a Bluetooth speaker built into the lid, currently released in a limited edition of 150 pieces at a price of nearly $500.
Clearly an idea that can only be appreciated if you enjoy a certain kind of black humor and possess a healthy dose of self-irony. But if it’s true that everyone experiences death in their own way, then who are we to judge someone who, instead of choosing to be buried underground, decides to seal their ashes in a container always ready to play their favorite songs? And yet, despite its macabre side, this urn also hides a more romantic aspect: it’s as if everyone could choose the soundtrack not only of their own death, but of their life—and gift it to the people they love. Because in the end, we all know it: few things are as beautiful as sharing a song with someone you care about.
Spotify didn’t stop there, though. It also developed the Eternal Playlist Generator, a system that—after asking you a few questions—will create a personalized playlist designed to resonate for all eternity.
Italian screenwriter Marcello Marchesi once wrote: “He was such an unpleasant man that, after his death, his relatives asked for an encore.” Now, setting aside any possible antipathy, with the Eternal Playlist Urn asking for an encore of something will actually be possible—and it will sound different for everyone.
