UNIT9 Films brings a musically customised time travel Rube Goldberg machine to world-famous Abbey Road Studios to support IFPI’s campaign #musicremains, which has high-level support from major labels.

Commissioned by IFPI, which represents record labels worldwide, the 90 second film was created by UNIT9 Films director Martin Stirling and music industry creative director Steve Milbourne.

The Rube Goldberg machine – built by London-based art directors Sets Appeal – showcases the ever-evolving music technologies which have been used to create some of the greatest music in history. Cascading through generations of pop classics, the chain reaction begins with a gramophone and ends with an iPad.

East London MC and musician, Pepstar spits personalised lyrics about what recorded music means to him over a soundtrack that moves through some of the most iconic music tracks of the last 100 years. Featuring the likes of Abba, ColdPlay and Daft Punk the whole project was filmed in two days in Abbey Road’s Studio No. 2 and took 48 takes before a successful one-shot wonder brought the experiment to life.

No post production or other tricks were involved – this was all done for real. And that's what makes it a compelling watch, while Pepstar and the archive tracks compliment the visual message. UNIT9 reveal that hidden references feature throughout the video - music fans should keep a keen eye (and ear) out...

Martin Stirling:

“There are a lot of layers to this beast and by refusing to cut corners or use cheats we made our job extremely difficult. We said we'd shoot a one shot and that's exactly what we did. The shoot was incredibly tense as the machine has a life of it's own. If one thing sets off it's almost impossible to stop it which means huge reset times - not ideal when you have one day to shoot!

“This is a film about the history of recorded music but also the legacy it leaves. And where better to film than the most iconic recording studio in the world? Shooting at Abbey Road offered it's own challenges but luckily we had an exceptionally talented team who went above and beyond to make sure it was a success. Nobody felt the pressure more than Sets Appeal who are the brilliant brains behind the machine.”