Written by: Alexandra Garcia
Pop singers are no strangers to the act of rebranding. In fact, almost every major pop artist has gone through some kind of rebrand if you think about it. Throughout her nearly 20-year career, Taylor Swift has rebranded several times, the most notable one being her transition from country to pop music with her album 1989. Another example of a rebrand would be Miley Cyrus’ after the conclusion of Hannah Montana, in which she went from being seen as a wholesome Disney Channel star to going for a more mature (and at times controversial) concept. The main goal of rebranding in music is to keep audiences interested in an artist because using the same concept might be tiring or predictable over time.
Zara Larsson has been making music for well over a decade now. Throughout her career, she has had several successful songs like “Lush Life,” “Never Forget You,” and “Ruin My Life.” Despite having these hit songs, Larsson has struggled to break into the mainstream until now.
In summer 2024, colorful dolphin memes accompanied by Clean Bandit and Larsson’s “Symphony” were all over the Internet.
What made the memes so funny was the contrast of the song’s upbeat chorus and the bright, colorful imagery of the dolphin photos with dark-humored captions along the lines of “I have depression and social anxiety.”
As a result, the song, which was released in 2017, started reappearing on the charts again and was gaining lots of streams. This did not go unnoticed by Larsson and her team. They saw an opportunity here to get people talking about her music again.
In live performances around that time, she would perform “Symphony” with dolphin visuals in the background, and people took notice of how she gladly embraced the memes instead of refusing to acknowledge them. On her own social media accounts, she even joined in on the jokes by interacting with different posts and replying to comments about the memes.
She started incorporating bright colors and imagery of dolphins, flowers, sunsets, and the ocean into her branding. This culminated in the release of her fifth studio album “Midnight Sun” in September 2025.
The album’s title track, released as a single in June 2025, is an upbeat and undeniably catchy pop tune with a music video that embodies summer vibes. She even collaborated with Lisa Frank on a special CD edition of the album, which was a full-circle moment because many people online associate the “Symphony” dolphin memes with that brand.
The way Larsson and her team tapped into the aesthetic of the dolphin memes and crafted a whole era around it fared well with audiences. The success of the album and the live performances added to this, leading to more viral moments for the Swedish popstar.
Larsson went viral once again for her live performances of the song “Midnight Sun” because of the impressive choreography. There is a moment where her backup dancers lift her in the air while she continues to sing into a mic, maintaining stable vocals the entire time.
“Symphony” is not the only old song of hers that has had a resurgence lately. Her 2015 song “Lush Life” has had a moment online as well, with people earlier this year using the song to reminisce on 2016 with throwback posts. On her “Midnight Sun” Tour, there is a moment during “Lush Life” where she invites a fan from the audience on the stage to dance with her, and the videos of this from each night went viral on the Internet as well.
The “Symphony” dolphin meme had a domino effect on Larsson’s career. Because of the meme, she rebranded and adopted a bright summer Y2K aesthetic with colorful fashion and makeup looks. If she had not rebranded, the “Midnight Sun” era would not be what we now know it to be, and she would not have had those additional viral moments from live performances of those songs on her tour.
As mentioned earlier, rebrands in music, especially the pop genre, are pretty common, but what makes Larsson’s rebrand so unique is that it was not done intentionally. She and her team took advantage of the dolphin meme’s popularity and crafted an era loosely based on it, reflecting how intertwined memes have become with pop culture in the digital age. The main lesson to be learned from this is that even the most unsuspecting opportunities can lead you to success.
Thanks to the song “Midnight Sun,” Zara Larsson finally earned her flowers and became a Grammy-nominated artist this past year, marking a major career milestone. Due to high demand, the North American leg of her “Midnight Sun” Tour was completely sold out, with rumors of additional dates at upgraded venues like New York City’s Madison Square Garden circulating.
