Spotify, one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing music streaming platforms, believes that music and audio have the power to change the world. As a catalyst for that change, Spotify aims to empower women creators by giving them a place to share their content globally. The company is committed to fostering equity for women and has recently launched two new campaigns, Frequency and EQUAL. These new campaigns will work to amplify the voices of emerging female creators who in the past have been under-appreciated and underrepresented.
Raising the Frequency
Frequency is an extension of Spotify’s ongoing commitment to and investment in Black voices. The new global initiative cultivates a holistic destination for celebrating Black art, entertainment, creativity, culture and community both on and off-platform. Through a rollout of new content, cultural partnerships and an ambassador program, Frequency aims to further connect the Black community to established and emerging Black artists, all while fostering community and appreciating the culture that has made an impact across fashion, tech, business, and music.
As part of the initiative’s launch, Spotify announced several new playlists to be rolled out worldwide. The four new playlists are: The flagship “This is Frequency,” which highlights new releases from both big names and new artists; “House Party,” emphasizes nightlife music; “Ripple Effect,” is dedicated to the underserved genres and artists that influence mainstream media; and “Heard You,” is a podcast playlist that will bring in bigger names who “speak to the Black experience” to guest-curate programming.
In addition, an ASCENT Series will take place off-platform to support artists and podcast producers. This content series will capture the day-in-the-life of artists/podcast creators with a rising social presence. Fans will be able to connect with the places and locations influential to the artist’s work, hear personal stories from creators that helped shape their life and music career, and more.
Spotify also announced their “Raising the Frequency Ambassador Program,” which will include a $50,000 scholarship fund for Black college students aspiring to work in the music or tech industries, donation matches to community organizations of the ambassadors’ choice, and a Frequency Songwriting Camp that will bring together artists, producers, and songwriters.
Before launching the Frequency initiative Spotify introduced a new hub called “Black History Is Happening Now,” a dedicated hub focused on the importance of celebrating Black history and people all year round; and Playlists like RapCaviar, Feelin Myself and African Heat and podcasts such as “Jemele Hill is Unbothered,” “Dope Labs” and “You Heard Me Write.” Spotify also made a commitment to further invest in Black creators through its $10M Racial Equity Donations & Giving Program to 15+ global organizations in June 2020.
In celebration of the launch, Spotify is debuting an exclusive video of creator vignettes that showcase the multi-faceted tapestry of Black creativity ft. Spotify creators like Higher Learning podcast hosts Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay, rising star Yung Baby Tate and producer Amorphous.
EQUAL: Women at Full Volume
Spotify is dedicated to empowering women creators and giving them a place to share their content with the world. This past March, in celebration of International Women’s Day, Spotify launched their new global initiative EQUAL, which will highlight women creators on its platform while working towards equity for women in the audio industry.
EQUAL will bring a number of new programs to the company, including the EQUAL Hub, adedicated space to celebrate women creators and help increase awareness of their work among fans. The streaming platform has also changed the cover art on over 200 of its popular playlists, like Today’s Top Hits and Viva Latino, to feature women.
In addition, Spotify has partnered with music-related and gender equality nonprofits like Girls Make Beats, She Is the Music, Sound Girls, GLAAD,Color of Change, Women in Music, and Women’s Audio Mission to create unique Spotify playlists highlighting female artists who are shaping the future of music. The new co-branded EQUAL + NOTEABLE playlist will feature 40 songs100% written, produced, and performed exclusively by women songwriters, producers, and artists worldwide. Giving fans a new dedicated place to discover music from a host of talented creators with diverse perspectives.
Spotify’s inaugural class of EQUAL artists kicking off the program include: DUDA BEAT (BR), Griff (UK), Natalia Lafourcade (MX), and Zoe Wees (DE/UK), and Saweetie (US.
“As a female artist working in the music, we have to work twice as hard as men just to get the recognition we deserve not to mention having to deal with societal pressures and sexism associated with just being a woman,” says Saweetie. “Increased equity in music for female creators is important to me because we contribute and give so much of ourselves to our craft and the overall industry that at minimum our voices merit equal representation on the platforms we consume. Together with EQUAL, I hope to bring more awareness to the diverse talent that women of all backgrounds bring to our lives, shedding a light and creating a stage for all our voices to be heard.”
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