Spotify’s EQUAL, launched in honor of Women’s History Month, will amplify women’s voices online and abroad, even beyond March.
(Press Release, March 8, 2021) Spotify is always dedicated to empowering women creators and giving them a place to share their content with the world. Today, International Women’s Day, we are especially excited to launch a new campaign, EQUAL, to demonstrate our commitment to fostering equity for women in audio and celebrating their global contributions. The campaign will include partnerships, activations, new content experiences, and on- and off-platform support on local, regional, and international levels. Finally, it will also call on users to actively take control of their listening habits, making sure they play more women creators, no matter the day.
On-platform support
Our new EQUAL hub is a one-stop destination that will highlight the work of women artists and podcasters. Over 200 of our top playlists, like Today’s Top Hits, Viva Latino, and Modus Mio, will feature women on the cover art. Spotify will also work with nonprofit partners such as Girls Make Beats, She’s The Music, Sound Girls, GLAAD, Color of Change, Women in Music, and Women’s Audio Mission to curate specialty playlists that highlight artists who are shaping the future of music.
New content experience
WOMN, a new music + talk show, will release special episodes for International Women’s Day. The content features a diverse group of creators, influencers, and cultural figures discussing women-centered topics, making personal reflections on music that has inspired them, and encouraging listeners to stream more women too. Guests include record producer and DJ TOKiMONSTA, actor and content creator Jenny Lorenzo, Spotify’s Dope Labs hosts Titi Shodiya and Zakiya Whatley, model and influencer Jazzmyne Robbins, and more.
Off-platform initiatives
Spotify is also making strides off the platform. We are creating a new invite-only EQUAL Board consisting of 15 organizations from around the world. Spotify will provide a one-time grant to each organization, with the goal of finding tangible ways to make the audio industry more equitable for women creators.
We will also be amplifying creators on social media and beyond. This includes highlighting the top-streamed women artists and most popular podcasters from around the globe. For music, Taylor Swift takes the top spot with more than 2.3 billion streams. Ariana Grande is up next, followed by Dua Lipa. Additional top-streamed women artists include Halsey, Karol G, and BLACKPINK.
When it comes to podcasts, Crime Junkie, hosted by Ashley Flowers and Brit Prawat, is the most popular podcast from women podcast creators globally. The show is followed by Call Her Daddy’s Alex Cooper. Other popular women podcast creators include: Elise Hu, host of TED Talks Daily; and Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark, hosts of My Favorite Murder.
March may be Women’s History Month, but spotlighting the voices of women is something we are committed to doing year-round. Our EQUAL campaign will extend beyond March, and in April we are launching the EQUAL music program, which is focused on fostering equity for women in 50 countries from around the world. We will also continue to build on the success of existing programs that provide new opportunities for women in audio, like Sound Up and EQL.
Related:
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