Spotify Spotlight Debuts New Round Of Global & Regional Artists
This week Spotify announced a new crop of artists to be featured in their Spotlight on New Music playlist and in related campaigns. Two of the artists, MØ and Foster The People, will get global promotion via Spotify. Frankie Ballard, As Animals, Marteria and G-Eazy will receive regional campaigns. Initial confusion over whether Spotlight was simply a promo playlist have been cleared up as we can now see that Spotlight is a name for much broader campaigns.
What Spotify's doing with Spotlight on New Music is becoming a bit clearer over time. When first introduced it was a bit unclear what it was with Spotify blog commenters asking:
"soooo is it a blog, a playlist, a new app section, or something else?"
"I think it's just a playlist? But it's automatically updated?"
"well you'd think they'd at least tell us what the product is."
But it's grown a bit clearer as we've seen that Spotlight is a vehicle for Spotify to promote artists across its platform beyond just the playlist which is called different things at different times. There may be original content involved. Well-known artists like Pharrell may also appear on the playlist though not in campaigns. And stuff happens that may be promotional and related to Spotlight but might not be labeled such.
The core of the Spotify Spotlight campaigns was actually previously described quite clearly:
"[Steve] Savoca [head of content at Spotify] tells Billboard there will be one or two global Spotlight artists per quarter. The 14-employee Spotify team that works with labels and artists for Spotlight will also develop five to ten artists per quarter, on a smaller level.""
Which manifests in this week's news announcement from Spotify:
"New album releases from MØ and Foster the People will receive global marketing and promotional support from Spotify leading up to and following their official release dates."
"In addition, as part of the 'Spotify Spotlight' program, Spotify will also launch regional campaigns for the following artists: Frankie Ballard (US), As Animals (France), Marteria (Germany) and G-Eazy (US)."
Here's more on the new Spotlight artists and their relationship with Spotify:
MØ (Global) – Known for several acclaimed singles & featured on Avicii’s recent hit Dear Boy, Danish singer songwriter Karen Marie Ørsted a.k.a MØ's debut album 'No Mythologies To Follow' (out March 10) is heavily tipped for success in 2014.
Foster The People (Global) – Thanks to the symbiotic alignment of the band’s indie fan base and the early adopter, tech-savvy advocates of Spotify, Foster The People’s 2011 release “Torches” dominated the Spotify Top Artist, Album and Track charts globally for several months before reaching critical mass as a mainstream hit at radio and retail. Spotify aims to play a key role in the release of their sophomore album “Supermodel”.
G-Eazy (US) – Spotify’s love affair with this independent, Bay-area rapper started back in late 2013 when G-Eazy landed a Spotify Top Viral track. This quarter, Spotify is co-sponsoring a series of listening events for his forthcoming album “These Things Happen” as well as given fans the opportunity to get closer with a Day In The Life campaign. G-Eazy will also be featured as a cornerstone performer at Spotify’s SXSW activation in March.
Frankie Ballard (US) – Frankie recently launched his solo album Sunshine & Whiskey with Spotify’s at the forefront. An active Spotify user himself, Frankie has embraced the Spotlight On 2014 program and worked with Spotify to launch a comprehensive campaign to bolster his single and drive straight into a pre-release of his album. Streams for Frankie have increased over +139% as a result of the campaign as his single “Helluva Life” is surging up the country radio charts.
Marteria (DE) – Marteria is seeing enormous success on Spotify, with an increase of 1500% on streams since early December. Marteria and their new album Zum Glück in die Zukunft II are currently the most-streamed artist and album in Germany, and the album has seen the biggest first week of streams in Germany of all time on Spotify.
As Animals (FR) – As Animals got our attention with the fantastic single “I See Ghost,” which continues to hit our viral charts in France as well as other European countries. When their self-titled debut album was pre-released a week early on Spotify it didn’t disappoint and has proved a popular album in its first two months. The band recently played a fantastic and intimate set at the second-ever Spotify Sessions in Paris, which will be available to listen to on Spotify soon.
More:
- Spotify's New Spotlight Feature Provides Bigger Marketing Boost For Spotify Than For Artists
- 16 Musicians To Watch In 2014 From Spotify
Hypebot Senior Contributor Clyde Smith (Twitter/Facebook) is currently relaunching All World Dance. To suggest topics about music tech, DIY music biz or music marketing for Hypebot, contact: clyde(at)fluxresearch(dot)com.
