Tag: Alicia Keys

Spotify Celebrates Black History Month With the Launch of Frequency Zine

February 13, 2023

Black voices continue to be left out of the cultural narrative. So in 2021, we launched Frequency—what’s become our year-round global initiative to celebrate Black art, entertainment, creativity, and community. Its mission is brought to life by programs like the Ripple Effect Sunday dinner series and the Free Studio creator residency. Frequency is the home for Black expression as it shapes how the future sounds. 

This Black History Month, we’re continuing our support by unveiling Frequency Zine, a new social series focusing on dynamic artists who embody the boundless future of Black music. Throughout the series, we’ll highlight six Black artists across Frequency’s genre-specific playlists, including Indie, Dance/Electronic, Rock, Pop, and more. The first artists to be featured in Frequency Zine include Austin Millz, Bree Runway, Chiiild, Connie Constance, Foggieraw, and Kelela. 

Along with the playlists, each edition will feature a digital cover, custom photoshoot, and interview videos. Fans can follow Frequency on Instagram and Twitter to check out Frequency Zine as soon as it drops.

Frequency is a part of our ongoing commitment to support creators from historically marginalized communities and foster equity in the audio space. Read on for some more ways Spotify is highlighting Black creators across our platform this February. 

Black authors step into the spotlight with Audiobooks

There’s always more to learn about Black history and culture, so this month, some of our listeners will also receive recommendations for Audiobooks they can sink their ears into, like The 1619 Project developed by Nikole Hannah–Jones, Son of Elsewhere by Elamin Abdelmahmoud, We Over Me by Devale Ellis and Khadeen Ellis, and Finding Me by Viola Davis, which has been nominated for a Spoken Word Grammy.

The Audiobooks Hub will also be taken over with five curated shelves highlighting titles by Black authors within some of our most popular genres. These shelves consist of The Classics, Mystery & Thriller, Editor’s Picks, Lost in Love, and Be Inspired. Some of the titles you’ll find include:

  • More Myself by Alicia Keys: A book for fans of Alicia Keys with great music tie-ins and full-cast narration from Alicia Keys herself, as well as America Ferrera, Bono, Clive Davis, Craig Cook, DJ Walton, Jay-Z, Krucial, Leigh Blake, Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Swizz Beats, and Terri Augelo. 
  • Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson: This multigenerational story was in President Barack Obama’s reading list picks for 2022.
  • All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson: A series of personal essays from a prominent journalist and LGBTQIA+ activist. 
  • Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute by Talia Hibbert: This brand-new rom-com from a popular British author is sure to be a hit for lovers of YA novels. 

Black podcast creators continue to set the tone

In addition to the Frequency Zine and our curated Audiobooks shelves, we’re also proud to showcase thought-provoking conversations from some of Spotify’s top Black podcast creators.

The Unbothered Network is a groundbreaking podcast and production company created by award-winning journalist Jemele Hill. Unbothered seeks to elevate the voices, stories, agency, and nuance of Black women by producing high-quality audio experiences on Spotify. The slate of shows including Jemele Hill is Unbothered, Sanctified, and The Black Girl Bravado offers conversation that builds community, all through the power and intimacy of podcasting.

We Said What We Said with Rickey and Denzel recently returned for its fourth season exclusively on Spotify in all video. Each week, longtime best friends Rickey Thompson and Denzel Dion dish on all things pop culture, sex, partying, struggle, love, and more. We Said What We Said is a show with bold advice, hot takes, and risqué storytelling.

On The Ringer’s Higher Learning with Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay, the hosts dissect the biggest topics in Black culture, politics, and sports. Two times per week, they will wade into the most important and timely conversations, frequently inviting guests on the podcast and occasionally debating each other.

Spotify is committed to creating space for Black creators and fans to express themselves year-round, and as we move forward in 2023, we will continue our support on and off our platform.

Looking for more on the diverse and exciting sounds coming from Black artists around the globe? Check out our playlist This Is Frequency.

The Challenges and Opportunities in Transforming the ‘Song Exploder’ Podcast Into a Netflix Show

October 13, 2020

In 2014, Hrishikesh “Hrishi” Hirway first combined music and podcasts with Song Exploder, a biweekly podcast that explores a popular song through an intimate discussion with the track’s creator. Artists ranging from The Postal Service to Dua Lipa have taken to the mic to explain their craft and process. In 2016, Hrishi started fiddling with another combination—turning the podcast into a TV show. He partnered with Morgan Neville, a film producer, director, and writer best known for some of his documentaries about musicians and songwriters, like 20 Feet From Stardom and Johnny Cash’s America. They embarked on the task of turning an audio show into a visual one, a project that would take two years—and plenty of hard questions.

This October, their hard work paid off when Song Exploder landed on Netflix. Each of the four episodes explores a singular track from creators Alicia Keys, Lin-Manuel Miranda, R.E.M., and Ty Dolla $ign in a new visual fashion that keeps the Song Exploder podcast at its core. 

Audio Connects Us All in Spotify’s Newest Campaign, ‘Listening Together’

May 7, 2020

What are you listening to right now? Whatever it is, chances are you’re not the only one. Every moment, more than 30,000 people around the world press play on the same song on Spotify. Suffice it to say, listening connects us, even when we aren’t expecting it. Now, through our new global campaign, “Listening Together,” we’re celebrating audio’s unique power to unite us—even when we’re apart.

Whether you’re streaming pop, hip-hop, or opera, the initiative highlights the power of audio to bring us closer together through a visualization-based microsite, artist-influenced Together With playlists, and more.

Listening Together Microsite

Back in 2014, media artist Kyle McDonald had a great idea to find the “serendipity” of two listeners pressing play on the same song within moments of each other. Fast forward seven years to today, and Spotify has hundreds of millions of listeners around the world pressing play on the same song within the same moment. The connections are exponential, and with our new microsite, we’re visualizing those serendipitous clicks and taps in a real-time way like never before.  

Say multiple people hit play on “Imagine,” or “Bored in the House.” A virtual, rotating 3D map of Earth will display the track name, as well as the country and city where the connection is happening. And you’ll be there to watch as the connection happens, and which track brought them together at that very moment. 

Want to see for yourself? Check out the Listening Together microsite here to watch in real time as fans around the world listen to the same track, at the same time.

Listening Together With Playlists 

During this time, we’ve also enlisted the help of artists like Selena Gomez, Lil Yachty, and Dolly Parton to share the music and podcasts that are soundtracking their days. Our new Listening Together With playlists feature these artists, as well as Lennon Stella, Anitta, Grimes and others sharing commentary about what they are currently listening to. Here’s a sample of what each artist had to say about what they’ve been streaming, and why.

“Listening to music brings me such hope and joy even during these hard times.” — Dolly Parton

 “I’ve been listening to kind of down-tempo vibes while I game.” — Lil Yachty

“I’ve been listening to an eclectic mix of classics and current music while feeling inspired to cook new dishes.” — Selena Gomez

We’re constantly adding new playlists from your favorite artists and creators. This week, check out Alicia Keys’ “Cooking Together” playlist for her favorite nourishing tracks.

Whether in good times or challenging ones, Spotify believes in the limitless power of audio. Our hope is that these playlists will allow listeners to forge a common bond with people around the world who are also using audio to stay connected.

Check out how people are Listening Together on the new microsite, or stream our flagship Listening With playlist.