Tag: Ashley O

Give Everyone on Your List the Gift of Spotify

November 18, 2019

Every year you vow that this will be the season you get all your shopping done early. But somehow the holidays always sneak up, and you’re left scrambling for last-minute gifts.

That’s why we’re making it easy to check off everyone on your list with the below roundup of Spotify-integrated tech gifts. Grouped for all the different audiophiles in your life, these recommendations make giving the gift of Spotify easy. 

Check out our top picks below.

For the multitasker

If you’re looking for the one-stop-shop of cell phones, check out the Galaxy Note10 and Galaxy Note10+. It’s designed for an immersive experience and features a super-powerful performance to handle your multitasking, so you can listen to podcasts, shop online, and answer work emails without skipping a beat.

For the one who’s constantly on the go

The Galaxy Watch Active2 has LTE connectivity so that users can call, text, or stream Spotify right from their wrists—even while offline. That way they can stay connected from the gym, on their commute, or just about anywhere. Plus, Spotify comes preloaded on select Samsung devices, so they’ll be able to get going the moment the wrapping paper is off.

For the one who’s always up on the latest TV

Take advantage of that state-of-the-art home entertainment unit—try the Roku Streaming Stick+ to make playing Spotify through the TV easier than ever. Or, if they’ve already got a Roku Smart Soundbar or Roku TVs with Roku TV Wireless Speakers attached, gift them a Wireless Subwoofer for more seamless streaming and exceptional sound quality all year round.

For the friend who’s throwing the holiday party

Give the gift of great sound for their music! The Sonos Move is a powerful, battery-powered smart speaker for music, news, and more in great sound indoors, outdoors, and on-the-go. Connect wirelessly with other Sonos speakers, including Sonos and IKEA’s SYMFONISK bookshelf or lamp WiFi speaker—fully integrated in the Sonos Home Sound System—to play music in any or every room for a rich, home-filling sound sure to liven up any gathering.

For the kids

Need a gift for the kids in your life? Youngsters will love the Ultimate Arendelle Castle Playset and the singing Anna and Elsa dolls inspired by Disney’s Frozen 2—especially when it’s paired with our Spotify Frozen 2 Playlists. The curated sound effects and music bring Anna and Elsa’s adventures to life from the warm comfort of your living room.

For the gamer who knows it’s all about the music

Take Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for a spin. Not only will they be able to play the hottest games, but new subscribers in the U.S. and U.K. who join Xbox Game Pass Ultimate will also receive six months of Spotify Premium for free for a limited time.

For the friend who’s spending the holidays outside

Have a friend who’s taking advantage of the time off to get outdoors? The Bose Portable Home Speaker is a wireless home speaker, portable Bluetooth speaker, and a voice-controlled speaker, all in one. So whether they’re preparing for a hike or an outdoor holiday party, the music will be totally covered. 

For the Spotify Premium newcomer

Spotify Premium allows you to play music on-demand, enjoy unlimited skips, and listen without ads between songs. It’s like magic. Bring someone else into the know by introducing them to the annual Spotify Premium holiday offer from November 18-December 31. New users can get three months free* (so your wallet will thank you, too), and anyone who was previously on Premium but has since dropped can get three months for $9.99 (meaning you pay once and get the next two months on us).**

And the options don’t end there—check out more Spotify Connect devices that let you play music or podcasts through them using the Spotify app as a remote, perfect for bringing in the holiday season or streaming all year round*.

As you’re doing your holiday shopping, get into the spirit of the season with our Happy Holidays playlist.

* Three Months Free is for new users who have never tried Premium, available across all Premium plans: Individual, Student (where available), Family (where available) and Duo (where available).
** Three Months for $9.99 is only for individual plan users and is not available to users who ended their Premium subscription after October 19, 2019.

Black Mirror’s Ashley O is on Spotify—and Her Streams Have Surpassed Fiction

July 30, 2019

The semi-futuristic world of Black Mirror spins stories of revolting robots, carbon copies in alternative digital realities, and even app-rating systems gone awry—thanks to the darker tendencies of human nature. It all seems fairly far off; that is, until the characters from the Emmy award-winning series cross over into our world. Or at least onto our streaming platforms.

In the third episode of the fifth season, “Rachel, Jack, and Ashley Too,” actress and singer-songwriter Miley Cyrus stars as beloved motivational pop artist Ashley O. Yet Ashley’s life isn’t quite as it seems—and everything comes crumbling down around the same time an AI created in her likeness, Ashley Too, is released for her adoring fans.

Fans of the show from our world clamored to watch the episode, which debuted along with the rest of the fifth season on Netflix June 5. By June 12, in an entirely Black Mirror-like move, the fictional pop star had a verified artist profile on Spotify—and plenty of real-life streams to match. Within a day of her Spotify presence, Ashley O had over 970,000 streams. By the end of June, the fictional artist was racking up over a million streams per day. And to date, the Ashley O profile has 9.2 million monthly listeners.

The two songs from the episode that are featured on Ashley O’s Spotify profile, “On a Roll” and “Right Where I Belong,” have each been played into the millions—and tens of millions for “On a Roll,” which saw over 1.68 million streams on July 5 alone. (The streams came mostly from U.S. users, though listeners from the U.K., where the series originated, were the second highest.)

Though the songs are poppy enough to believe Ashley O dreamt them up herself, both “On a Roll” and “Right Where I Belong” are actually takes on “Head Like a Hole” and “Right Where It Belongs,” by the American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails. The band happily gave permission for their songs—which have a much darker, aggressive tone than the Ashley O versions—to be reworked into an upbeat pop style, lyrics and all.

Yet even hidden under the “popified” shine and positivity of Ashley O, fans of the episode were able to identify Nine Inch Nails’ tracks, and the band saw a subsequent bump in their listening as well. Streaming of “Head Like a Hole” shot up 398% from the week before the show debuted to its peak on June 19 and maintained high numbers of streaming over the July 4 weekend. “Right Where It Belongs” increased 278% from the week prior to its peak on June 17.

Miley Cyrus herself also saw a slight peak in streaming over the July 4 weekend—though nothing like when her new EP came out May 31. That, however, could have been due to celebratory streams of the Fourth of July classic “Party in the USA.”

Miley’s been known for other alter egos—namely Hannah Montana—and she’s used to sharing her fans across both profiles. The same proved true for fans of the artist-actress in her newest Black Mirror iteration: Of the 13 million-plus users who streamed at least one Ashley O song since they were released, 68% also streamed a Miley Cyrus track at some point in the same time period.

But at least no one’s making an AI of Miley anytime soon. That we know of, at least.