Tag: awards show

Spotify Partners With Les Flammes Music Awards To Celebrate French Rap

April 24, 2024

Spotify is once again teaming up with Les Flammes, the only music awards dedicated to rap, R&B, Afrobeats, and popular culture in France.

Spotify helped create Les Flammes in 2023 to celebrate and highlight the French-speaking artists who are actively shaping new cultural trends. Rap is a hugely prominent genre in France—on Spotify, the top five most-listened-to artists in the country have hailed from rap, hip-hop, and R&B for the past several years.

Ahead of the ceremony on April 25, let’s take a moment to highlight the impact of last year’s inaugural event, and also spotlight the 2024 nominees.

 

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Looking back at Les Flammes 2023

Not only was Les Flammes 2023 a success, but it also impacted music consumption on Spotify in France. Rap and hip-hop have continued to gain steam since last year’s ceremony, with French artist listenership increasing by 15% among users aged 25-44 and 12% among users aged 24-29 and users over 55.

In addition, several winners saw an increase in streams in France in the past year:

    • Maureen saw her streams jump by 314%. The former RADAR artist’s track “Laptop” was awarded best Caribbean or Caribbean-Inspired Song.
    • Streams for Aya Nakamura, who won the Female Artist of the Year award, increased by 97%.
    • Hamza, winner of the best R&B Song award with Tiakola for “Atasanté,” recorded a 93% increase in streams.
    • Tiakola saw a 71% increase in streams. The artist won the New Pop Album of the Year award, as well as best Afro or Afro-Inspired Song.

Looking forward to Les Flammes 2024

A number of artists up for awards at this year’s ceremony have already made their mark. Among the male nominees, that includes Yamê, an artist supported by Spotify’s RADAR program; Favé; and Werenoi.

    • Yamê’s streams have skyrocketed by 12,883%. Nominated for Male Revelation of the Year and New Pop Album of the Year, he’s the fastest-growing male French-language rap/hip-hop artist of the year in France.
    • Favé, also nominated for Male Revelation of the Year, has seen a 561% increase in streams.
    • Werenoi’s streams are up 606%. The artist is up for Spotify Album of the Year, Song of the Year, and Male Artist of the Year.

Among the female nominees:

    • Shay has seen a 65% increase in streams. Nominated for Video of the Year, she’s the third-fastest-growing female French-language rap/hip-hop artist of the year in France.
    • Nej, an EQUAL artist, has recorded a 36% increase in streams. She’s up for Female Artist of the Year.

And while this year’s ceremony will be held at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, Spotify will also host a special viewing party in Marseille. The event will reinforce the sense of unity that characterizes Les Flammes while also celebrating the city’s vibrant hip-hop scene. Photocalls, food, and DJ sets will keep the party going for more than 500 attendees as screens project the awards ceremony.

The international influence of French artists

Beyond France’s borders, French pop, hip-hop, and rap artists continue to gain notoriety, especially as Spotify helps reduce language barriers and enable local artists to gain visibility in non-French-speaking markets:

    • Gazo, Ninho, and Tiakola are all among the top 10 most-streamed French R&B/hip-hop artists outside of France.
    • Favé and Yamê are both among the top 50 most-streamed French-language R&B/hip-hop artists outside of France.
    • Indila and Aya Nakamura are the first- and second-most-streamed French pop artists outside of France, respectively.

Stream our official playlist for Les Flammes 2024 to hear this year’s nominated artists.

Broadway’s Broadening Appeal

June 10, 2019

There’s a certain magic involved with attending a Broadway show—whether it be a Rodgers and Hammerstein revival, or a brand-new production from Anaïs Mitchell. And now, due to streaming, fans can experience that Broadway magic from the comfort of their headphones.

In fact, as streaming on Spotify has become more widespread, there’s also been an increase in streaming of the Broadway genre. From 2012 to 2018, we’ve seen an 81% surge. People are taking to Spotify to prep themselves for highly anticipated shows, re-live their favorites, or experience musicals they might not have gotten a chance to see.

Additionally, showtunes listeners complete Broadway albums in the prescribed song order at 124% higher a rate than that of people who complete non-soundtrack albums. There’s truly something to be said about experiencing a musical’s story the way the writers and composers intended.

In honor of the 73rd Tony Awards this past weekend, we looked into streaming of musicals over the last 90 days to see which performances have that everlasting Broadway magic.

Stream Hadestown, the Tony Award-winning best musical of 2019, below.

 

Our Streaming Data Suggests Who Might Take Home a 2019 BRIT Award

February 15, 2019

The BRIT Awards 2019, the British Phonographic Industry’s annual celebration honoring the best in British and International music, takes place just a few days from now on February 20. Who will walk away as the big winners of the night? We’re taking this opportunity to speculate, based on Spotify streaming data.

Although the BRITs have three categories for international artists, most are dedicated to British singers and groups. Our guesses at the winners are based solely on which artists racked up the most streams from our UK listeners in 2018. So, without further ado, drumroll, please:

British Male Solo Artist:

George Ezra, 257 million streams in the UK in 2018

Fun fact: Both of George’s studio albums topped the charts in the UK, and also cracked the top ten in several other countries.

British Female Solo Artist:

Jess Glynne, 212 million streams in the UK in 2018

Fun fact: Jess is the first British female singer to have seven singles hit the number-one spot on the UK charts.

British Group:

Arctic Monkeys, (pictured above), 285 million streams in the UK in 2018

Fun fact: Arctic Monkeys’ 2006 album, Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not, was the fastest-selling album in British music history.

Mastercard British Album of the Year:

George Ezra, Staying at Tamara’s, 189 million streams in the UK in 2018

Fun fact: The second single from this album, “Shotgun,” topped the charts in the UK, Ireland, and Australia.

International Male Solo Artist:

Drake, 821 million streams in the UK in 2018

Fun fact: Nearly one million Londoners listen to Drake on Spotify each month, second only to Angelenos (just over one million).

International Solo Artist:

Ariana Grande, 356 million streams in the UK in 2018

Fun fact: Ariana’s single “thank u, next” clocked more than 376 million worldwide streams on Spotify in just the last eight weeks of 2018.

International Group:

Twenty One Pilots, 108 million streams in the UK in 2018

Fun fact: In 2016, Twenty One Pilots became only the third rock act to have two songs in Billboard’s top five at the same time. The previous two: The Beatles and Elvis Presley.

Don’t forget to tune in to see if our predictions—and UK streamers—were spot on.

Get excited for the big show in London with our exclusive BRIT Awards 2019: The Nominees playlist, teeming with hits from Rita Ora, Ella Mai, Jorja Smith, Travis Scott, and many more.