Tag: Barbara Pravi

Spotify France and shesaid.so Partner To Create Online Directory of Women, Trans, and Nonbinary Music Professionals

May 27, 2022

Spotify has been taking steps to increase the number of women and nonbinary individuals in the music industry for years. From our Equalizer project in the Nordics to our collaborative study with USC Annenberg in the U.S. and our EQUAL program elevating talented women musicians around the world, there’s no shortage of initiatives aimed at creating better gender equity in the industry. But it’s not enough, and much more still must be done. 

Yesterday, at the Nuits Sonores in Lyon, France, Spotify and shesaid.so announced Majeur.e.s., the first inclusive online directory of professional women, trans, and nonbinary individuals within the music industry in France. This directory aims to accelerate change in a music industry that is still deeply unequal.

“As the leading streaming platform, we have a responsibility and a role to play in order to build a more egalitarian music industry,” says Julie Beherec, Artist and Label Partnerships Manager at Spotify France. “Beyond the support we give to women artists through our EQUAL program, we deemed it necessary and in fact urgent to give more space to women and minorities within the music industry by making their profiles more visible when they’re so often overlooked. Which is why we’re extremely proud to support this initiative by helping create and develop the Majeur.e.s. Directory.” 

The site majeures.org functions as a database that will allow professionals within the music industry to find and hire experienced individuals. With this inclusive online directory of women, trans, and nonbinary music professionals in France, there’s a streamlined, clear way to find the technician any production needs. This complimentary tool comes a year after the launch of the EQUAL program in France and numerous other countries around the world, and as Spotify France tackles gender discrimination in collaboration with shesaid.so and other NGOs locally. 

“The music industry is in constant evolution, and it’s of the utmost importance that we accompany its actors with the adequate tools,” says Claire Morel, President of shesaid.so France. “It’s majeures.org’s role. Majeur.e.s. is truly an accelerator of equality.”

Check out majeures.org to find a directory of women, trans, and nonbinary music professionals. Then stream our EQUAL France playlist for a taste of the talent there. 

Eurovision Is Back. Spotify Has Everything You Need To Know

May 10, 2022

Playlist cover art for Eurovision 2022

Catchy ballads, wild performances, outrageous outfits—Eurovision, Europe’s biggest music event, has returned in all of its pop pageantry. Fans love to both prepare for and relive the music of the competition on Spotify: During last year’s competition, streams of Eurovision-related playlists on Spotify increased by 594%, and nearly 27 million minutes were streamed on the platform.

The streams don’t lie

Last year, Spotify data successfully predicted Måneskin’s win, with “ZITTI E BUONI” claiming a spot as the most-streamed Eurovision entry between March 2021 and May 2021. This May, it’s looking like Italy could produce another winner, with the host country’s entry, “Brividi” by Mahmood and BLANCO, generating five times as many streams as the next-most-popular entries: “Hold Me Closer” by Sweden’s Cornelia Jakobs and “De Deipte” by the Netherlands’ S10. 

“Brividi” is the top song in 28 out of 40 participating countries after you remove each market’s home entry. But in the history of Eurovision, only four other countries—Spain, Luxembourg, Israel, and Ireland—have won the competition twice in a row. 

Either way, Mahmood and BLANCO are holding onto hope: “Once you get here, you realize that everything that happened before is erased because you are in a different situation and in a new context with totally different circumstances, both from Sanremo and from everything that happened before. So actually, maybe it’s better not to think about it too much and enjoy the moment.”

Ukraine’s competition entry is also gaining traction on Spotify. “Stefania” by Ukrainian hip-hop trio KALUSH ranks as the top foreign entry in five of the Eurovision markets—second only to “Brividi” in this regard—and the track has seen over six million global streams on the platform. In a third of the Eurovision countries, “Stefania” is either number one or number two, excluding home entries, and ranks among the top 10 foreign Eurovision entries for every other participating country.

Eurovision’s star-making power

Eurovision may be just one week, but the competition serves as a career launchpad for many of its winners. Since Måneskin’s 2021 win, the Italian rock band has only continued its rise, and their track “Beggin’” recently entered the illustrious Billions Club. 

And it’s not just the fans in Italy propelling Måneskin to new heights. Their top five fan markets on Spotify comprise the United States, Italy, Brazil, Germany, and Mexico. When looking at Måneskin’s streams between January and March of 2022 and comparing it to the same period in 2021, the group has seen a massive 5,400% increase in international streams. 

Over the years, some Eurovision songs have been complete misses with fans, earning the dreaded distinction of being “nul points” entries. But this doesn’t automatically make these tracks failures, and many have gone on to achieve iconic status with fans on Spotify after the competition—such as James Newman’s “Embers” (performed by the U.K. 2021), which now has over 10 million streams on the platform. Ann Sophie’s “Black Smoke” 2015 entry for Germany has over four million streams, and Swedish singer Monica Zetterlund’s “En gång i Stockholm” from Eurovision 1963 now has over 1.5 million streams on the platform. 

Queuing up Eurovision 2022

For 2022, Spotify has launched the official Eurovision 2022 playlist and is celebrating the competition with a series of playlists curated by legendary Eurovision contestants and personalities from the past. The glittering list of contributors includes Jedward (The Sound of Ireland), Barbara Pravi (The Sound of France), Rosa Lopez (The Sound of Spain), Loreen (The Sound of Sweden), Duncan Laurence (The Sound of the Netherlands), KEiiNO (The Sound of Norway), Conchita Wurst (The Sound of Austria), Francesca Michielin (The Sound of Italy), and Eli Huli (The Sound of Israel), each of whom shines a spotlight on the music and culture of their respective nation. 

Et Voilà, Eurovision Runner-Up Barbara Pravi Is EQUAL Artist of the Month

June 30, 2021

French singer, writer, and actress Barbara Pravi isn’t afraid of a little competition. Earlier this year, she represented her country in the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest. The performer instantly captured the hearts of fans around the world and went on to place second in the competition for her song “Voilà.”

Barbara continues to inspire as this month’s featured artist in Spotify’s EQUAL Global Music Program, which aims to combat gender disparity in the music industry by amplifying and celebrating the work of women creators around the world.

Through our ongoing EQUAL campaign, we’re also extending resources and generating more opportunities for these artists by creating a global, cohesive, branded experience. As global artist of the month, Barbara will also be featured on the cover of our EQUAL Global playlist.

For the Record invited Barbara to turn up the volume and fill in the blanks on her process, inspiration, and advice for other women creators.

The artists who have most inspired me are ____.

Barbara, Jacques Brel, Charles Aznavour, and Nougaro, because they know how to perfectly manipulate words. They are poets and musicians! When I listen to them, I feel that words are as important as musicality. I also love and listen to a lot of classical music. More recently, I’ve been influenced by Nathy Peluso, Sufjan Stevens, and Maria Jose Llergo, among others. 

One piece of advice I’d give other women artists is ____.

Do not make any concessions. Listen to your intuition and your heart. Make the music you love to listen to.

I really think we have to be the first listeners of our music. The advantage of staying true to yourself is that at the end, you won’t have any regrets. If you make mistakes (and you will!) you will feel OK with it because they will be your mistakes. You will embrace them because you’ll learn from them and, in the end, you will be and feel better. In my opinion, the keys to being happy and proud are integrity, authenticity, self-confidence, and always having an open mind, ear, and heart.

One notable moment in my career so far is ____.

Until my first album comes out, it will be the night of Eurovision this year!

My creative process consists of ____. 

I have a million ways of making music. Sometimes I start with the words; other times, I have a melody in mind. Sometimes I have both, and sometimes neither. When that happens, I have to pick up a pencil and ask myself, “Ok, what do you want to say?”

I always try to be easy and gentle on myself and not be judgmental of my “creations,” whether they’re cool or bad. I don’t always have a handle on how they will turn out or how I’ll feel about them. 

One way I’d like to see greater gender equity in the music industry is ____.

The EQUAL Global Music Program is absolutely fabulous. I love the playlists—they allow me to discover women creators from all over the world. The radio and media have the power to elevate a song and make a person’s career. They should expose the world to more women. I really hope one day we’ll have more women at the head of labels and media, too. I’m so happy to be part of a generation of young women who are independent, proud, and who know that to exist, the best person you can count on is YOU. 

One up-and-coming woman artist I’m excited to watch is ____.

I love Silly Boy Blue, November Ultra, P.R2B, Saskia, and Kalika. They are all French women artists who are getting to be big!

My girl-power anthem is ____. 

Qui a décidé ce qu’est la femme? 

Un bouton de rose 

un brun de flamme

Aucun des deux 

ou bien tout à la fois

La femme, la femme, la femme.

Translation:

Who decides what a woman is?

A rosebud

A sparkling flame

Neither and both at once

Woman, woman, woman.

Keep celebrating Barbara and other women artists on Spotify’s EQUAL Global playlist below: