Tag: blanco

RADAR Italia Returns With 6 Artists Who Are Changing the Face of Italian Pop

April 12, 2023

Since its launch in 2020, RADAR has served as Spotify’s program to showcase emerging artists from all around the world, supporting them and taking their talents to the global musical stage. 

Now, we’re launching our third edition of RADAR Italia, featuring Assurditè, Asteria, Camilla Magli, Icy Subzero, Naska, and piazzabologna.

These six artists reflect the kaleidoscope of new pop sounds taking Italy by storm. And as part of the program, they will all receive Spotify support in the form of a dedicated playlist, special editorial placement, and personalized marketing plan.

In the previous editions of the program, 24 artists significantly increased their audiences, and many found new fans from other parts of the globe. 

  • Rhove was the first Italian artist to be named one of Spotify’s RADAR Global artists, reflecting the worldwide potential of Italian music. He saw his daily Spotify listens increase by 775% globally following his RADAR participation, and his hit single “Shakerando“ caught fire last year, becoming Spotify’s second-most-streamed song in Italy in 2022.
  • BLANCO has seen his career hit new heights since taking part in RADAR Italia. In 2022, he partnered with Mahmood on the Sanremo-winning track “Brividi,” which conquered the record for the most-listened-to song in a single day in Italy in the history of Spotify. And globally, he’s seen his Spotify streams grow by 3,000%.
  • ARIETE rode the wave of her RADAR momentum in 2022, increasing her worldwide followers by 560% and her number of global Spotify streams by 160%.

Our latest rising stars showcase the innovation and experimentation coming from the world of Italian pop as well. 

“Spotify has always aimed to capture the ways that music and culture are constantly evolving in our different markets,” said Melanie Parejo, Spotify Head of Music for Southern Europe. “One thing we’ve noticed are more fluid styles that can’t be easily categorized. The six artists selected for the 2023 edition of RADAR Italia fully represent this phenomenon, with a pop sound that’s varied and inclusive of many genres.”

Get to know the six artists participating in the 2023 edition of RADAR Italia. 

Icy Subzero 

Born in Rome, Icy Subzero (aka Matteo D’Alessio) is a young and promising artist who is infusing Italian pop with a dose of rap. After first releasing a string of singles between 2019 and 2020, Icy Subzero upped the ante with his 2022 EP, Sottozero. Featuring tracks like “EGO” and “MUJER,” which were certified Gold and Platinum in Italy, respectively, the album gave the Italian rapper his first taste of fame.

Naska 

When it comes to Italian pop’s punk influences, Naska (aka Diego Caterbetti) is a shining example of this new trend. As soon as he finished high school, he moved to Milan to focus on his musical journey. Growing up with the pop-punk hits of Blink 182 and Sum 41, he later became passionate about the American emo trap scene led by Lil Peep.

Assurditè

Chiara Balzan (aka Assurditè) is a singer-songwriter from the Milanese hinterland. Capable of transporting us into a colorful, sparkling, and ironic world, ​​Assurditè blends indie with R&B, and delicacy with coolness.

Asteria

Asteria (aka Anita Ferrari) is a 23-year-old Bergamo native. With lyrics that reflect the constantly changing and chaotic circumstances of modern society, this singer-songwriter takes us on a journey through her mysterious and nocturnal soundscapes.

Camilla Magli

Born and raised in Carovigno (BR), this Italian singer-songwriter first appeared on Italy’s version of X Factor in 2014. Since this appearance, she’s further developed her sound, combining poetic and introspective songwriting with melodic and dreamlike atmospheres.

piazzabologna

While the project may appear to be helmed by a single person, piazzabologna is actually a collective made up of several vocalists and instrumentalists. Their songs represent the natural evolution of Italian indie with an eye constantly fixed on Italy’s pop canon. This trait is exemplified by their single “Per sentirsi meno soli.”

Like what you heard? Discover the artists who are reinventing Italian pop on our playlist RADAR Italia.

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.