Tag: brazil

4 New Partnerships Bringing Spotify Premium Across the Globe

November 21, 2019

248 million users. 79 markets. One incredible Premium experience. Our goal is to make sure Spotify Premium is available wherever our listeners are. That’s why we’re always teaming up with new partners to enable more users to discover Spotify Premium and enjoy the music and podcasts they love. Just in time for the holidays, today we’re sharing four new ways our fans around the world can enjoy Spotify Premium—and get even more out of it.

“These partnerships will make it even easier for users to experience Spotify Premium and access music and podcasts anytime and on any device,” says Marc Hazan, VP of Premium Partnerships. “We’re committed to working with world-class partners to provide users with innovative offers and the best experience and value.”

Ready to learn more? Here are four new ways users around the globe can access Spotify Premium:*

U.S. and U.K. Users: Stay in the Game with Xbox and Spotify

Gamers know that it’s often the music that makes the experience what it is. So as part of a special holiday campaign, we’re deepening our partnership with Xbox by offering eligible U.S. and U.K. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members a free six-month trial of Spotify Premium. That’s right— you can stay in the game while playing Spotify in the background, as well as control playback with Spotify Connect. Get all the details on this time-limited offer by visiting Xbox. 

French users: Enjoy Spotify en français with Bouygues Telecom

Spotify + Bouygues Telecom on one bill = c’est magique. In France, Spotify and Bouygues Telecom are offering a free six-month trial of Spotify Premium for customers on Bouygues Telecom broadband and eligible mobile plans. And Bouygues Telecom customers on mobile tariffs >1 GB data allowance can add Spotify Premium to their existing mobile plan while paying one convenient bill. Bouygues Telecom’s 4G service covers 99% of the French population and was named the number one operator in rural areas by Arcep, the French telecoms regulator, in 2018, so you know you’re in good hands.

Brazilian users: Get technical with service app Magalu Conecta

Our offer in Brazil is in partnership with Magazine Luiza (“Magalu”), one of the country’s top retailers, and their service app Magalu Conecta. The Magalu Conecta app provides services and benefits including technical support, cloud storage, phone protection and free exclusive Wi-Fi hotspots. As part of our partnership, we’re offering Magalu Conecta customers a free four-month trial of Spotify Premium. 

Australian users: Listen through one of Australia’s largest mobile networks, Vodafone

In Australia, we’re once again joining forces with Vodafone to offer our users there even more value. Eligible Vodafone customers can now receive a free 30-day trial of Spotify Premium when Spotify Premium is added to their existing mobile plan—and pay one convenient bill.

No matter where you are or what you’re listening to, get it on-demand and on-the-go with Spotify Premium. Click here to learn about how to give the gift of Spotify and other holiday offers available through Spotify Premium.

*Trials are subject to Spotify trial eligibility

Your Daily Podcasts Playlist Makes Finding Your Next Favorite Show Easier Than Ever

November 19, 2019

You’ve just binged your favorite podcast and you’re finally caught up. But now you have to wait an entire week until the next episode. Now what? With so many great podcasts on Spotify, it can be hard to know what to listen to next. Thanks to our latest personalized playlist, it’s now easier than ever. 

Spotify transformed music discovery with playlists like Discover Weekly and Daily Mix. Now we’ve created Your Daily Podcasts—our first daily personalized podcast playlist that gives users an easy way to discover new shows while also keeping up with old favorites. If you’ve listened to at least four podcasts in the past 90 days, you’ll find the playlist in the “Your Top Podcasts” shelf on Home or in the “Made For You” hub on browse.

Here’s how Your Daily Podcasts works:

  1. Spotify’s algorithms analyze your podcast behavior—like recent streams and follows.
  2. Then, based on your listening history and the podcast type, we’ll recommend the next best episodes for you.
  3. That might be the next sequential episode in a podcast you’re already listening to (think Dog Tales and How’s Work with Esther Perel), a recent stand-alone evergreen episode in another show (maybe Amy Schumer Presents: 3 Girls 1 Keith or Certified Buckets), or a timely episode from a daily updating podcast (like Horoscope Today or The Journal).  
  4. Don’t worry—no spoilers here! If you’ve never listened to a story-driven sequential show we think you’d like, you’ll get the trailer or pilot episode first—to see if it catches your eye (er, ear).

Free and Premium users in the U.S., U.K., Germany, Sweden, Mexico, Brazil, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand can check out their Your Daily Podcasts playlist, now available on Spotify.

First Tracks Drop from Escuta as Minas, Spotify’s Brazil-Based Recording Studio for Female Artists

October 2, 2019

A side street in São Paulo, Brazil, has seen some noisy neighbors move in—the very best kind. That’s because rising female artists have begun to record new songs in Casa de Música – Escuta as Minas (House of Music – Listen to Women), a Spotify-created safe space for women to write, record, and produce music. The house welcomed its first artists, including Bibi Caetano, The Mönic, Souto MC, and Luana Marques.

Through the Equalizer Project and other initiatives, Spotify has been leading a sustained effort to elevate women in the recording industry. Escuta as Minas is the latest example, with the house opened to shine a light on—and help correct—the longstanding gender imbalance in the music industry. Currently, only 21% of artists are women, and only 2% of producers are female.

In addition to being a recording space with an all-female crew, Escuta as Minas allocates resources for other aspects of the music industry, such as workshops on uploading and optimizing content on Spotify, and assistance with photo shoots. The house will continue welcoming female artists and producers through the end of 2019.

Check out the first songs from Spotify’s special São Paulo studio.

 Souto MC “Ressurreição”

Luana Marques “Gastando Choro Novo”

Ni Munhoz “Loba da Mata” 

The Mönic “Frágil”

Barbara Amorim “Verdade” 

LUDI “Filho” 

Samantha Machado “O Que Voce E”

Want to explore more? Stream the official Escuta as Minas playlist.

Pop Star Pabllo Vittar Gives Voice to Brazil’s LGBTQ Community

January 23, 2019

On Saturday evening in early November, 10,000 Brazilians gathered at the Hopi Hari amusement park just outside São Paulo and held their lighters aloft. It was Pride Day, and the celebrants were there to see Pabllo Vittar, one of the country’s biggest pop stars and the most famous member of its LGBTQ+ community. Amidst cheers from her fans, whom she lovingly refers to as Vittarlovers, she commanded the stage, powering through her anti-bullying anthem “Indestrutível.” The song is a paean to resilience, a tribute to Vittar’s own well-known struggle against homophobic harassment as a teen.

Onstage at Hopi Hari, Vittar stood a regal six feet, one inch in flats, her long blonde hair slicked back behind her ears; she looked like a video game character who comes in peace, but will defend herself if the situation calls for it. “If I receive pain, I give you my love,” she sang to the audience, who mouthed every word. “And the more pain I get, the more I realize that I am indestructible.” The ballad concluded as Vittar raised her fist, leading her Vittarlovers in a familiar chant: “Eu resisto, Eu resisto.” I resist. I resist.

A Voice for Brazil’s LGBTQ Community

Vittar welcomes me with a hug. She is friendly and engaging—laughing easily and often. She is one week into the tour in support of her second LP and wants to talk about the positives.

“I feel great!” she says as we begin our conversation. “I feel full of energy. We have a whole new show, new album. It’s like I’m giving birth. I’m euphoric!”

Spotify Celebrates the Brazilian Fight for Equality with Escuta as Minas (Listen to Women)

October 16, 2018

Brazilian women are no strangers to the protest song. From Elis Regina’s 1970s cryptic opposition to class inequality in “Arrastão” to Valesca’s 2012 LGBTQ equality and female sexuality anthem “Sou Gay,” the movements of the nation are echoed in its music. Today, the Brazilian Women’s Movement is stronger than ever—and its followers continue to proudly raise their voices against workplace harassment, gender violence, income inequality and, now, their places in the music world.

Spotify creates initiatives to increase diversity and amplify female voices all over the world, from Equalizer in Sweden to Sound Up Bootcamp for women of color in the U.S., UK, and Australia. Now, we’re inspiring our Brazilian audiences to get on board. By joining with several talented Brazilian female artists, we’re turning up their volume and creating an important initiative for lovers of Brazilian music: Escuta as Minas (Listen to Women).

“In every generation in Brazil, women have persevered,” says Gabriela Lancellotti, Spotify Head of Consumer Marketing for Brazil. “Despite hardship and setbacks, we put our best foot forward and sing through the pain. ‘Escuta as Minas’ is an opportunity to recognize that idea while empowering the young people listening to continue to work for full equality in music and in everything we do.”

Statistics show that the music world both in Brazil and globally continues to be male dominated. A study by the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative revealed that 2017 marked a six-year low for female artists in popular content, with women comprising only 16.8 percent of artists. Out of the study’s 651 producers, just 2 percent were female. And of the 899 individuals who were nominated for a Grammy Award between 2013 and 2018, only 9.3 percent were women.

That’s why our campaign, featuring an original song, music video, and documentary, highlights a diverse group of 11 inspirational female Brazilian artists who span the ages—along with their songs, stories, and messages. Our mix includes Cássia Eller, a ’90s Brazilian rock icon, Karol Conká, a contemporary feminist rapper who is breaking barriers and fighting stereotypes, and other established and rising Brazilian stars—Elza Soares,Maiara & Maraisa, MULAMBA, and Mart’nália. Plus, three chosen artists depict female Brazilian music idols from the past: As Bahias e a Cozinha Mineira, Tiê, and Lan Lanh as Chiquinha Gonzaga (1847-1935), Maysa (1936-1977) and Cassia Eller (1962-2001), respectively.

The project was created in a joint effort with the media agency CUBOCC and production company A9 out of existing lyrics from decades of influential female Brazilians who fought for their own space in the world. Inspiring words that symbolize the ongoing fight that has spanned generations include:

“Ó abre alas que eu quero passer.” – “Oh make way, I want to go through.”

“O meu país é meu lugar de fala.” – “My country is my place of speech.”

“Seja o que tiver que ser, seja o que quiser.” – “Be what you need to be, be what you want to be.”

We’ve created a short film about the ongoing quest for women’s equality. At the core of the film is a music video for the original song, which will premiere in theaters, on Smartv, and on the internet in Brazil, as well as live on the Escuta as Minas site (along with English subtitles). The video depicts each artist as a woman from a particular time period to represent the idea that the struggle to be heard is something of many generations.

Want to learn more? Each singer is also featured in a mini documentary on our Escuta as Minas hub in which they share testimonials about their careers, visions, opinions of feminism, and experiences in the industry.

As the film says, “The fight goes on: For more women in music, for more women being heard.”

Straight Out of the Favela: Brazilian Funk

May 30, 2018

If you haven’t heard of Brazilian funk (or Baile Funk) yet, you will soon. Pumping hard from the heart of Rio de Janeiro, the genre derived from Miami bass and gangsta rap is blowing up across the world. With its infectious looping tamborzão rhythms and raw party anthem lyrics, Brazilian funk is twerking its way to the top of the charts. (After all, twerking is basically the unofficial dance of the genre.) And a rising new generation of funkeiros—Anitta, MC Kevinho, MC Fioti, and Ludmilla among them—are fueling the movement.

Brazilian funk star Anitta (née Larissa de Macedo Machado), who became a breakout sensation after singing in her home city of Rio at the 2016 Olympic Games, is catapulting the Miami bass and gangsta rap-rooted Afro-Brazilian genre into the global spotlight on Spotify.

Last December, just 12 hours after releasing “Vai Malandra” (feat. Tropkillaz & DJ Yuri Martins), the silky-voiced singer laid claim to the first Portuguese-language song to land on Spotify’s Global Top 50 chart.

“It’s a great time for Brazilian funk music because we have some great artists investing in it and producing great hits with funk beats,” Anitta said. “Tropkillaz, Major Lazer, me and many other artists are helping making this moment even hotter. A good example is MC Fioti’s song, “Bum Bum Tam Tam,” that exploded on Spotify. He even made a collab with J Balvin after that. It makes me really happy to see funk getting recognition worldwide.”

Empowered by the unparalleled freedom and exponential reach of digital music online, outspoken female Brazilian carioca artists like Anitta—along with protest rapper Karol Conka, feminist icon Valesca Popozuda, 18-year-old São Paulo prodigy MC Rita, and a growing wave of trailblazers like them—have been leading the way toward globalizing the genre. Anitta joins an eclectic cadre of bold voices including Ludmilla, MC Loma e As Gêmeas Lacração—and the list goes on.

“Seeing the explosion of Brazilian baile funk gives me the feeling that we are doing our role well as a label and in media, but at the same time it proves that this is the tip of the iceberg, which can be much larger and explore other territories,” says Brazilian music video director and producer Kondzilla. “Baile Funk as a genre is lively and contagious. The music industry is already watching.”

See for yourself just how quickly this viral music genre has spread like wildfire across the world from 2016 to 2018.

Music experts around the world are being wowed by this growth. “Brazilian funk is a true world phenomenon,” said Roberta Pate, Spotify’s Artists & Label Services Manager for Latin America and US Latin Markets. “In the last two years, the genre has broken the barriers and boundaries of Rio de Janeiro’s favelas, and Brazil, to win the world. It’s now one of the most heard genres in Europe, North America and Central America.”

One Funk producer can release up to 100 original songs per month, and with every bass-bumpin’ beat streamed, the democratizing power of the Internet rapidly catalyzed the spread of already speedily produced funk far beyond Brazil’s favelas and onto a worldwide stage.

“Spotify and the Internet are great instruments for spreading good music around,” said Anitta. “It’s powerful, simple and fast, and it makes things easier for different artists to show their songs with Spotify.”

“The great partner of artists like Anitta, MC Kevinho, MC Fióti and Ludmilla, is the Internet, more precisely Spotify and music streaming services, which allowed this phenomenon to expand outside Brazil,” Pate said. “Proof of this success away from home and its internationalization, funk has a playlist focused on international users on Spotify, called Mother Funk.”

“Mother Funk,” the Brazilian funk-filled Spotify playlist, tells the history of funk, with greatest hits from the 80’s until today. It’s especially popular in the United States, Portugal, Argentina, Paraguay and Mexico. To hear what all the buzz is about—top songs from Anitta, Dani Russo, MC Kevinho and DJ Malboro included—check it out here.