Tag: Ed Maverick

Spotify Listeners are Discovering Music from Around the World

December 18, 2019

Every day, Spotify users discover a song, artist, or genre from outside their home countries.  Whether that’s through their Discover Weekly, a friend’s recommendation, or another Spotify-curated playlist, folks are stepping outside of their comfort zones to get to know artists from a different place. These songs and artists can take listeners to another world—metaphorically. Music is a great connector that allows us to understand and experience a life or culture beyond our own.

We’ve found that over 60% of Spotify users discovered an artist from a country outside their own within the last 28 days. So just imagine what they’ve uncovered over the course of a few months, or even the year. That’s a world of travel and learning—sans passport. 

On For the Record this year, we’ve also explored artists and genres from around the world, taking note of the songs and styles that have crossed borders. Hear from some of the artists, musicians, and experts we spoke to below.

The Viral Mexican Artist Making Music Worth Crying Over

Ed Maverick, who comes from the northern state of Chihuahua, Mexico, didn’t grow up in a musical family but learned to play guitar by watching videos and playing in norteño groups—(norteño is a genre of music popular in the region he comes from)—throughout middle school. His style evolved through playing covers of songs by his favorite bands, such as those by Mexican indie rockers Little Jesus. But neither style of music suited what he wanted to do, so he decided to strike out on his own; he eventually started composing his own songs. “I felt the need to release what was going on in my mind,” he said.

Indigenous Australian Rapper Briggs Shares Message of Triumph through Music

“Shepparton has the largest indigenous population in Victoria outside of Melbourne. It also has the largest indigenous population in Victoria per capita. So there was always a presence, and it was always just a part of us and what we did and still do. We just operated as artists and rappers. You don’t really realize how different you are until it’s presented to you.” – Briggs

Santiago, Chile: Spotify’s Streaming Capital of Reggaetón

“What we are seeing with reggaetón in Chile is a great testimony to the absolute powerhouse that is Latin America when it comes to building and delivering audiences for Latin artists,” said Mia Nygren, Managing Director for Spotify in Latin America.

Meet Rich Brian, the Indonesian Rapper Performing at Spotify On Stage Jakarta

“A lot of things influence my sound, from listening to traditional Indonesian music to the stuff I listened to while spending full days on the internet making videos. Living internationally definitely influenced my attitude towards everything positively. I’m very grateful for everything that I have now, and things just never get old for me—each new experience feels like a blessing.” – Rich Brian

Charting the Meteoric Rise of South Africa’s AmaPiano

“I was fortunate to see the impact of kwaito music and what it meant for the then-young democracy that South Africa was. It became the voice of local youth to push for systematic change and fight the exclusion of the marginalized. I can’t help but think that AmaPiano is doing just that so far for this generation of young South Africans, and I can’t wait to see how many more boundaries it’ll break.” – Da Kruk

How Americana Troubadour Garrett T. Capps Went Worldwide

The European market has been turned on to Capps’s quirky brand of country too. “According to my statistics on Spotify, it seems like a lot of people in the Netherlands and Spain are discovering my music through the program,” he says. “And I’m excited to keep writing and finding ways to reach audiences.” – Garrett T. Capps

Lukas Graham Becomes First Danish Artist to Hit 1 Billion Streams for a Single Song

“I’m not sure if it’s too much to call ourselves the Arctic Monkeys of Spotify. I feel like our international breakthrough came about because of Spotify—the way streams in the Nordics and Germany pushed an unknown act into the global top 50 with a song that wasn’t available outside of the Nordics and GSA. It was a trippy ride, and luckily we’ve landed on the other side without losing our minds.” – Lukas Graham

Meet Tones and I, the Australian Ex-Busker Who Achieved a Global Hit Thanks to Streaming

In the span of just a year, Toni Watson has leapfrogged from working retail to busking full time to topping the charts in almost a dozen countries—including her native Australia. That’s all thanks to “Dance Monkey,” the viral smash that was the second-ever single for the artist best known as Tones And I.

Colter Wall Honors His Western Roots on Songs of the Plains

Nobody ever needed to explain western wear to Wall, who was raised in Swift Current, Saskatchewan, Canada. “It’s predominantly cattle country,” he shares. “My last full-time gig I had before I started playing music for a living was working cows with my cousin on a thousand-head cattle ranch.”

How Spotify Helped Cigarettes After Sex Amass an International Audience

Since the release of Cry, Cigarettes After Sex’s momentum has continued to snowball; the band is now closing in on 4.5 million monthly listeners on Spotify. They’re also continuing to find success in new territories. Within a month of Spotify’s February 2019 launch in India, the country leapt into Cigarettes After Sex’s top ten markets. This popularity translated offline: In May, when the band announced two late-July Mumbai shows via a local promoter’s mailing list, they drew 30,000 sign-ups within just a few hours, causing the list to shut down.

Take a listen to Spotify’s Global Top 50 for the songs rocking the international charts.

 

El artista viral mexicano que hace que valga la pena llorar por su música

May 23, 2019

¿Cómo luce el éxito viral para la generación de nativos digitales? En México, el cantante y compositor Ed Maverick ofrece el ejemplo perfecto, ya que en menos de un año el guitarrista de 18 años, cuyo nombre real es Eduardo Saucedo, ha pasado de tener 5,000 streams en Spotify a más de 450,000 diarios. Su álbum de “bedroom-pop” acústico titulado “mix pa llorar en tu cuarto” y su canción “Fuentes de Ortiz”, han aparecido en varias playlists de Latinoamérica.

“Fuentes de Ortiz” aterrizó primero en Mexico Viral 50 y, desde allí, la canción obtuvo un lugar en la playlist Distrito Indie de Spotify antes de llegar a las listas de reproducción de La + Chingona y Éxitos México. Esta semana su sencillo Fuentes de Ortiz entró con fuerza al Top 50 de México.

Típicamente compuesta con poco más que una guitarra, cada canción del mix pa llorar en tu cuarto es un crudo retrato de la incertidumbre y la inseguridad del amor joven. Escuchar sus canciones dan la sensación de leer el diario de alguien, resulta imposible evitar identificarse con sus vulnerables y desgarradores tracks. En un sonoro barítono, Saucedo expresa sus sentimientos a través de letras sencillas y accesibles que se mezclan en el lenguaje cotidiano, reflejando cómo los jóvenes mexicanos hablan realmente.

“Karpe Diem”, una de las primeras canciones que escribió, describe su experiencia al superar un amor. Al discutir la canción con For The Record, Saucedo dijo que probablemente sea la canción más cercana a su corazón, ya que representa el comienzo de su transición de problemas de niños a problemas de adultos. De hecho, muchas de sus canciones provienen de sus propias experiencias, particularmente con ex novias, aunque evade vincularlas a un momento específico.

Saucedo, quien nació en Chihuahua, no creció en una familia de músicos, sino que aprendió a tocar la guitarra viendo videos y tocando norteño, género musical popular en su tierra. Su estilo evolucionó mientras tocaba covers de canciones de sus bandas favoritas, como las de los rockeros indie mexicanos Little Jesus. Pero ninguno de los estilos de música se ajustaba a lo que quería hacer, así que decidió lanzarse por su cuenta y, finalmente, comenzó a componer sus propias canciones. “Sentí la necesidad de liberar lo que estaba pasando en mi mente”, dijo.

Y quizás éste es el secreto de la fácil intimidad de sus letras: trabaja siguiendo su intuición y se deja llevar, en lugar de forzar las cosas. Incluso cuando Saucedo comienza a escribir una canción, le gusta ver cómo se siente, ya sea bueno o malo, y ver “lo que llega”. Finalmente, lo que espera es que la gente que escucha sus canciones pueda al menos “sentir algo”. Y tal vez se den cuenta de que no son los únicos pasando por la dificultad de ser adolescentes. “Es por eso que hago música, de verdad”, dijo.

Saucedo se mudó recientemente a la Ciudad de México, donde su hermana actúa como su manager. Navega por su repentino ascenso a la fama, asegurándose de mantener contacto con sus amigos, así como con sus fans, muchos de los cuales son de su edad o más jóvenes. En abril realizó una firma de autógrafos en el sur de la ciudad, en donde se concentran muchos estudiantes universitarios. Cuando llegó, más de 1.000 personas lo esperaban, algunos de ellos habían estado allí desde las 8 de la mañana. Afortunadamente, estos se mostraron con mucho ánimo mientras se presentaba ante la multitud y cantaron junto con él. Después, firmó todo, desde copias de su álbum hasta zapatos y un ukelele.

En este momento, sus influencias incluyen a otro cantante de rock indie mexicano,  Dromedarios Mágicos, que también proviene de Chihuahua. Le gusta escuchar a bandas como King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, The Walters y Señor Kino. Y como continuación de su álbum, lanzó “Ropa de Bazaar con Jenny Juárez de Bratty, una canción acústica con un tinte folclórico sobre una pareja de jóvenes que escapan juntos. “Vámonos de aquí”, cantan los dos mientras Saucedo toca la guitarra. “Vamos a dejar nuestra ciudad, comprarnos ropa de bazar. No importa todo lo demás”.

Si bien en algún momento pensó convertirse en diseñador gráfico, en este momento Saucedo está feliz de continuar su carrera musical. No tiene un récord específico en mente, pero para un futuro cercano, le gustaría ir a “algún lugar muy lejos”, componer durante unos meses y producir algo diferente a su primer álbum, tanto lírico como musicalmente, simplemente aún no sabe exactamente qué.

Escucha el álbum de Ed Maverick, mix pa llorar en tu cuarto, o para una intimidad acústica adicional, escucha la versión en vivo de su último single, “Ropa de Bazaar”.

The Viral Mexican Artist Making Music Worth Crying Over

May 23, 2019

What does viral success look like for the internet generation? In Mexico, singer-songwriter Ed Maverick offers a prime example. In less than one year, the 18-year-old guitarist, whose real name is Eduardo Saucedo, has gone from having 1,000 daily streams on Spotify to over 98,000, thanks to his nine-track album of acoustic bedroom-pop titled “mix pa llorar en tu cuarto” (a mixtape to cry to in your bedroom) and a fateful spotting by one of our editors of his track “Fuentes de Ortiz” on the Mexico Viral 50 playlist. One listen to that track, and it’s easy to see why it was included on Spotify’s Distrito Indie playlist before eventually making its way to the flagship  La + Chingona and Éxitos México playlists.

Typically armed with little more than a guitar, each song on “mix pa llorar en tu cuarto” is a raw portrayal of the uncertainty and insecurity of young love. The audio equivalent of reading someone’s diary, the tracks are vulnerable and heartbreakingly relatable. In a rich baritone, Saucedo expresses his feelings through simple, approachable lyrics that mix in everyday Mexican slang, reflecting how people actually communicate.

“Karpe Diem,” one of the first songs he wrote, describes his experience in getting over someone. In discussing the song with For the Record Saucedo said it’s probably the song closest to his heart, as it represents the start of his transition to “adult problems, not kid problems anymore.” Indeed, many of his songs come from his own experiences, particularly with ex-girlfriends, although he evades linking them to a specific moment.

Saucedo, who comes from the northern state of Chihuahua, Mexico, didn’t grow up in a musical family, but learned to play guitar by watching videos and playing in norteño—a genre of music popular in the region he comes from—groups throughout middle school. His style evolved through playing covers of songs by his favorite bands, such as those by Mexican indie rockers Little Jesus. But neither style of music suited what he wanted to do, so he decided to strike out on his own and eventually started composing his own songs. “I felt the need to release what was going on in my mind,” he said.

And perhaps this is the secret to the easy intimacy of his lyrics: He works by following his intuition and going with the flow, as opposed to forcing things. Even when Saucedo starts to write a song, he likes to see how he’s feeling—whether it’s good or bad—and to see “what arrives.” Ultimately, what he’s hoping for is that people listening to his songs can at least “feel something”—and perhaps realize they’re not the only ones going through the difficulty of being a teenager. “That’s why I make music, really,” he said.

Saucedo recently moved to Mexico City, where his sister acts as his manager. He’s navigating his sudden rise to fame by making sure he stays in touch with his friends from back home, as well as his fans, many of whom are his age or younger. In April, he held an autograph signing session in the city’s south, where a lot of university students live. When he arrived, over 1,000 people were waiting for him, and some of them had been there since 8am that morning. Luckily, their spirits were kept high as he performed for the crowd, and they sang along with him. Afterwards, he signed everything from copies of his album to sneakers and a ukulele.  

Right now, his influences include another Mexican indie rock singer, Dromedarios Mágicos, who also comes from Chihuahua. He enjoys listening to bands like King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, The Walters and Señor Kino. And already, as a follow-up to his album, he’s released “Ropa de Bazaar” featuring Jenny Juárez of the Sonora-based lo-fi pop act Bratty, a folk-tinged acoustic song about a young couple escaping together. “Let’s go far away from here,” the two sing as Saucedo strums his guitar. “Accompany me and I’ll take care of you, through the drunken crazy times and all the rest.”

While at one point he harbored thoughts of being a graphic designer, right now Saucedo is happy with continuing his music career. He doesn’t have a specific milestone in mind, but for the near future he’d like to head “somewhere very far” and compose for a few months, and produce something different to his first album, both lyrically and musically—he just doesn’t know exactly what yet.

Listen to the whole album by Ed Maverick, mix pa llorar en tu cuarto, or for extra acoustic intimacy, hear the live version of his latest single, “Ropa de Bazaar.”