We opened our week at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in France the best way we know how: Spotlighting stellar musical performances and creating a magical atmosphere.
After a day spent at Spotify Beach, we hosted an opening night celebration at a beautiful private villa in the center of Cannes’ La Californie district. Upon arrival, guests including Paris Hilton, Matt Kaplan, AlexCooper, TrevorNoah, EmmaChamberlain, AmandaGorman, Pola Gomez, Josh Richards, Auli’li Cravalho, Ashlyn Harris, and more mingled over food and drink, and grooved along to selections from the DJ duo Collyer Twins.
Emma Chamberlain, host of anything goes with emma chamberlain has built her following on her unique voice and aesthetic. Her frank perspective goes a long way to establish trust and credibility with her listeners, and they keep coming back for more.
This master of branding and voice joined us at Spotify Beach during the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity for a session on building a brand, talking not only about her approach to the content she creates, but how she navigates partnerships, projects, and other ventures.
She was joined by CharlieSmith, Chief Marketing & Communications Officer, Loewe, and TajAlavi, VP, Global Head of Marketing, Spotify. The three shared their thoughts on engaging with Gen Z, how brands can find their voices, and Spotify’s playful new brand positioning. Here are four top tips for finding your voice, building a brand, and connecting with fans from Emma and Taj.
1. Bring out your personality—and maintain it—across all projects.
While it can be tempting to mimic what’s trending on the internet and create an elaborate strategy to gain popularity, genuine content creation is completely intuitive, says Emma. She doesn’t curate a persona or a personality, but simply follows her instincts as to what will perform. And then she doesn’t stop working until she’s made content she feels proud of.
Taj agrees. “Our audience knows and loves us for the things that make us uniquely Spotify, and staying true to our brand beliefs and principles in every collaboration, partnership, new product feature, and playlist is crucial,” she says. “As we evolve our platform to become more interactive and discoverable, we also prioritize creating content that’s intuitive and speaks to our community of creators and fans alike.”
When it comes to Spotify marketing, we focus on what makes our brand special to creators, artists and fans. Why? Whatever is happening in the world is unfolding, evolving, and remixing on Spotify too. “When you press play on Spotify, your listening experience enhances whatever is happening in your present moment,” notes Taj. “This is the basis of our new brand campaign which is starting to roll out this week across many markets around the world.”
2.Find a brand partner you really love
It can be tempting to partner with any brand who reaches out, especially if you’re just getting started. But both Emma and Spotify maintain credibility and identity by being just picky enough.
“There’s a freshness to our platform,” says Taj. “Spotify is a place where global culture is made, shared and celebrated by the world’s fans and creators. We look for brand partners and creators who share this passion for cultivating culture.”
“I look for a strong personal connection, a genuine love for the product,” Emma agrees. “For example, I have been using Spotify for all things audio since I was 15 years old, I have been using Canon cameras since the beginning of my video career, and have been wearing clothes from Aritzia and Levi’s for years.”
While she sometimes discovers a brand through a partnership—cosmetics brand Lancôme is a recent example—she always makes sure to test run their offerings before promoting them. “I started playing with their products immediately and have become a genuine fan that way.”
When it comes to Spotify, Taj notes that successful collaborations allow us to engage with communities in meaningful ways. When we work with creators to help them connect with and grow their audience, our top priority is to lift up and showcase their authentic voices. We also look for partners who help us build synergies and engage specific fan groups—from movies and shows like The Little Mermaid and The Last of Us to our integration with Strava.
3. Communicate, communicate, communicate
Balancing your own voice with that of a brand is tricky, and requires an “incredible amount of communication,” says Emma. “It is my number one priority to maintain my voice in a partnership, and I make it clear to the brands I work with that I need to be able to have creative input and creative freedom, while also promising to honor their creative vision for their channels.”
On the brand side, Taj agrees. Brands should prioritize flexibility in the moment to have a consistent and engaged presence and relationship. “Form the ability to pivot quickly and adapt to cultural conversations and new opportunities,” she recommends.
4. Grow together
“Transformation is the key to growth,” says Taj. She believes that radical experimentation can drive longterm brand outcomes—and that Spotify thrives thanks to our constant drumbeat of efforts and commitment to continuous evolution. Fostering an entrepreneurial spirit can, too. “You have to create a team and cross-functional environment where challenges become opportunities, and creativity drives growth,” she explains.
“I think the key to a successful partnership is a balance between the personality of the brand and the personality of the public figure,” Emma notes. While it can be frightening for both parties to hand over creative control, but in a quality partnership, finding this balance is crucial.
“Let the voice of the public figure provide a new dimension to your brand,” says Emma. “Let them bring a new brand perspective to the public, even when it feels like a risk. This is what makes these partnerships lucrative when they are successful.”
Next week, Spotify is returning to the South of France for the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity, where we’ll transform Spotify Beach into a hub of activity dawn ’til dusk as we celebrate a new way to play. And we’re bringing along some big-name friends to join in the fun.
Our special opening-night soiree will feature an intimate performance by Grammy Award-winning artist H.E.R.,as well as a DJ set from the unparalleled CollyerTwins.
We’ll be hosting daytime masterclasses and nighttime events beginning Monday, June 19, and continuing through Thursday, June 22, emphasizing our focus on creativity, connection, and innovation. Attendees can look forward to sessions featuring Spotify leaders and guests including AlexCooper, Issa Rae, EmmaChamberlain, and world-renowned football player CescFàbregas. Author and comedian TrevorNoah will join Spotify CEO and Cofounder Daniel Ek for a conversation on the future of storytelling. Throughout the day, catch DJ Toyin spinning sets.
Spotify Beach itself will feature several interactive experiences, like daily sound bath meditations,an immersive Songs of Summer soundscape, an FC Barcelona play zone, a “Sonic Sips” coffee-and-juice bar, a custom sunglasses gifting station, and much more.
Read on for a full list of the sessions on the ground, then check back next week here on For the Record for the full takeaway from our novel masterclasses.
Monday, June 19
Building a brand is more than meets the eye…and ear
Owning your craft takes dedication, consistency, and commitment—something Spotify’s TajAlavi, VP, Global Head of Marketing; Loewe’s CMO CharlieSmith; and Anything Goes creator Emma Chamberlainall know well. The trio will share their approaches to what they create; their style around partnerships and projects, brand building, and brand positioning; and how to engage the next generation of streamers.
Top hits and goal-scoring kicks: fandom, football, and media
We’re hosting a conversation between football legend CescFàbregas, award-winning football Freestyler PolaGomez, Samsung Europe CMO BenjaminBraun, and BradfordRoss, Coca-Cola’s VP Global Sports and Entertainment Marketing and Partnerships. They’ll dive into the obsessive fan culture surrounding sports and how brands tap into fandoms of all kinds.
Tuesday, June 20
The cutting edge of creativity and storytelling
Join DanielEk and TrevorNoah at Spotify Beach as they discuss the future of storytelling and the art of navigating different mediums to forge a deeper connection with worldwide audiences. They’ll offer insights on how creators can tell stories in more meaningful ways and effectively leverage new technologies in the ever-evolving media landscape.
The art of the interview
You don’t need to be an investigative reporter by trade to benefit from learning how to conduct a masterful interview. Things get meta as Spotify’s Chief Public Affairs Officer, DusteeJenkins, sits down with AlexCooper, Creator, Host, and Executive Producer of Call Her Daddy, to discuss the art of the interview. Learn how to craft the right questions, disarm your subject, and get straight to the heart of the matter.
Wednesday, June 21
Connecting to the sound of culture
Spotify’s Global Head of Artist Partnerships, JoeHadley; TyeComer, Creative Development and Founder of Spotify’s Outside Voice program; and Erin Styles, Global Head of Ads Business Communications & PR, will spotlight producer-actress-writer IssaRae; SVP of Marketing at Frito-Lay North America, Tina Mahal; and WACL President RaniaRobinson. They’ll discuss the importance of culture-shaping programs that support and amplify diverse voices. This comes as part of Spotfiy’s continued commitment to empowering creators and inspiring our audience to elevate underrepresented communities in their own work.
DJ Mixer
Turn it up with Spotify’s very own Xavier “X”Jernigan, Head of Cultural Partnerships and the voice of AI DJ. We’re rolling up the carpet for an afternoon mixer complete with games, cocktails, mingling, and—maybe—a surprise or two.
So bookmark For the Record, follow @SpotifyNews and @SpotifyAds on social media, and stay tuned for much more as we discover a new way to play.
“Stream On is about all the ways we are bringing Spotify to life and letting creators at all stages of their careers know that we are open for business,” Spotify Founder and CEO Daniel Ek said. “We are focused on building the best home for them—a place where they can establish a career, thrive, and grow, and where the world can be inspired by their creativity. And that’s what we’ve been doing for almost 17 years: building, improving, and reimagining this home to better meet creator needs and help them chart new pathways to success.”
From new app functionality to a holistic one-stop shop for podcasting to more opportunities for artists to engage with their fans, Stream On further cements our commitment to the creative community.
“As we look to the future, we are excited to expand that ambition to even more creators across new formats. We’re enabling more creativity, discovery, and personalization than ever before by providing the best resources, support, and interactivity,” Daniel said.
Helping fans discover creators and artists
We’ve unveiled one of the biggest evolutions since Spotify’s inception: a new, dynamic interface on mobile built for deeper discovery and more meaningful connections between artists and fans.
With this new experience, we’re giving fans an even more active role in the audio discovery process, and giving creators even more space to share their work. Powered by advanced recommendations, new visual canvases, and a completely new and interactive design, the new interface is making discovering new audio easier than ever before and helping introduce users to their next favorite artist, podcast, or book. It’s all about closing the distance between creators and fans—and setting the stage for long-term, lasting connections that reach beyond viral success.
The new Spotify will roll out in waves to our 500 million+ monthly active users beginning today. Here’s what to expect:
Music, podcast, and audiobook previews across Music, Podcasts & Shows, and Audiobooks feeds for listeners to sample before they play or save. We’re also bringing “shortcuts” to the top of listeners’ feeds—giving users easy access to some of their recent and favorite listens.
New feeds for discovery on Searchthat will allow users to quickly and easily explore personalized, short Canvas clips from tracks across some of your favorite genres. Users can easily save the song to a playlist, follow the artist, or share it with friends, all from one place. Looking for something else? Explore related genres using the hashtag within the feed, all with the goal of making discovery even easier.
We’re also bringing this feature to popular playlists like Discover Weekly, Release Radar, New Music Friday, and RapCaviar, inviting users to preview tracks on a playlist before diving in.
Just like with music, we’re now serving Autoplay for Podcasts—when a podcast ends, another episode that fits the user’s tastes and is relevant will automatically start playing.
Smart Shuffle, the easiest way to breathe new life into custom curated playlists with just the tap of a button.
“Spotify recommendations drive close to half of all users’ streams. And when listeners decide to follow a creator, they listen to, on average, five times more of their music,” said GustavSöderström, Spotify Co-President and Chief Product & Technology Officer. “That’s why discoveries on Spotify—unlike many other platforms—give creators so much more than just a fleeting moment of viral fame. Those meaningful, long-term connections are a key part of what makes Spotify a platform for professional and aspiring artists.”
Supporting artist success through streaming
We also unveiled our annual music royalties report, Loud & Clear. The 2023 update demonstrates that more and more artists are finding success than ever before: The number of artists generating $1M+, as well as those generating $10,000+, has more than doubled over the past five years. Additionally, we estimate that the 50,000th highest-earning artist on Spotify generated more than $50,000 across all recorded revenue sources.
Loud & Clear also details how Spotify pays the vast majority of every dollar it generates for music—nearly 70%—back to the industry, and all-time Spotify payouts to music rights holders are approaching $40 billion.
Enabling audience development for artists through new and enhanced tools
We’re always building up our suite of tools to help artists find the fans who’ll love their music most. Here are a few of the new features they will soon find in the Campaigns section of Spotify for Artists:
Marqueeis a full-screen, sponsored recommendation of a new release that’s focused on reaching listeners who have shown interest in an artist’s music. On average, Marquee is 10 times more cost-effective at getting listeners to stream music on Spotify than ads are on the most popular social media platforms.
Discovery Mode is a tool through which artists and their teams identify priority songs, and Spotify will add that signal to the algorithms that shape personalized listening sessions. Today, Discovery Mode is directly available within Spotify for Artists, and is accessible to a wider range of artists and their teams, including thousands of independently distributed artists and labels.
Showcase is a mobile card on our brand-new home feed that will introduce an artist’s music—whether a new release or catalog—to likely listeners. We’re just starting to test Showcase with artists and labels, and will make it more widely available in the near future.
We also shared more details on the next revenue line we’ll enable to help artists grow: merchandise and live events.
New Concert and Merch Discovery tools will help make sure concertgoers never miss another show. Listeners will begin to see merch offers and concert listings in far more places across the app. If a show catches a fan’s eye, they can tap a new “interested” button to save the listing to their own calendar in the Live Events Feed. Users can adjust their location and browse concerts worldwide, all personalized to their taste.
Spotify is also expanding its Fans First program to include more artists, ensuring top listeners receive emails and notifications that give them special access to concert pre-sales and merch exclusives.
And we unveiled new features and product expansions that allow more artists to express themselves in new ways and build buzz among fans. These include:
Spotify Clips, which letsartists add 30-second videos to their artist profiles and album pages so fans can go deeper into their stories while they’re listening; and
CountdownPages, which provide dedicated space on an artist’s profile and Spotify’s Home feed for fans to pre-save albums, see exclusive videos, pre-order merch, preview tracklists, and watch the timer count down to a new release.
Reintroducing Spotify for Podcasters as our one-stop shop for creators
Podcast creators joined our executives onstage to showcase the reimagined Spotify for Podcasters.The site now brings together the best of Spotify’s podcast creator tools into a one-stop shop to create, manage, grow, and monetize podcast content, including:
Broader availability of Spotify-unique features like video podcasting, interactive episodes using Q&A and Polls, subscriptions, and robust analytics
Podcast previews, PodcastChapters, SpotifyLabs, and a new space for educational podcasting content
Megaphone, Spotify’s hosting solution for enterprise publishers, will be integrated into Spotify for Podcasters in the future. Netflix and Australia’s Schwartz Media werejust signed on as two of the latest publishers.
We also looked back at the growth of the Spotify Audience Network (SPAN), our audio-first marketplace that connects podcast publishers and independent creators with advertisers, including monthly payouts to opted-in publishers.
Since we launched SPAN in 2021, it has grown by nearly 50%. Advertiser participation has since increased by 500%.
The number of independent and enterprise podcasters taking part in SPAN has grown eightfold in the last two years, with NPR being the latest publisher to join the network.
We’re partnering with Patreon,which will enable creators to expand their creative business through direct payments from fans, and allow fans to listen to their Patreon content on Spotify.
Announcing new and expanded Spotify Originals and exclusives
Spotify Original and exclusive podcasts saw much success in 2022, with Case 63, The Joe Rogan Experience, and Call Her Daddy taking the top spots of the Wrapped top global podcasts. And now that Anything Goes with Emma Chamberlain is exclusively on our platform, Spotify has four of the top five biggest hits worldwide.
We’re expanding our catalog with new shows, including The Riddler: Secrets in the Dark. This latest title follows the Batman Unburied series and its characters in a brand-new story led by Phantom 4 and filmmaker, novelist, and comic book writer DavidS. Goyer.
We’re also introducing more video podcasts, with Forbidden Fruits with Julia Fox and Niki Takesh returning for a second season and an exclusive video podcast edition of the show. Drew Afualo’s podcast, The Comment Section, is also coming to Spotify exclusively starting April 5.
We’ve also entered into an exclusive video partnership with Markiplier to produce exclusive video episodes of DistractibleandGo! My Favorite Sports Team for Spotify beginning today. And with innovative partnerships on the way from Collab, Creative Juice, Get Engaged Media, Golden Child, and Karat to bring their creators’ videos to Spotify, as well as limited video series exclusively available on Spotify from Mindset Mentor, we’re looking forward to introducing millions of new listeners to video podcasts.
Welcoming creators and artists “home” to Spotify
Immediately following the presentation, we opened the doors of our campus in Los Angeles’ Arts District to creators for our “Play On” event to demo new products, hold workshops with top industry creators, and share insider knowledge on how best to use Spotify from the people who helped develop the tools at the company. To close out the activities, we’ll be hosting an all-female showcase to celebrate International Women’s Day.
“Today, there are more than 10 million creators on Spotify, with over half a billion listeners across 184 countries and markets,” Daniel noted. “Think about the massive potential that represents for creators. No matter where you are on your own creative journey within music, podcasts, or audiobooks. The potential to reach half a billion people. And that reach is about to become more powerful with what we’ve introduced today.”
Watch the 10-minute recap of the entire event below.
Forward-Looking Statements
The discussion above contains forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking. For example, the words “will,” “expect,” “potential,” and similar words are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Our forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations and management’s belief about future events and trends, and are subject to risks and uncertainties, many of which may adversely affect our business and results of operations, including, but not limited to, our ability to attract and retain users and monetize our products and services; competition; risks associated with our international operations and growth; risks associated with our new products or services and our emphasis on long-term over short-term results; our ability to predict, recommend, and play content that our users enjoy; our ability to maintain the integrity of our technology structure and systems or the security of confidential information; and other risks as set forth in our filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. We undertake no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.
Idag publicerar Spotify sina finansiella resultat för fjärde kvartalet 2022. Klicka här för att ta del av hela den finansiella pressreleasen och kolla in höjdpunkterna nedan:
Vill du höra mer? Lyssna gärna på vår Q&A-webcast som du hittar på vår IR-sajt.
Klicka nedan för att lyssna på trailers från några av våra senaste Spotify Originals och exklusiva poddar.
Today, Spotify announced our fourth quarter 2022 financial performance. Click here to review the full earnings release, and take a look at the highlights below:
Interested in hearing more? You can listen to the webcast Q&A on our Investor Relations site here.
Click below to check out a sizzle reel of audio trailers from a few of our recent original and exclusive podcasts.
Hear from our CEO, DanielEk, CFO, PaulVogel, and Co-President and Chief Business Officer AlexNorström as they talk about our progress this quarter, including topping 200m Premium subscribers, and what they’re excited about in the coming months on Spotify: For the Record.
Since 2017, Emma Chamberlain has filmed her highs, lows, and most vulnerable moments for all to see. In February 2020, the California native turned this candid conversation into a podcast she dubbed Anything Goes with Emma Chamberlain. It quickly became a worldwide hit and a People’s Choice Award winner. And soon, it will be a Spotify exclusive.
Spotify will be the exclusive home for the entire series (yes—that includes both the back catalog and future episodes) in a multiyear license agreement beginning next year. The influential Gen Z creator will also treat fans to new select video podcast episodes, exploring a fresh format for the podcast that takes Emma back to her vlogging roots as she features special guests and more.
“I’ve been listening to everything on Spotify since I was 14,” said Emma. “Spotify has played a huge role in developing my love and passion for podcasts and music, and I am consistently wowed by the way the platform continues to evolve. I couldn’t be more honored to be their exclusive partner, and work together to allow AnythingGoes to blossom in ways it couldn’t have anywhere else.”
Recorded from the comfort of her bed, Anything Goes is a place for Emma to get vulnerable and talk at length about whatever is on her mind each week. Sometimes she tackles philosophy, sometimes a random story from 10 years ago, sometimes advice, and sometimes nothing quite definable at all.
“Emma Chamberlain is one of the most influential voices fueling the creator community today, and Spotify is thrilled to be her exclusive podcast partner,” says MaxCulter, VP, Creator Content & Partnerships. “Her vulnerability, authenticity and contributions to the larger cultural conversation are truly inspiring. Our team is beyond excited to work alongside Emma to grow and amplify ‘Anything Goes’ with unique tools and resources only Spotify can provide, and to deepen the connection with her fan base globally.”
Like all podcasts on Spotify, Anything Goes will be available for all users to stream for free. Listen to the most recent episode below.
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