Tag: Eurovision

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:

Legend of French Singer-Songwriter Serge Gainsbourg Looms Large on Spotify

June 24, 2019

Name just about any modern French or international superstar—Phoenix, Sebastien Tellier, Benjamin Biolay, David Bowie, Beck, Arctic Monkeys, Damon Albarn, Jarvis Cocker—and they can probably trace their sound back to Serge Gainsbourg. The singer-songwriter was a trailblazer of multiple genres (pop, rock, funk, disco, chanson, and reggae among them) whose lyrical playfulness, innovative sounds, and overall influence echo through today’s music. Starting June 24 and continuing for several weeks, Spotify is celebrating his incredible legacy with several new Gainsbourg-inspired playlists.

Some of the playlists of his songs are organized into the genres he advanced, with the tracks curated in an order to suit the moment or mood of the day. Other playlists are compilations of songs by artists Gainsbourg influenced across those genres, including chanson, pop, indie, and hip-hop. Listeners can also use a new Which Gainsbourg Are You? tool to generate a customized Gainsbourg playlist.

Gainsbourg didn’t just influence French music. He wrote more than 500 songs that have been covered more than 1,000 times by other artists. He even is responsible for the 1965 hit “Poupée de cire, poupée de son,” performed by France Gall, which won the Eurovision Song Contest for Luxembourg that year.

Among Gainsbourg’s biggest hits was “Je t’aime moi non plus,” which he once called “the ultimate love song.” It was also perhaps an allegory for Gainsbourg’s personal life. He first recorded “Je t’aime moi non plus” with his lover at the time, Brigitte Bardot. They parted ways, and the song was re-recorded and released with Jane Birkin, with whom he had a daughter—the singer-actress Charlotte Gainsbourg. Her father wrote her 1986 album, Charlotte for Ever.

He also wrote songs for Petula Clark, Viktor Lazlo, Alain Chamfort, and dozens more.

Though he passed nearly three decades ago, Gainsbourg still has more than 700,000 monthly listeners on Spotify, and his songs have been streamed more than 170 million times.

Check out the infographic below to further explore Serge Gainsbourg’s enduring popularity.

Listen to Initiales S.G, the new podcast exploring Gainsbourg’s life and work, narrated by French actor Melvil Poupaud, which includes a theme song by French pianist Chassol and interludes by singer Clara Luciani.

‘Eurovision’ Winners Past and Future, As Told by Your Streams

May 17, 2019

Header photo credit: KAN

There’s nothing quite like Eurovision. What other TV music competition has featured Russian grandmothers who sing while baking, Finnish monsters jamming out a “Hard Rock Hallelujah,” or a hip-thrusting saxophone player from Moldova? The European song contest can hardly be compared even to itself in any given year—except in terms of streaming. In the run-up to this weekend’s final performances, fans around the world are already playing their favorite competitors’ song. Could these streams point to the country that will be the 2019 champion?

Eurovision is the world’s longest-running annual television contest, and at 186 million viewers in 2018, it often charts as the world’s biggest live-music event. Over the course of the competition, Eurovision brings musicians from upwards of 50 countries (mostly from Europe) together for a colorful, energy-filled celebration of diversity and unity.

With 41 countries competing this year, and a song time limit to three minutes, it’s crucial that your performance stands out. This could explain why one song often combines several elements. Mix a power ballad intro, rhythms particular to the country of origin, and a crowd-pleasing pop chorus with acrobatic dance and you’ve got yourself a Eurovision Cocktail.

In the weeks leading up to the highly televised final, each country presents its respective artist and song. So ahead of the final performances, we took a look at which country’s nominees are being streamed the most:   

  1.     Italy – Mahmood, “Soldi”
  2.     Sweden – John Lundvik, “Too Late for Love”
  3.     Netherlands – Duncan Laurence, “Arcade”
  4.     France – Bilal Hassani, “Roi”
  5.     Spain – Miki Núñez “La Venda”
  6.     Norway – Keiino, “Spirit in the Sky”
  7.     Switzerland – Luca Hänni, “She Got Me”
  8.     Cyprus – Tamta, “Replay”
  9.     Estonia – Victor Crone, “Storm”
  10.     Denmark – Leonora, “Love Is Forever”

When broken down by each participating country, it’s not surprising that most listeners favor their nation’s own nominated song and artist. Yet listeners in Romania, Lithuania, Austria, Poland, Malta, Ireland, Great Britain, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Luxembourg, and Germany have all been streaming Italy’s “Soldi.” At least in terms of streaming, Italian singer-songwriter Mahmood is the clear favorite.

Of course, what’s Eurovision without a little nostalgia? Below are the 10 top-streamed Eurovision winners of all time.

  1.     1974 – ABBA (Sweden) – “Waterloo”
  2.     2018 – Netta (Israel) – “Toy”
  3.     2015 – Måns Zelmerlöw (Sweden) – “Heroes”
  4.     2012 – Loreen (Sweden) – “Euphoria”
  5.     2010 – Lena (Germany) – “Satellite”
  6.     2009 – Alexander Rybak (Norway) – “Fairytale”
  7.     1965 – France Gall (Luxembourg) – “Poupée de cire, poupée de son”
  8.     2017 – Salvador Sobral (Portugal) – “Amar pelos Dois”
  9.     1995 – Petter Skavland, Rolf Løvland, Secret Garden (Norway) – “Nocturne”
  10.     1987 – Johnny Logan (Ireland) – “Hold Me Now”

Prepare for a week of Eurovision like never before—stream the official Eurovision 2019 playlist below.