Tag: fuego

Fuego’s New Haunted Playlist Turns Music Listening Into a One-of-a-Kind Game

October 26, 2023

Spotify's Fuego Haunted Playlist cover art with a spooky house comic style illustration with a front door that looks like a scary mouth

Halloween is just around the corner and we’re getting into the spirit with Fuego’s Haunted Playlist. This unique on-platform experience turns your listening session into a game where you can interact with our innovative Latin mixtapes in an all-new way. 

“Since its launch last year, Fuego’s mission has been to innovate and bring new listening experiences that feel unique and surprise our community of listeners,” said Antonio Vázquez, Spotify Head of U.S. Latin Editorial. “The inspiration for Haunted Playlist comes from the desire to introduce the “Choose Your Own Adventure” book format to the playlist world. It allows fans to become the protagonist in the story and unravel the mysteries hidden inside this playlist.”

All of the action unfolds inside Fuego’s spooky mansion, where you must navigate between rooms to discover a pair of secret mixtapes curated by a couple of surprise artists. For the visuals, we worked with Chinelo Creative Agency and Mexican illustrator Diego Lavalle, who created the ghostly characters and backdrops hovering throughout the playlists. We also partnered with Latin Grammy-winning producer-engineer Daniel “Vago” Galindo, who created various soundscapes inspired by popular Halloween themes.

To start your adventure, visit Fuego’s Haunted Playlist and click the link in the description to enter the mansion. Instead of the usual cover and tracklist, you’ll find a bespoke cover and 10 Halloween-themed sound clips. In the description, you’ll also find a series of links, each with a different prompt that will send you on a separate path. Where you head in the mansion depends on what you click.

Celebrate Latinx Heritage Month on Spotify With Our ‘Estamos Ready’ Campaign

September 20, 2023

Latinx culture continues to set the tone around the world, as evidenced by the rise of genres like Música Mexicana, corridos, and urbano. September 15 through October 15 marks Latinx Heritage Month, and we’re celebrating with our “Estamos Ready” campaign, honoring the stories, the diversity, and the power of Latinx creators and fans. 

On our dedicated Latinx Heritage Month hub, listeners can discover top playlists, including Hyphenated, Mixto, Fuego, and Los Que Mandan, as well as podcasts, like I.E In Friends, Gay & Afraid with Eric Sedeño, The Super Secret Bestie Club, and Fool Coverage with Manny MUA and Laura Lee.

We also wanted to explore the impact of Latin music in the U.S., so we took a look at Spotify listener data from every U.S. state. We discovered that Peso Pluma and Bad Bunny are lighting up the Latin streaming charts, with each standing as the most popular artist in 31 states and 15 states, respectively. Meanwhile, Música Mexicana (26 states), Trap Latino (12 states), and urbano (10 states) represent the most popular genres.

Top 10 U.S. States With the Highest Percentage of Latin Music Streams on Spotify

(June 15–September 15)

  1. Texas
  2. California
  3. Florida
  4. Nevada
  5. Arizona
  6. New Mexico
  7. Illinois
  8. New Jersey
  9. Georgia
  10. Utah

Over the past few years, Latin music on Spotify has also seen rapid growth in some surprising states. Between September 2020 and September 2023, Latin music streams in North Dakota surged an impressive 370%, followed by a 284% bump in Minnesota and a 253% increase in Mississippi. Indiana, the home state of Latinx star Omar Apollo, has seen its Latin music streams grow by 182%.

In addition to our data discoveries, For the Record also chatted with Omar, along with artists Kali Uchis, DannyLux, Elena Rose, and Prince Royce, to find out more about their favorite aspects of Latinx culture. 

How does your culture bring joy to your music?

Prince Royce: I’ve been visiting the Dominican Republic since I was very young, and I think in general, there is a lot of life in the culture. They are always dancing, which comes with genres like merengue and bachata. Dominicans love to party. My family, for example, will come up with any excuse for a barbeque, a birthday party, a baby shower, or a get together, and that definitely reflects a lot in my music. 

Omar Apollo: When I first started doing shows, it was all really young Latino kids in the crowd. I was probably like 19 when I started touring. I am from Indiana, and there wasn’t much of a diaspora of Latino kids. Going around the world showed me there was somewhere that people can find community in the music, celebrate how we grew up, and share the same stories. It’s beautiful. 

Explain your Latinx accent in one sentence.

DannyLux: I think my accent is more of a Mexicali accent from Baja California, because I basically grew up there. Whenever I go to another part of Mexico they tell me that I have a different accent.

Prince Royce: Definitely a very New York/Spanglish accent.

Elena Rose: My accent in one sentence has to be: Caraqueña/Boriqua/Hialeah from Miami. Venezolana because of my parents, so Caracas is there. Puerto Rico because that is where I lived as a kid. And I stayed in Hialeah for almost six years so yeah, I have the Miami right there—the 305, baby!

What is one thing from your culture that you want to share with the rest of the world?

Kali Uchis: One thing I would share with everybody about my culture is definitely our food. I feel like everybody loves food, everybody should have a good arepa, a good Colombian hot dog. All of our snacks, the salty and the sweet combinations, everybody should try it!

Elena Rose: I really like burning palo santo wood. I think it’s been more popular in recent years. And I really like ginger, honey, and lemon tea. That just recently saved me from a very bad cold!

Omar Apollo: It would probably be chilaquiles because I love chilaquiles and I think everyone should have chilaquiles. I am not sure if other Latino communities make chilaquiles, but the ones that my mom makes . . . anyone would go crazy for them!

What’s your favorite Spanish word (or phrase) that’s original to your culture? 

Omar Apollo: It’s probably chambear, which means “to work.” You know, the girls are always working—they are clocked in, they’re ready to go. You can say “chambas,” “estamos en una chamba,” “ando chambeando,” whatever you want to say. That’s my favorite; I say it all the time. 

Kali Uchis: I think my favorite Latin phrases have always been “sin miedo,” but also “sana, sana, colita de rana.”

DannyLux: My favorite phrase is that “everything happens for a reason,” and I always live thinking about that, and I know it has a lot of truth.

Celebrate Latinx Heritage Month by discovering the hottest sounds on our Fuego mixtape.

Spotify’s Innovative Fuego Playlist Turns Fans Into Music Curators

May 10, 2023

graphic cover art showing the logo of fuego mixtapes

Spotify’s Fuego has been red hot since launching last year, with surprise updates each week redefining how listeners discover Latin music. But continuously alerting fans to hot new music isn’t the only thing that sets Fuego apart. The compilation of songs is a result of open and collaborative curation between music editors and guest curators. Now Spotify is taking Fuego and its archive of weekly mixtapes to the next level by giving users the chance to curate the playlist themselves, for the first time ever.

Listeners can submit their own music lineup by visiting the Fuego Mixtape microsite. From there, select playlists will have the chance to be featured as the Fuego playlist of the week. This adds a new way to engage with favorite tracks and share them with others.

Creating an opportunity for user-generated playlists is just one of the many ways Fuego is taking music curation in a new direction. In the past, Fuego has featured guest artist curators like Feid, Myke Towers, and Eladio Carrion. In the coming months, Fuego will expand the helm to playlist takeovers from influencers like Jess Judith, Santea, and Sofia Bella.