Tag: Marc Hazan

We’re Commemorating a Decade of Spotify Wrapped With Our Best and Boldest Wrapped Yet

December 4, 2024

Since its inception, Spotify Wrapped has continued to evolve, and every year it reaches more fans around the world. Over the past decade, we’ve learned that our users crave a unique, personalized way to reflect on their listening habits each year—and artists and creators want to learn more about how their fans streamed.

Whether it’s building a seamless experience that makes it easier than ever to engage with Wrapped, delivering global data stories through the lens of local culture, creating real-life experiences that surprise and delight, or introducing fresh and unique ways for users to engage with their year in listening, we’ve continually innovated and iterated Wrapped so that we can keep offering a unique perspective on emerging trends—catching the beat before it goes mainstream.

“Our annual thank-you to fans around the world, Spotify Wrapped has become deeply ingrained in the lives of music fans worldwide,” said Marc Hazan, Vice President, Partnerships and Marketing at Spotify. “What started as a look back at the music and audio that defined the year has become a global cultural phenomenon in its own right, a moment driven by the passion of hundreds of millions of fans. We’re thrilled to debut 2024 Spotify Wrapped to more fans than ever before this year, celebrating the hundreds of millions of ways that they’ve streamed.”

Here’s what we’ve accomplished in that time:

2015

We launched a first iteration of Wrapped, bringing together the best of our previous end-of-year retrospectives in a three-tiered global campaign: Spotify’s year in review (top lists), fans’ year in review, and artists’ year in review. This set the tone for the Wrapped experience fans have come to know and love, attracting more than 5 million unique users to called Spotify Year in Music.

2016

We rebranded the “Year in Music” as “Wrapped” and launched the fast-growing “Your Top Songs” playlist. As a result, we differentiated our moment from other brand retrospectives.

2019

We built Wrapped directly into the Spotify app, maximizing self-discovery.

2021

We debuted Audio Aura, Wrapped Blend, and videos from fans’ top artists, enhancing self-expression and product awareness.

2023

With new features like Sound Town and Me in 2023, Wrapped engaged a record 227 million monthly active users.

This year’s Wrapped campaign is all about celebrating the ways artists and creators have shaped fans’ lives one note, one voice, one idea at a time.

How 2024 Wrapped came to life

As we mark a tenth year of Wrapped, we’re enhancing the experience with features like Your Music Evolution and Your Spotify Wrapped AI Podcast and introducing a bold and vibrant design to every element of the campaign.

We’re always striving to elevate how Spotify Wrapped comes to life visually, exploring fresh and exciting ways to serve up our biggest campaign of the year. This year, Spotify Wrapped will reach fans in 184 markets around the world, and its design has something for everyone, everywhere.

“The 2024 Wrapped design is the result of a tremendous collaborative effort, and we’re incredibly proud of the final outcome,” said Rebecca Lim, Global Brand Design Director at Spotify. “While we say this every year, this year’s design truly stands apart from anything we’ve done bef

ore. It’s bold, vibrant, and full of elements that are guaranteed to catch the eye.”

This year’s Spotify Wrapped design is inspired by the ways pop culture thrives in a beautiful cycle of reinvention, constantly evolving and surprising us. Unexpected genres emerge and merge, timeless influences meet fresh ideas, and what once was niche now shapes pop culture. This insight inspired an art direction that loops, transforms, and celebrates the energy of this unique moment in time. Vibrant color combinations, playful layouts, and lively animations bring the design to life.

2024 Wrapped exemplifies the culmination of Spotify’s evolved brand identity, reflecting a more expressive and open Spotify at the center of culture. Earlier this year we introduced a new typeface—Spotify Mix—and to tease the campaign, Spotify positioned its logo with unique imagery on social media and in other marketing inspired by 2024’s biggest musical moments.

“The final design direction evolves in a dynamic, high-energy color palette that celebrates the year’s momentum,” said Rebecca. “Layers blend and shift, creating something entirely new that scales exponentially. The bold, attention-grabbing ‘hyperloops’ of 2 and 4 propel us forward in vivid technicolor, symbolizing our journey toward the future. This motif, combined with a striking logo lockup, establishes Wrapped as the definitive stamp of what’s to come.”

Fans, artists, and creators will see the 2024 Wrapped design reflected across the in-app experience, across social, and on billboards around the world.

Celebrate the Unique Ways You Listen With ‘My Spotify’

June 10, 2024

If you feel like your Spotify “just gets you,” you’re not alone. We know each of our listeners has a unique relationship with their Spotify, or as many of them like to call it, “my Spotify.” There’s no single Spotify experience, and it’s our goal to create an ever-evolving personalized soundtrack for listeners complete with the artists, genres, and creators they love. In fact, every one of our 615 million-plus users has their own tailored experience on Spotify.

These personalized listening experiences serve as the inspiration for My Spotify, our new initiative spotlighting and celebrating the millions of unique ways listeners connect with our platform. My Spotify will appear first in the U.S., Canada, U.K., Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand.

Glastonbury Fans, Rejoice: You Can Now Create Your Personalized Festival Lineup With Spotify

June 10, 2024

In just a few weeks, fans from around the world will descend on the green fields of Worthy Farm for Glastonbury 2024, one of the biggest cultural highlights on the U.K. music calendar. Glastonbury has set the stage for a multi-genre musical celebration this summer, with Dua Lipa, Coldplay, and SZA set to headline, and Shania Twain filling the coveted legends slot.

This year, Spotify is thrilled to bring the power of personalization and discovery to the Official Glastonbury App 2024, powered by Vodafone and available for iOS and Android. Through their personalized Spotify suggestions, fans can take their Glastonbury experience to the next level and make the most of a packed lineup across dozens of stages, whether they’re attending in person or streaming performances online.

“Spotify reflects and celebrates music culture, so this partnership with Glastonbury and Vodafone is the perfect fit,” said Marc Hazan, Spotify’s Vice President, Marketing and Partnerships. “We want to forge deeper connections between artists and fans, and what better way to do that than by teaming up with the world’s greatest music festival. The integration with Vodafone’s official Glastonbury app combines Spotify’s hugely popular personalization and discovery tools so that users can really elevate their Glastonbury experience to a new level.”

This first-of-its-kind integration allows fans to link their Spotify accounts with the festival app. The app then gives fans personalized recommendations based on their listening history for artists to check out at the legendary festival. In addition to discovering the 10 Glastonbury artists they listen to most, users can also explore a wider selection of recommendations to discover their future favorites.

“It’s great to launch this integration with Spotify to help festivalgoers discover artists playing this year,” said Glastonbury organizer Emily Eavis. “There are so many amazing acts on the lineup, and we’re really happy that the app will now help guide people towards the ones they’ll love.”

Fans who want to discover more about Glastonbury’s featured artists can use the app to find each performer’s most popular songs, along with a direct link to stream their music on Spotify.

Spotify is also home to the official Glastonbury 2024 playlist, part of our Glastonbury 2024 hub full of music and content related to this year’s festival. Fans can not only browse around 30 individual stage lineups but also discover a selection of Glastonbury-related podcasts and audiobooks.

Ready to get the party started? Press play on Glastonbury 2024 below.

Spotify and FC Barcelona Team Up With The Rolling Stones on a Special El Clásico Shirt, Merchandise Collection, and Matchday Playlist

October 19, 2023

Whether it’s fans singing in unison, a player listening to a track to energize their training, or a global artist whose second love is football, the worlds of football and music are closely linked. Through our first-of-its-kind partnership with FC Barcelona, we’ve worked to deepen that connection for fans, artists, and athletes. And on October 28, we’re taking a giant step forward.

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When the FC Barcelona men’s squad steps onto the pitch for another famous El Clásico fixture, they’ll yet again sport a special home shirt featuring none other than The Rolling Stones’ iconic Tongue and Lips logo. Thanks to Spotify, it will be the first time a band has been featured on the FC Barcelona shirt.

Blend With FC Barcelona and See How Your Musical Tastes Compare to Your Favorite Players

May 30, 2023

The men’s and women’s FC Barcelona teams are celebrating title-winning seasons, and their avid fans are on board for the ride at the stadium, on social media, and on Spotify through our FC Barcelona hub and players’ matchday playlists. Today we’re kicking it up a notch by expanding Spotify Blend to include several Barça stars, allowing fans to combine their musical tastes with those of their favorite players into one shared playlist.

We first gave fans the ability to Blend with their favorite artists last year as a way to forge a deeper bond through the songs they love. Now our first-of-its-kind partnership with FC Barcelona offers fans the opportunity to do the same with the club they love. (For more information on how this experience came to life, check out our Liner Notes feature.)

“Back when we imagined our collaboration with FC Barcelona we thought about how the partnership would bring players and artists closer to fans,” said Marc Hazan, Spotify VP, Partnerships and Business Development. “Blend is delivering on this in a very unique and personalized way, giving Spotify users and Barça fans the tools to see how their listening matches up with their favorite players.”

Previously, a number of the FC Barcelona stars from the men’s and women’s squads—as well as club legend Ronaldinho—created matchday playlists featuring the songs that get them ready for the kickoff whistle. And when fans Blend with FC Barcelona, these tracks will now be included in a personalized playlist made just for them, providing the opportunity to discover new music and see where their tastes overlap.

“I loved putting together my playlist for fans so they could gain insight into how I prepare for games,” said star midfielder Pedri. “Now Culers can see how close our music tastes match with their own Blend playlist.”

And according to Barça Femení star—and reigning Ballon d’Or winner—Alexia Puellas, fans better be ready for hits from ROSALÍA, who featured on the club’s shirts in March and is Alexia’s top Spotify artist.

How To Blend with FC Barcelona

Ready to get started? Blending with your favorite Barça stars is simple. Just click here to create your FC Barcelona Blend. Plus, you can Blend with any of the following players individually by clicking their names below:

You can also find a full list of all available athlete Blends here.

You’ll also unlock your Taste Match score—allowing you to see the percentage of music that you and your favorite player have in common— that you can screenshot and share on social media. In addition, select Barça players will pick a card from one of their fans to share on their Instagram stories.

Music helps unite people all over the world, and Blending with FC Barcelona is just the latest way we’re helping artists, athletes, and fans connect every day.

Looking for the hits that helped inspire the men’s and women’s teams to trophy-lifting moments? Stream our Barça: League Winners and Barça Femení: League Winners playlists.

Spotify Camp Nou ‘Glows’ With Spotify and FC Barcelona’s LGBTQIA+ Creator Takeover

May 24, 2023

LGBTQIA+ people are in music, art, television—and on the football pitch. So earlier this year when Spotify created GLOW to celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community’s work, artistry, and impact on music and culture, we committed to elevating queer creators year-round in our efforts both on- and off-platform. This weekend, that meant bringing GLOW to Spotify Camp Nou, the home of FC Barcelona.

During the La Liga home match against Real Sociedad, Spotify and FC Barcelona celebrated LGBTQIA+ artists and creators through a stadium takeover highlighting our GLOW program. The weekend also cemented FC Barcelona’s commitment to drive cultural change and continue to build a more diverse and inclusive Blaugrana community. Together, Spotify and FC Barcelona’s joint platform reinforces the message that football and music are for everyone—and that the more diverse our communities are, the richer they become.

Spotify and FC Barcelona Celebrate ROSALÍA’s ‘MOTOMAMI’ With a Special Shirt and In-App Fan Experience

March 15, 2023

One year ago this week, Spanish superstar ROSALÍA released her album MOTOMAMI to massive fanfare—and the accolades quickly followed. In 2022, ROSALÍA was the most-streamed Spanish artist globally, with streams of her tracks on Spotify growing by more than 110% year over year. And in Barcelona, she was also the most-streamed female artist on Spotify last year.

So when football fans around the world come together on Sunday to watch FC Barcelona take part in another epic El Clásico clash, we’re thrilled the club will be celebrating the first anniversary of her album. Players will step onto the Spotify Camp Nou pitch wearing a special Barcelona home shirt that features ROSALÍA’s MOTOMAMI album logo, much like they did when they commemorated Drake’s landmark achievement of 50 billion streams with a limited-edition OVO shirt.

Find FC Barcelona Players’ Matchday Playlists Here

February 21, 2023

When it comes to getting in the zone, few things do the trick like music. Professional and recreational athletes—and everyone in between—use pump-up songs to get energized, focused, or all of the above. As Official Main partner of FC Barcelona, Spotify is showcasing the selections that motivate and inspire players on game day.

Creating a direct link between players, artists and fans, the matchday playlists from both the men’s and women’s teams are available on our platform. You can find all of them on the FC Barcelona official Spotify page.

“We are delighted that fans can immerse themselves in the music selections of the FC Barcelona players,” says Marc Hazan, Spotify VP of Partnerships. “Music has always been a huge part of football culture and this next stage in our partnership is a fantastic way for fans to feel closer to the players through their track choices on matchday and beyond.”

We kicked things off with Pedri and Alexia Putellas’ playlists, and will continue to roll out Matchday playlists so that fans can connect with the entire team and their music tastes and motivations.

Check back here for all the FC Barcelona players’ playlists as they roll out ahead of matches.

Midfielder Pedri’s Barça Matchday by Pedri playlist

Women’s captain Alexia Putellas Barça Femení Matchday playlist

Striker Robert Lewandowski’s My Matchday Songs by Lewandowski playlist

Striker Asisat Oshoala’s My Matchday Songs by Oshoala playlist

Forward Fridolina Rolfö’s My Matchday Songs by Rolfö playlist

Forward Ousmane Dembélé’s My Matchday Songs by Dembélé playlist

The songs that inspired Ronaldinho in the 2000s. Handpicked by the Brazilian and Barça legend himself!

Winger Raphinha Belloli’s My Matchday Songs: Raphinha Playlist

Champions League finalist Geyse Ferreira’s My Matchday Days: Geyse Playlist

The partnership between Barça and Spotify is a first-of-its-kind – you can read all about it or hear all about it.

FC Barcelona’s Official Spotify Playlists Will Help You Get Hyped for Matchday

January 30, 2023

At the end of 2022, we celebrated an amazing year with FC Barcelona by revealing the artists and tracks that the players streamed the most. Now, the latest exciting moment in the partnership between Spotify and FC Barcelona is here: We’re bringing Barça onto the platform for the first time, creating a direct link between players, artists, and fans.

Starting today, listeners can stream matchday playlists from both the men’s and women’s teams that showcase the music selections that motivate and inspire the players to perform on game day.

Catalan Language Localization Means More for FC Barcelona Fans on Spotify

October 9, 2022

Since announcing our partnership with FC Barcelona in March 2022, we’ve been working to bring the worlds of music and football together. As the team’s Main Partner and Global Audio Streaming partner, we’re committed to making Spotify Camp Nou a space that celebrates artists from around the world—and helps FC Barcelona fans connect with their favorite creators, as well as their favorite players.

That’s why this October, we’re updating the Spotify mobile experience to support the Catalan language, making our app more accessible to Catalan speakers and bringing the total number of languages on our platform to 63. Catalan has been on our road map for some time, and we’re excited to accelerate the launch in support of our partners.

“We’re grateful to the FC Barcelona members and fans for welcoming Spotify into their club and stadium this year,” says Marc Hazan, VP Business Development and Partnerships. “As part of our partnership and commitment to bringing football and music together, the Spotify app experience will be available in Catalan later this month so that the club’s fans can enjoy Spotify with more ease.”

Spotify and Accenture Collaborate To Offer Spotify Premium As an Employee Perk

May 18, 2022

Music and podcasts aren’t just for entertainment—they’re great for focusing, unwinding, and learning, too. With our new offering, “Spotify for Work,” a partner proposition that allows companies to offer Spotify Premium as an employee perk, employers of all types have the opportunity to offer their employees the power of audio to listen to while concentrating at work, working out, cooking dinner, and everything in between.

“We know employers are always looking to offer competitive benefits to attract and retain top talent and provide additional value and experiences to reward their employees. That’s where ‘Spotify for Work’ comes in—it’s a modern benefit that has potential to build a stronger sense of community at every company,” says Marc Hazan, Vice President of Freemium Partnerships and Business Development.

To kick things off, global professional services firm Accenture is rolling out the new offering for their employees across Sweden, Latvia, and Lithuania. We asked Jan Jendeby, Managing Director at Accenture, a few questions on why he’s looking forward to bringing Spotify Premium to Accenture employees.

How did your collaboration with Spotify to offer “Spotify for Work” for Accenture employees come about?

We are always looking for new ways to be an attractive employer. When the “Spotify for Work” proposition came about, we saw it as an interesting and relevant offer with multiple benefits for our people, so we explored whether it would be possible to become one of Spotify’s first collaborators.

We see a big potential in “Spotify for Work” on a global scale. It’s a great way to give employees a desired service so they can enjoy all the audio content available on the platform.

Where does Spotify Premium fit in alongside your other offerings?

It’s a new and attractive perk that can be used during work, after work, and while commuting. Our employees can use the service for various reasons such as to better focus, learn, or simply unwind. “Spotify for Work” is a good complement to the other offerings available to our employees. We expect it will resonate with many of our employees across various demographics and roles in Sweden and the Baltics.

Explain the value for employers in providing employee perks like this one.

In today’s quest for talent, all aspects of what we can offer to our employees, and potential candidates, are important. We believe that “Spotify for Work” is a compelling offering that will resonate with our employees and is well worth the modest investment by Accenture.

What excites you about this collaboration?

It is very exciting to be the first company to pilot this new offering. In this case, we are not only the first client or buyer of this service, but are also supporting the innovation and development of the new offering by sharing ongoing feedback. We see “Spotify for Work” as a great way for Spotify to reach even more users and offer companies an attractive employee perk.

What’s on your heavy audio rotation right now?

Music: Silk Sonic, Billie Eilish, Veronica Maggio, Marvin Gaye, Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Podcasts: Accenture AI Leaders Podcast, Framgångspodden.

This first-of-its-kind collaboration with Accenture is just the beginning.

Spotify och Accenture samarbetar för att erbjuda Spotify Premium som en anställningsförmån

May 18, 2022

Musik och podcasts är inte bara till för underhållning – det är också bra för att fokusera, koppla av och lära sig nya saker. Med vårt nya partnererbjudande Spotify For Work blir det möjligt för företag att erbjuda Spotify Premium som en förmån till sina anställda. Det innebär att arbetsgivare av alla slag kan erbjuda kraften i musik och podcasts till sina anställda, så att de kan lyssna samtidigt som de koncentrerar sig på jobbet, tränar, lagar middag och allt däremellan.

Vi vet att arbetsgivare alltid strävar efter att erbjuda konkurrenskraftiga fördelar för att attrahera och behålla topptalanger och erbjuda ytterligare värde och upplevelser för att belöna sina anställda. Det är där Spotify for Work kommer in in i bilden. Det är en modern förmån som har potential att bygga en starkare känsla av gemenskap på varje företag, säger Marc Hazan, vice VD för Freemium Partnerships and Business Development.

För att kicka igång programmet samarbetar vi med det globala konsultföretaget Accenture. De lanserar det nya erbjudandet för sina anställda i Sverige, Lettland och Litauen. Vi ställde några frågor till Jan Jendeby, kundansvarig på Accenture, om varför han ser fram emot att erbjuda Spotify Premium till Accentures anställda.

Hur kom det sig att ni samarbetar med Spotify för att erbjuda Spotify for Work till era anställda?

Vi letar alltid efter nya sätt att vara en attraktiv arbetsgivare. När vi tillsammans utvecklade Spotify for Work såg vi det som ett intressant och relevant erbjudande med flera fördelar för våra medarbetare, så vi undersökte om det skulle vara möjligt att bli en av Spotifys första användare/deltagare i programmet.

Vi ser att Spotify for Work är globalt skalbart. Det är ett utmärkt sätt att ge anställda en efterfrågad förmån så att de kan njuta av allt ljudinnehåll som finns på plattformen.

Hur passar Spotify Premium in tillsammans med era andra erbjudanden?

Det är ett nytt och attraktivte rbjudande som kan användas under arbetet, efter jobbet eller när du pendlar. Våra medarbetare kan använda tjänsten på flera olika sätt för att fokusera bättre, lära sig nya saker eller helt enkelt varva ner. Spotify for Work är ett bra komplement till de andra erbjudanden som finns tillgängliga för våra anställda. Vi förväntar oss att det kommer att få stort genomslag hos många av våra anställda inom olika demografier och roller i Sverige och Baltikum.

Förklara värdet för arbetsgivare att tillhandahålla sådana här förmåner till sina anställda.

I strävan efter de bästa talangerna är alla aspekter av vad vi kan erbjuda våra anställda och potentiella kandidater viktiga. Vi tror att Spotify for Work är ett attraktivt erbjudande som våra anställda kommer att uppskatta, och väl värt Accentures blygsamma investering.

Vad är mest spännande med det här samarbetet?

Det är väldigt spännande att vara det första företaget som testar det här nya erbjudande. I det här fallet är vi inte bara den första kunden eller köparen av denna tjänst, utan vi stödjer också innovationen och utvecklingen av det nya erbjudandet genom att dela kontinuerlig feedback. Vi ser Spotify for Work som ett bra sätt för Spotify att nå ännu fler användare och erbjuda företag en attraktiv personalförmån.

Vad har du i lurarna just nu?

Musik: Silk Sonic, Billie Eilish, Veronica Maggio, Marvin Gaye, Red Hot Chili Peppers.