Tag: Mateusz Smółka

Celebrating 10 Years of Spotify in Italy and Poland

a graphic backdrop with two Spotify spokespeople featured looking at the camera

Ten years ago, Spotify launched in Italy and Poland, and we began our work to engage with local creative talent and the community through Spotify programs, festivals, and events. Since then, creators from both markets have seen tremendous growth in local and international listenership. Whether it’s Rhove and Måneskin in Italy or Marissa and Sara James in Poland, artists in both markets are representing their homelands locally and on the global stage. And we can’t help but raise a glass to a solid decade of achievements.

Along with the growth in local music, there’s an ever-growing appetite for talk as well. Since launching podcasts in Italy 2015, we’ve seen the number of creator-generated shows increase by an average of 20% year over year in the market. Today, more than 50,000 titles are available, including hit shows like Muschio Selvaggio, The Essential, and Demoni Urbani.

To celebrate this landmark birthday in Poland and Italy, For the Record caught up with Melanie Parejo, Spotify Head of Music for Southern and Eastern Europe, and Mateusz Smółka, Spotify Music Team Lead for Eastern Europe and Southern and Eastern Europe, to talk about the hit tracks, hot trends, and growth both markets have experienced over the past 10 years.

ITALY

When Spotify Italy launched in 2013, there were 26,000 Italian artists on the platform and 180 million streams globally among them. How have we seen those numbers grow?

Melanie Parejo: Italy has always had a strong affection toward their local talents, and with 196,000 Italian artists available on Spotify as of 2022, it’s clear to see the strength that local music has in the Italian market. In terms of global listenership, after our first five years in the market, Italian artists were played on Spotify editorial playlists outside of Italy 800% more than when we launched. After 10 years, that number has increased to 1,000%, with Måneskin being the biggest export.

What are some of Spotify Italy’s greatest music achievements from the past 10 years?

Twenty-four Italian artists have participated in Spotify’s RADAR program since its launch in 2020. Artists like BLANCO, Rondodasosa, and ARIETE have seen particularly strong growth on the platform, with BLANCO going on to win last year’s Festival di Sanremo and beating Italy’s record for the most-streamed song in one day, together with Mahmood

Emerging artists who have been included in RADAR have also achieved great mainstream success. Rhove, who was a featured RADAR Global artist, had Italy’s second-most-streamed song of 2022, with “Shakerando.”

Genre-wise, what have been some of the most exciting changes in Italian music since 2013?

When we look at the streaming habits of the younger generation, they have a more fluid relationship to genres. They are less occupied with sticking to one genre and identifying with it. Instead, we see them stream songs that span different decades and styles. 

That said, the overall music tastes of Italians have evolved so much over the years. Back in 2013, the most-streamed genre in Italy was rock, with Italian rap not even in the Top 10. But in 2022, Italian rap was the most-streamed genre in the country. When it comes to rap from other countries, a significant number of Gen Z artists have shifted their main point of reference from the U.S. to the U.K. and France. They tend to blend languages and cultures in their songs, tapping into an identity and culture way more than when rap originally broke through here in 2016. 

Summer hits have always been an integral part of Italian music consumption, but in recent years we’ve seen them become more diverse in sound. While they previously followed a conventional structure (carefree, joyful, Latin-infused pop tracks touching on a bunch of summer-related clichés), 2022 summer hits were a melting pot of sounds, artists, and moods. From BLANCO to Fedez to Capo Plaza to Rhove, what we saw and heard last year was a creative freedom we weren’t used to. 

Spotify Italy initially launched during the Festival di Sanremo. What impact does the festival have on Spotify?

Spotify truly lives side by side with Sanremo. When the lights are out after the final day of the festival, Italians listen to their favorite songs on Spotify to stay in the Sanremo spirit. This year was a great example of that, with the official Sanremo 2023 playlist being the second-most-streamed playlist worldwide for one week. Locally, Sanremo songs dominated the Top 10 and Top 20 charts in Italy during the festival, with six songs from the festival having made it into the Global Debut Songs chart.

 

POLAND

How have music tastes in the country changed in the 10 years since Spotify Poland launched?

Mateusz Smółka: Massively! When we launched in Poland, the Top 10 artists in Poland were international artists. There were only five Polish artists on the entire Top 100 list that year. Looking back, international artists controlled the top three spots until about 2017. But in 2018, we saw the rise of Polish artists, most notably when the Taco Hemingway and Quebonafide collaboration, TACONAFIDE, and Dawid Podsiadło took the top spots. Since then, Polish artists have been in the Top 10 each year, with 76 Polish songs making the local Top 100 in 2022. 

Streams of Polish artists on Spotify’s editorial playlists outside of Poland also increased by more than 700% over the past decade. For example, Rnbstylerz has over 2.8 million monthly listeners, with a majority coming from Germany, the U.S., and Mexico. And Catz ‘n Dogz, who are a part of GLOW, have a major chunk of listeners coming from the U.S. and the U.K. Tribbs has over two million monthly listeners and collaborates with producers around the world, picking up listeners in Brazil and Germany. 

In your view, what are some of Spotify Poland’s biggest accomplishments in the music space?

Spotify’s RADAR program launched in Poland in 2021 and has seen 15 local artists participating since. The program has seen talents such as Zalia and Julia Rocka seeing incremental growth on the platform, as well as Szczyl and Dziwna Wiosna being nominated for Fryderyk awards in 2022. 

Spotify’s EQUAL program also launched in Poland in 2021. Notably, Sara James became the youngest-ever EQUAL ambassador for the program and the first Polish artist to be a global ambassador. Artists such as Kaśka Sochacka and LUNA have particularly seen growth on the platform since their participation, with LUNA more than tripling her monthly listeners the month she joined the program. 

Additionally, Fresh Finds has been live in the market for a year, and it has helped a number of independent Polish artists take the next steps in their careers. It has also proven to be a way to identify the next big talent. 

What have been some of the most surprising listenership trends in Poland?

Back in 2013, we saw international rock bands being streamed the most, but now Polish rap and hip-hop dominate, as demonstrated by the popularity of our local hip-hop flagship playlist RAP GENERACJA, which has been the number one playlist in Poland every year since launch. 

When it comes to the younger generation, we’ve found that they choose music to accompany their mood and the world they live in. They don’t care as much about when the song was made or what genre it is. They approach music with a lot more fluidity.

 

Celebrate 10 years of Spotify in Italy and Poland by listening to our anniversary playlists. 

What Is Rap? In Poland, Artist Young Leosia and Her Fellow Rappers Are Ready With an Answer

In the last five years, rap music has doubled in popularity in Poland, according to Spotify listening data. Today, rap music accounts for 23% of all music listened to in Poland on Spotify, and it’s drawing in new listeners of all ages and a multitude of local creators. So to highlight the growing and sonically diverse rap scene unfolding across the country, Spotify Poland launched a campaign that asked a deceptively simple question: What is rap?

Depending on whom you ask, the answer changes, but all the experts agree that it’s on an unstoppable path of growth. “Polish Rap is so diverse, colorful, hard to define, and that is the beauty of it!” said Mateusz Smółka, Music Team Lead Eastern Europe, Spotify. “We at Spotify, together with artists, are looking for the answer to a question ‘What is rap?’ to hear different voices and show how broad this genre is. But most of all we are celebrating all kinds of rap, and we are covering all kinds of examples on Spotify!”

Young Leosia, one of the best-known Gen Z DJs and rap music artists in Poland, takes the conversation even further, sharing her perspective as a creator. “Rap has become the most popular music all over the world, so that’s not something we invented, but in general, I think that rap is all about the truth,” shared the rapper. “It’s about real experiences that people can relate to.”

 She’s not alone in her thinking. We also asked thirteen of the most-streamed Polish rappers to add their voices to the campaign and share their views on rap. They didn’t disappoint.

But to understand what rap is in Poland, we also had to explore why and how the country’s robust rap scene came to be.

Exploring the genre’s rise on-platform

When Spotify music editors created the Generacja Hip Hop playlist (now the RAP GENERACJA) at the end of 2017, rap was on the rise, but it wasn’t yet responsible for most of Poland’s mainstream hits like it is today. It featured more influences from trap music and did not include as much experimentation, dance, R&B, or rock-inspired beats.

Experts attribute the genre’s evolution to the trend among artists to collaborate. Specifically, many rappers began to form supergroups and super collaborations. Our music editors point to 2018 as the genre’s turning point, when two of the biggest rappers at time, Taco Hemingway and Quebonafide, recorded a record-smashing album together under the name of TACONAFIDE. From there, rap and its super collaborations were ready for the spotlight.

As part of our recent campaign, Spotify rebranded the playlist where it all began, Generacja Hip Hop, into RAP GENERACJA. With a new fresh name and vibrant redesign, the playlist remains the go-to choice both for fans and artists to check out the hottest and biggest releases in Polish rap. Over the last three years, RAP GENERACJA climbed to number one on the Spotify Polish playlist rankings, becoming the country’s most-listened-to playlist and marking a 240% growth in listenership. Recently, the playlist has made waves around the world and has become a top 10 rap playlist on Spotify’s global playlist rankings.

And, to spotlight the diversity of the genre’s sound, Spotify launched seven new playlists, including a fresh playlist for young artists, called Młody rap, and playlists celebrating the history of Polish rap, legendary tracks, and artists. Those playlists include Polski Rap 2000., Polski Rap 2010., and Rap historie.

The burst of new playlists reflects the genre’s versatility and energy. “Polish rap is the buzziest and most influential genre at the moment in Poland, taking over the charts and inspiring the mainstream, but also flirting with pop, electronic/dance, alternative, rock, and multiple other genres,” said Mateusz.

The artists making waves and speaking for generations

Whether creators teamed up into supergroups or maintained a solo career, all have had a front-row seat to Poland’s evolving rap culture. And, as they connect with a growing listenership, artists are racing to set (and break) streaming records.

The trending artists also speak to the variety of sounds and styles within the genre that have become popular in the last five years—as well as the potential for emerging creators to take off. Just look at the top 10 rappers over the last five years, most of whom launched their careers within the same time period:

  1. Taco Hemingway
  2. Quebonafide
  3. Bedoes
  4. Lanek 
  5. Tymek 
  6. White 2115 
  7. Żabson 
  8. Mata
  9. Young Igi 
  10. PRO8L3M 

And looking more deeply at current trends and record breakers, artists Tymek and Big Scythe lead the charge with the most-listened-to song in the last five years, their hit “Język ciała.” But nipping at their heels is the latest record-breaking song on the platform, Mata’s “Kiss cam (podryw roku).” Mata’s rise and fan favorite creators like Young Leosia reflect the changes sweeping across the music scene and how a new generation of Polish rappers is resonating with their audiences.