Tag: Spotify Labs Creator Program

Spotify’s NextGen Curriculum Participants Release ‘Emmett Till: The Cultural Afterlife of an American Boy’

July 18, 2023

a collage showing the shadow of a man wearing a hat and buildings in the background.

In March, Spotify brought our NextGen Audio initiative to Spelman College in Atlanta for the first-ever Creator Day. There, we announced the NextGen Curriculum Program, Spotify NextGen Scholarship Program, and Spotify Labs Creator Program—all ways we’re further supporting students who are aspiring to work in the audio industry. Several Spelman students in the NextGen Curriculum Program have since been hard at work under the instruction of Dr. Michelle Hite creating a seven-episode podcast series investigating the brutal murder of 14-year-old Emmett Till and the cultural aftermath of his death. 

Now Spotify listeners can stream Emmett Till: The Cultural Afterlife of an American Boy, where the students examine the way Emmett’s murder became a pivotal moment in American political, media, and civil rights history. Explore the way U.S. citizens have found purpose in Emmett Till’s short life and learned to center on joy and love even in the face of pain and struggle.

The new series is the first to come out of NextGen x HBCU, our program designed to activate and grow podcast culture on college campuses and make a career in podcasting more accessible for the next generation of Black content creators and storytellers. NextGen is funded by Spotify’s Creator Equity Fund, which powers our commitment to showcasing and uplifting creators from communities that have been historically underrepresented in the audio industry. 

Our NextGen Audio initiative will continue into the fall as we prepare to announce the five Spelman College scholarship winners and the second NextGen HBCU. Stay tuned to learn more.  

Spotify Debuts New Programs for Aspiring Audio Innovators at NextGen Creator Day at Spelman College

March 21, 2023

ATLANTA, GEORGIA - MARCH 20: (L-R) Denzel Dion, co-host of 'We Said What We Said', Spotify, host Wunmi Bello, and Rickey Thompson, co-host of 'We Said What We Said', Spotify, speak onstage during Spotify NextGen Creator Day at Spelman College on March 20, 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images for Spotify)

Burgeoning creators on college campuses across the U.S. are already harnessing their creativity for great ideas for the future of audio. At Spotify, we know that once they get the tools they need to amplify their voices, they’ll be able to bring their stories to the world.

Enter NextGen, a program from Spotify for Podcasters designed to activate and grow podcast culture on college campuses, and make a career in podcasting more accessible for the next generation of Black content creators and storytellers. NextGen is funded by Spotify’s Creator Equity Fund, which powers our commitment to showcasing and uplifting creators from communities that have been historically underrepresented in the audio industry. 

We currently offer NextGen programming at New York University, the University of Southern California, and the University of Pennsylvania. We announced last fall that we’d be expanding the program to historically Black colleges and university (HBCU) campuses across the U.S., starting with Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia.

Yesterday, during our first-ever NextGen Creator Day at Spelman, we announced three ways we’re broadening our partnership and further supporting students aspiring to work in the audio industry.