Tag: Travis Robinson

Dispatches From Our 2021 Equity & Impact Report: Equity

April 4, 2022

We always say that Spotiy reflects culture—but we are also shaped by it. And that means it’s important for us to ensure that both our platform and our company reflect the very best of the culture for the good of our listeners, employees, and planet. We do this through employee resource groups and mental health offerings, sustainability initiatives, and the representation of a diverse set of voices on our platform—as well as much more. 

We take stock of all this every year in our annual Equity & Impact Report. There’s a lot to read, so we broke it out into a few key takeaways from some of our leaders who spend their days ensuring our purpose translates into actions. 

Read on for a discussion with Senior Director of Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging Travis Robinson and VP, Global Head of Equity and Impact Elizabeth Nieto on equity at Spotify in 2021. You can also read about our impact work throughout the year. 

In the 2021 Equity & Impact Report, we say that one part of our mission is to create positive impact in the communities we touch. What are some examples of Spotify fulfilling that mission in 2021?

Travis: We’ve been on this journey for a while, and I’m excited to see the progress we’re making toward our mission on making that impact. When I think about the impact we have on our communities, internally and externally, I know we are also impacting the critical industry actors—being those in tech, media, creators, or artists. 

When it comes to workforce representation, we saw positive progress forward in our internal workforce representation of Spotifiers from underrepresented communities. This goes beyond U.S. race and ethnicity, but also gender representation in a variety of locations and disciplines, such as women in technology. This has been a consistent effort of our team across inclusive hiring and diversity recruiting efforts.  

In 2021, our cross-functional working groups that focus on DIB (diversity, inclusion, and  belonging) within their specific business areas made positive strides. In our marketing organization, the Freemium Marketing Equity Initiative (FMEI) began the work of training all U.S. marketers in inclusive storytelling. Their core focus is reducing bias and stereotypes and eliminating microaggressions through our marketing campaigns. In 2022, we will be expanding this effort with our content organization while expanding focus on creator diversity. In addition, the work the FMEI team did showed an increase in marketing spend with Black-owned or operated creative agencies.  

One final example of the internal impact is through the road map created by our Racial Equity Coalition. Every year they develop and implement our BLK Workforce Development Conference, which is focused on providing a unique experience for our Black employees across the world. It emphasizes conversations on professional development, industry engagement on the amplification for Black creators, and the opportunities collectively we can focus on to improve the Black experience in the workplace. In 2022, we are looking forward to going deeper with a specialized workforce development conference for Black employees in Europe.

How did we make strides to make Spotify a more equitable company for our band members in 2021?  

Elizabeth: As Travis mentioned, we’ve made strides in workforce representation by intentionally focusing on the hiring process. We developed an inclusive interview training comprehensive program for interviewers. The 16-module series is based on the expertise of behavioral change specialists from MindGym, a group dedicated to psychology-based organizational transformation. It provides a foundational knowledge on what inclusive hiring means, the recruitment process (with an emphasis on inclusion), and how to create a more inclusive selection process. 

In the last year, we also introduced Inclusive Hiring Talks in the U.S. to address racial disparity issues and engage in conversations around what it means to be a Spotifier in the U.S. With a focus on aligning people on shared experiences, Inclusive Hiring Talks helped us understand why inclusivity is important and why all candidates are worthy of consideration.

We also designed and implemented Raising the Volume, our first Spotify-branded virtual recruiting conference. Raising the Volume is geared toward women and nonbinary professionals in audio, media, and technology. This conference was designed to inspire, teach, motivate, and attract talent to Spotify with the hope that attendees would leave feeling empowered to raise their voices and make bold moves.

How did we make strides to make Spotify a more equitable company for creators in 2021?  

Elizabeth: In May, we unveiled Frequency, a global initiative and holistic destination for celebrating Black art, entertainment, creativity, culture, and community both on and off platform. Frequency marks an extension of Spotify’s ongoing commitment to and investment in Black voices. Through the rollout of new content, cultural partnerships, and an ambassador program, Frequency aims to further connect the Black community to upcoming and established Black creators. 

We also launched the intertwined“Raising the Frequency Ambassador program, which offers a $50,000 scholarship to Black college students aspiring to pursue careers in music and tech. The program also provides donation matches of $25,000 to select community organizations and a songwriting camp to connect artists, producers, and songwriters. 

And finally, we have seen the work of equity and increased opportunities for people of color through efforts in our Spotify Talk Studios organization. Through the work of our SoundUp team, Behind the Mic was launched in 2021 to expand opportunities to members of underserved communities aspiring to careers as podcast producers, sound engineers, and other behind-the-scenes roles in podcasting.  

While we are continuing to build stronger community and belonging for all Spotifiers, we are proud of the progress in diversity, inclusion, and belonging and the many teams across Spotify that are committed and collaborating with us.  

Read the full 2022 Equity & Impact Report here. You can hear more from our leaders on our work in impact.

Spotify’s Progress Toward Racial Equity: Reflections, Commitments, and Updates for the Year Ahead From Elizabeth Nieto and Spotify’s Equity and Impact Team

February 28, 2022

Each year, as Spotify celebrates Black History Month, we are offered an opportunity to take stock of how we are doing as a company when it comes to our work in the pursuit of racial equity. This February marks my first as Spotify’s Global Head of Equity & Impact, and it comes at a time when the company has faced new challenges as we learn and grow and the landscape evolves around us.

Making real and sustained progress has never been easy. Spotify understands the need for hard work, true reflection, and real accountability and we view our anti-racism efforts as an ongoing journey as we strive to live our values, both internally and externally. We are committed to fighting systemic racism and doubling down as this work advances. And while we still have plenty to do, we are making progress. That’s why, at each step of the way, we are looking to partners, employees, and creators to help guide our actions for the long term. 

We also understand the need to regularly communicate the progress we’ve made and identify actions that will build upon it in the years ahead. As we close out Black History Month in the U.S., we recognize the need to do more to combat racism around the world. 

So today, members of the Equity and Impact team—that’s me, Elizabeth Nieto, alongside Travis Robinson, Global Head of Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging, and Christopher Kenny, Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging Lead, Racial Equity Strategy—are sharing updates of both work we’ve done and work that’s underway across our global markets in the pursuit of racial equity. 

This is but a snapshot of our focus areas in our ongoing commitment to fostering an anti-racist culture at Spotify. And while we know we are not perfect, we remain unwavering in our approach and commitment to making meaningful change and progress as a company. 

With gratitude,

Elizabeth, Travis, and Christopher 

Deepening dynamic relationships with racial equity partners

We continue to collaborate with our external racial equity partners to inform how we can best leverage our brand and platform to mitigate systemic racism. Those conversations will inform our strategies for the year ahead and beyond. As one example, we support the healing and growth of our Spotify community through our partnership with Brooklyn Minds, a mental health organization. Brooklyn Minds facilitates sessions for employees who’ve been impacted by racial trauma. We also provide individualized support through our employee assistance program.

Focusing on giving to organizations with measured impact for the Black community

As we shared last April, Spotify’s Racial Equity Donations & Giving Program has committed $10 million—including the matching of $3 million from Spotify employee donations around the world—to over 300 organizations. The remaining $7 million has been donated to more than 15 organizations dedicated to inspiring, connecting, and elevating the next generation of Black voices and creators. This will be an annual commitment through our Racial Equity Donations & Giving Program. We also recently announced the creation of 28 scholarships to Black HBCU students, in partnership with UNCF (the United Negro College Fund).

Formalizing Spotify’s Creator Investment Fund

Over the last several years, Spotifiers have built initiatives to identify, support, nurture, amplify, and celebrate the many voices of creators who deserve to be heard. Much more must be done to further this existing body of work, which is where our recently announced $100 Million Creator Investment Fund comes in. It’s important that we continue to create new avenues of support to champion artists, songwriters, and podcast creators from diverse backgrounds. Spotify can help them build their own businesses by establishing passionate fan bases and substantially growing their reach.

There’s great excitement for this work, with many ideas and questions about next steps we must take. While it’s critical to move swiftly, we also understand it will take time to get this work right. Spotifiers from teams including Music, Podcasting, and Equity & Impact are co-developing plans and working closely alongside our creator and industry partners for input. We’ll share early plans with our ERGs (employee resource groups) for their input and further refinement.

We have identified an initial list of the existing programs and opportunities where we think these funds can be put to work quickly, including adding incremental support to the ongoing work of Frequency, Sound Up, EQUAL, and Pride, among others. Additionally, we will dedicate talent and resources to help lead this global effort. We will work with internal teams and outside organizations to establish new programs focused on areas such as studio space, creator tools, marketing and PR support, coaching, and mentorship.

Expanding and scaling our current Black creator and consumer engagement brands

Last May, when Spotify launched Frequency—our global initiative and holistic destination for celebrating Black art, entertainment, creativity, culture, and community both on- and off-platform—we did so with a mission to create a space that represents the wide spectrum of Black artistry. Since then, listeners have tuned into Frequency music playlists like Ripple Effect and House Party and learned from the Heard You podcast playlist. We’re committed to celebrating and uplifting Black culture, creativity, and community year-round, with special emphasis on the month of February in honor of Black History Month in the U.S. This year, we’ve created a space to celebrate the multidimensionality of Black listeners, artists, and creators to truly encompass the breadth of Black creativity. 

We recognize the need to do a better job of cascading these stories to a broader audience and will continue to scale our approach to our work of promoting Black stories and experiences. For example, we’ll amplify the great Black creators who are sharing stories that resonate with the community, like the Spotify original Who We Be TALKS_ from the U.K.

2020 Equity & Impact Report and 2021 restructuring

Our 2020 Sustainability, Equity & Impact Report charted the meaningful progress we’ve made through our cross-functional Spotify Racial Equity Coalition, alignment to our BLK 5-Star strategy, and expansion of the work of Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging in a variety of ways. But it was only a first step in measuring our work and impact.

So in 2021 we restructured our organization to bring together three existing teams: Social Impact; Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging; and Sustainability. We did this because we believe in the power of our people, their stories, and the impact we have as a platform to imagine and deliver a sustainable future that is welcoming for all in a world that’s centered on justice, equity, and environmental sustainability. We’re seeing greater synergy and collaboration as a unified approach across our three groups. The cohesion of the team is reflected in our Sustainability, Equity & Impact report. 

Continuing anti-racism education and inclusive storytelling training internally

We launched inclusive storytelling training and education within Spotify’s Marketing, Music, and Podcasting Creator teams in 2021 and continue to conduct key diversity, equity, and inclusion  sessions monthly. Within our Studios organization, efforts are underway to establish greater creator representation and also partner with anti-racism practitioners to train and educate all employees. We plan to relaunch our formal anti-racism training for employees this year.

Expanding our focus on inclusive hiring and workforce development

While we have seen progress in our Black employee representation in the U.S. over the last four years (3.7% in 2017 to 9% by end of 2021), we are working on driving the same level of advancement toward diverse representation in our leadership ranks. In late 2021, we launched an inclusive hiring training course for all interviewers and hiring teams. Topics covered within this training are associated with anti-racism, microaggressions, bias, and other relevant diversity, equity, and inclusion conversations. In deep partnership with our Talent Acquisition team, the Inclusive Hiring team has also curated related sourcing and diversity recruiting partnerships that focus on greater visibility and identifying better ways of attracting talent to Spotify from underrepresented communities.

In 2022, we’ve been working hard to expand our inclusive hiring goals for racial diversity in the U.S. but have also begun the process of identifying areas of improvement in ethnic diversity in key markets globally. For instance, we are working to identify greater ways to increase Black, Asian and minority ethnic representation in our U.K. workforce. We will launch a workforce development conference for our Black Spotifiers across EMEA. In addition, in a few weeks we will launch our first-ever Global Belonging Week for all Spotifiers. This will feature global diversity, equity, and inclusion content, training and education for all band members to learn and also provide for localized “pass the mic” sessions where employees in specific offices will discuss topics such as anti-racism, intersectionality, and meaningful change.

Spotify’s New Scholarship Programs With 4A’s Foundation and UNCF

January 30, 2022

In spring 2021, when Spotify reaffirmed our commitment to combating racial inequity, we did so with the future in mind. We knew we had to work intentionally and holistically to make a true impact in the ongoing fight against racism and injustice. So when we announced we’d be contributing $10M to support legislation and fund global organizations that are making a difference in the search for racial equity, we aimed to find partners that would enable our impact to be long-lasting. 

In the U.S., two of these partners are the 4A’s Foundation and UNCF (United Negro College Fund), which focus on scholarships and career opportunities for young Black creatives at various stages in their artistic journeys. Spotify has been partnering with the 4A’s Foundation in various ways for a few years now, notably through its MAIP (Multicultural Advertising Internship Program) initiative, which creates opportunities for individuals in underrepresented communities to gain access to careers at top companies. (There are MAIP alumni working at Spotify in a variety of roles). 

“With many of our partners, we are invested in a joint future together,” Travis Robinson, Global Head of Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging at Spotify, explained to For the Record. “This is where we see true, meaningful change as we walk side by side with an organization; where we find good synergies as we co-create something new to support young Black creators. For the 4A’s Foundations and UNCF, this was the path forward for us.”

And now, our new, co-created programs with 4A’s Foundation and UNCF—The Spotify-UNCF Scholars Program, The Spotify Frequency Scholarship Program, and the Spotify Pulse Fellowship—allow us to ensure that the opportunities and offerings we’re enabling are even more intentional, impactful, and meaningful. 

We asked Travis to explain the new programs, as well as Spotify’s larger work and role in advancing equity and access for Black creatives.

Why is it important for Spotify to play a role in advancing equity and access for Black creatives and musicians? How do these programs fit into those goals?

It all boils down to how we show up as a brand for our employees, for the communities we serve, and the creators we have an opportunity to work alongside. I believe we have a responsibility, but also an opportunity, with advancing racial equity and access. I believe in how Spotify’s brand can show up in the world in a meaningful way. We’re working to execute on the plan of action we laid out in our 5-Star BLK Strategy, which focuses on People, Culture, Content, Donations & Giving, and Public Policy Advocacy. 

We know the Black community continues to shape culture. For us to stay at the pulse of culture and continue to be a platform where creators can connect with their fans, we must be on the journey of advancing racial equity through access and representation. So we’re doing that in part through our Frequency initiative, which celebrates Black Culture, Creativity, and Community on platform. And then one component within our Donations & Giving initiative was related to partnering with organizations that were aligned with our efforts as a Racial Equity Coalition. That’s where these partnerships and programs come in. 

Can you tell us a little bit about each of the programs being announced? 

The Spotify-UNCF Scholars Program (one of two Spotify x PLUS1 for Black Creatives) will provide renewable three-year need-based scholarships and leadership development components to Black students attending HBCUs (historically Black colleges and universities) interested in pursuing a career in music and media. The program will support two cohorts of 20 students per year during each of the next two academic years, giving each of them aid for their sophomore through senior years.

The Spotify Frequency Scholarship Program (the second of two Spotify x PLUS1 for Black Creatives) will provide renewable two-year need-based scholarships to Black students attending any accredited college or university interested in pursuing a career in music. The program will support two cohorts of eight students per year for two years each (junior through senior year) during the next two academic years. The four scholarships will be awarded in honor of Frequency’s four ambassadors: Monique Blake, Archie Davis, Eve Fairley–Chickwe, and Tommy Brown. This is the first of its kind, and we believe this collaboration in the music industry is going to really make a difference in the lives of these students. I am excited to see what is to come with this program, and to see how things expand in the future.

The Spotify Pulse Fellowship Program is a year-long creative development program for Black professionals with one to three years of professional experience in the advertising industry. We are accepting alumni from 4A’s MAIP, the Marcus Graham Project, the One School, and/or D&AD (Design & Art Direction).

These opportunities are available to Black creators at different points in their music journeys. Can you speak to why these two points (college and post-college) are so pivotal? 

We are a team that wants to activate meaningful impact in an intentional way. We know for many in the Black community, there are many avenues into music, entertainment, and media. I want us to be intentional and relevant in our reach and how we provide access to opportunity. These programs are two of many ways we are investing in the community for those early in their career, just getting started and those who are seasoned—we are looking for and wanting to work alongside Black creators at all points.  

According to multiple research studies, we know that Black college graduates tend to be at a greater disadvantage as it relates to the wealth gap due to college debt. We also know that not all Black kids consider college as an avenue to growth and career development simply because of the economics of how to pay for an education. With UNCF, we are able to provide scholarships that will help with some of these financial impediments. 

We also are dedicated to investing in the selected Spotify Scholars’ personal and professional development to kick-start their career in media. That is why a program like the Spotify Pulse Fellowship is also important. This program provides direct access to the advertising business with a unique, curated experience.  

What’s next? Either for these programs or beyond them? 

The Black experience is global, and we see opportunities to improve racial equity not only in the U.S. We are eager to listen, learn, and understand the experiences in different markets where we can make a difference—in Europe, for instance. I am also excited about our recent announcement as a group of technology companies working together to take diversity, equity & inclusion in the industry to the next level. While we are excited about what’s on the horizon for new activations that we believe will be impactful internally and externally, I also want us to scale the initiatives & programs that have proven successful at Spotify. There’s plenty of work to do. 

Dive further into Black art, entertainment, creativity, culture, and community with Frequency.