Tag: UK

Spotify and Budweiser Rock Manchester With Live Music, a Tattoo Studio, Exclusive Merch, and More

December 12, 2024

Since Spotify launched AUX Live Experiences for U.S. advertisers earlier this year, brands like FanDuel and Samsung have tapped into our offering to build cultural relevance, connect with their audiences in real life, and cultivate fresh fandoms.

On Wednesday, we expanded our live-events offering to the U.K., with Budweiser as our first partner. Together, we hosted a special “Music Depot” experience at Manchester’s iconic Diecast venue, a former metalworks factory. The evening brought together more than 500 fans for an exclusive, high-energy celebration of live music and culture.

“Spotify is committed to deepening the connections between artists, brands, and fans. With AUX Live Experiences, we’ve seen that our branded live events are cultural moments that get people talking and deliver results for advertisers,” said Ed Couchman, Head of U.K. & Northern Europe Sales at Spotify. “We were excited to bring our AUX Live Experience with Budweiser to life in Manchester, offering local music fans an unforgettable experience.”

Hailing from Stockport, Greater Manchester, Blossoms headlined the event, bringing their signature indie rock to a hometown crowd. The band was supported by indie-pop duo Good Neighbours, and DJs Rowena Alice, Chaise, and Tinea Taylor spun sets throughout the evening.

Spotify Teams Up With UK Charity Youth Music To Support Grassroots Youth Spaces

November 27, 2024

Over the past decade in the U.K., financial constraints and shifting community resources have put many grassroots music spaces under increasing pressure. There is an urgent need to protect spaces that offer young creatives a platform to explore their talents, collaborate with peers, and pursue their artistic ambitions. That’s why Spotify is excited to partner with Youth Music, a leading U.K. charity committed to helping marginalized young people make and monetize music.

Together, we’re creating a dedicated fund to support 15 grassroots youth spaces across the U.K. that are currently facing imminent closure or struggling to survive. This initiative will provide essential resources to sustain spaces where young people gather, create, and engage in music and other forms of artistic expression, especially in underserved communities.

“We recognize the incredible role that grassroots spaces play in shaping the future of music and creativity, especially for young people who rely on these spaces to express themselves and develop their craft,” said Dina Gabriel, Spotify’s Global Head of Diversity, Equity, and Impact. “By working with Youth Music, we can make a meaningful impact in safeguarding these spaces and the opportunities they create.”

The funding will support a wide range of initiatives across those community hubs, such as a band project for disabled young people, a youth-led studio in a remote coastal town, and a music project to promote inclusion for minoritized women and people of marginalized genders.

“These spaces are the heart of local communities, giving young people a place to feel connected, inspired, and empowered,” said Matt Griffiths, CEO of Youth Music. “With Spotify’s support, we can give these vital spaces a lifeline, ensuring that they continue to serve young people for years to come.”

Earlier this year, Youth Music’s Sound of the Next Generation Report revealed that engaging with music is young people’s favorite thing to do and a vital part of their lives. This was in stark contrast, however, with the report’s findings that young people are getting less access to music education. Many grassroots youth spaces that provide out-of-school music and creativity are at high risk of closure.

The report revealed that two-thirds of youth music spaces are focused on short-term survival, with a quarter considering closure. The situation for young people is equally dire: 98% have reported increases in mental health issues, 69% are experiencing poverty, and 47% are going hungry. Demand for services is going up while costs, rent, and bills are rising. At the same time, donations and funding are decreasing.

“The grassroots music sector is the beating heart of our world-famous music industry,” said Lisa Nandy, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, U.K. “It is vital for emerging artists to hone their talents, as well as providing thousands of jobs and spaces for young people to explore their love of music. But for too long, the sector has been under increasing pressure, with many spaces at risk of closure.

“This partnership between Youth Music and Spotify is a welcome contribution. Along with our Supporting Grassroots Music Fund, we can collectively continue to do more to secure the future of these vital community assets and protect the talent pipeline.”

The partnership is part of Spotify’s larger Creator Equity Fund Program and is a continuation of Spotify’s commitment to supporting youth well-being and protecting youth spaces, following an earlier partnership with Mentivity, a youth mentoring organization based out of South London.

That partnership saw Spotify provide funding to support the opening of Mentivity House, a new youth hub on the Aylesbury Estate in Peckham, in addition to the creation of The Centre, an award-winning short film that showcased the vital role youth spaces played in the early years of some of the U.K.’s leading music artists, including Youth Music alumni and Mercury Prize winners Ezra Collective.

Author Tam Kaur and Spotify Come Together to Talk Self-Love, Authenticity, and Audiobooks

October 3, 2024

With Audiobooks, Spotify is committed to delivering immersive listening experiences that deepen the connection between authors and listeners. By reimagining audiobook listening, we want to introduce the format to an entirely new audience and turn them into fans. And while it’s still early days, the reaction from authors, publishers, and listeners has been remarkable.

We also understand the importance of supporting authors, and last night, we opened up our London office to host a fireside chat between Spotify Chief Public Affairs Officer Dustee Jenkins and the celebrated U.K. creator, podcaster, and author Tam Kaur.

A renowned self-love and development expert, Tam aims to empower young people through insights and advice on topics like self-worth, confidence, the art of solo dating, and overcoming heartbreak.

Building on the success of her podcast, Self Obsessed, Tam released her debut book this past August. Buy Yourself the Damn Flowers is a comprehensive, in-depth guide for all things self-love, helping listeners be their best selves by demystifying self-care and breaking it down into manageable everyday practices.

As guests arrived and settled in, they enjoyed the sounds of Irish Indonesian Malaysian DJ Tara Kumar, along with drinks and snacks courtesy of London’s Mam Sham, who created a special menu inspired by Tam’s new book. After a quick round of trivia to warm things up—it turns out Tam’s listeners are major Sabrina Carpenter fans—it was time for our featured guests to take the stage.

Spotify Pilots New Music Experience for Young Listeners on Family Plans

September 13, 2024

Spotify is committed to bringing the best listening experience to all our users, and that includes parents and families. That’s why we’ve introduced a pilot for a Premium music account for young listeners under the age of 13 (or local market equivalent). The managed account pilot will be available exclusively as part of our Premium Family plan in Denmark, New Zealand, and Sweden.

As young listeners embark on a journey of music exploration with a managed account, through this new pilot they will get to enjoy many of the features and functionality that Spotify users know and love, including personalization features that make music discovery on Spotify so exciting and unique.

For parents and guardians, managed accounts enable them to better tailor the content that is available to young listeners via in-app controls—like managing the playback of Canvas, videos, and content labeled as explicit. They will now also be able to decide whether a young listener can play certain artists or tracks with Spotify’s new control feature.

The managed account is also welcome news for parents and guardians who do not want their recommendations getting mixed up with the latest tween tunes—each account under the plan will have separate recommendations, and a young listener’s musical favorites won’t feed into the plan manager’s annual Wrapped results.

Parents or guardians with a Family plan in Denmark, New Zealand, and Sweden can head to their account page in the app and select the option to “Add a listener aged under 13 [or local market equivalent],” then follow the instructions.

For Premium Family plan subscribers who prefer an already curated, kid-friendly listening experience for younger listeners, the Spotify Kids app is also available in Denmark, New Zealand, Sweden, and 11 other markets.

Both the managed account and Spotify Kids app offer an experience designed for listeners under the age of 13 (or local market equivalent), so it is important for parents or guardians to represent a young listener’s age accurately during account creation.

A New Spotify Documentary Spotlights UK Youth Centers

August 1, 2024

Youth spaces are crucial for the well-being of children and young people, as they instill a deep sense of belonging and ignite creativity. But in the U.K., these spaces have been in rapid decline due to decades of funding cuts, leaving young people with fewer places to be creative and engage with their communities in positive ways.

To underscore the importance of youth spaces in the U.K., Spotify has teamed up with the London-based youth mentoring organization Mentivity to release our new short film The Centre. Filmed and directed by Adeyemi Michael, The Centre showcases the transformative impact youth spaces can have on burgeoning local artists and U.K. music culture at large, which has birthed influential genres like grime and U.K. drill.

Featuring hip-hop duo Young T & Bugsey, rapper Ms Banks, drummer Femi Koleoso from the Mercury Prize-winning jazz quintet Ezra Collective, and MC and producer Novelist, The Centre chronicles the ways each artist’s youth club experiences helped inspire their creative journeys and the music they produce to this day.

Keeping youth spaces alive

While 750 youth spaces across the U.K. have closed since 2010, they still play a vital role in fostering the creative development of young people across the country. In fact, these spaces have helped shape the careers of some of today’s leading artists and musicians. Take Young T & Bugsey, who met at age 15 and spent the following years honing their craft at youth spaces in their hometown of Nottingham. To date, they’ve racked up more than 850 million streams on Spotify.

According to a recent survey commissioned by Spotify, 70% of young people in the U.K. feel that youth clubs help nurture creative talent, and 74% want to learn more about creative industries. More than three quarters (77%) believe youth spaces create a safe environment for young people.

In addition to highlighting the ways youth spaces have meaningfully impacted U.K artists, The Centre celebrates the opening of Mentivity House, a newly developed youth space in the southeast London neighborhood of Peckham.

“Mentivity House is an example of how we reclaim our block,” said Mentivity founder Sayce Holmes-Lewis. “Over a decade in the making, this is a full-circle moment for me. Growing up and working here for 25 years, I’ve seen regeneration change the area. We’re committed to strengthening our roots and creating a lasting legacy for our community, helping young people become the best versions of themselves.”

Our partnership with Mentivity follows our global partnership with UNICEF to help ensure that young people around the world can access trusted and engaging mental health audio content. We teamed up with UNICEF to create the Our Minds Matter hub on Spotify, where listeners can find music and talk playlists that support mental health and well-being.

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.

The U.K. Holds Firm in the Fight for Fair Competition With the DMCC Act, But It’s Not Over Yet

May 24, 2024

For more than a year, the U.K. government has been working to redefine how the internet works in the U.K., giving consumers greater choice and control over their digital lives and empowering small businesses to have a fair shot at competing with online giants. Having been rightly prioritized as the most important bill to be finalized before the U.K. prepares for a general election, the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers (DMCC) is now law. It promises to revolutionize the U.K. digital landscape, forcing Big Tech companies like Apple to compete fairly for consumers’ business and opening up unprecedented opportunities for creators across the U.K. to thrive.

Done right, the DMCC can have manifold benefits. For consumers, the DMCC makes the digital marketplace more competitive, lowering prices and giving them more choice and control. For businesses and creators, it delivers the opportunities they need to grow, compete, and succeed. And for the U.K. as a whole, it makes the country a more globally competitive and attractive place to do business.

But even with the law now firmly in place, the fight isn’t over.

As Spotify’s Founder & CEO Daniel Ek points out, “Apple has spent millions—in country after country—trying to circumvent and make a mockery of laws like the DMCC. They’ve already broken rules in the U.S., Netherlands, Japan, South Korea, and Europe. The DMCC has the potential to unlock real competition and growth and Apple must be held accountable in the U.K. because we cannot miss the opportunity to get it right.”

Similar to the DMCC, the E.U.’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) was supposed to end the unfair stifling of innovation that Apple had tried to disguise as security protections. But in response to the law, Apple has purposefully created an alternative to the status quo of the 30% commission fee it charges for in-app purchases. They now force developers to pay Apple a €0.50 fee for every customer download, in addition to a recurring 17% digital goods fee for every purchase made. Under the DMA, developers would now owe Apple millions if their apps were to go viral.

Dustee Jenkins, Spotify’s Chief Public Affairs Officer, said, “We were proud of Europe for leading the way and assumed Apple would have no choice but to comply with the law. But we were wrong—it’s not been enough. This can’t be allowed to happen in the U.K. It would undermine this world-leading piece of legislation, harming consumers and businesses across the country. Learnings have to be taken from Apple’s continued bad behavior around the world and the DMCC has to be implemented quickly and forcefully to break Apple’s stranglehold on the market.”

With the DMCC now enforceable, the U.K. has an Apple-shaped target on its back. For the DMCC to work as those who have designed it intended, the following must also occur:

The App Store and iOS should be designated promptly, with this designation being the first focus of the Digital Markets Unit (DMU). Apple themselves have even acknowledged the shortcomings in their App Store to increase competition. App stores are often people’s main gateway to the internet, and the competition regulator has already found that Apple’s anti-competitive behavior is costing U.K. consumers billions.
Action should be taken as soon as possible with eyes open to the likelihood that Apple will fight tooth and nail to avoid opening up to competition. The longer this takes, the more this is costing businesses and consumers and threatening the future of U.K. tech innovation.

Importantly, the regulator has political backing to use its powers as robustly as possible to enforce the regulation.

The DMCC is the first step in giving power back to U.K. consumers. The U.K. now has the opportunity to lead the fight against Apple’s market dominance and show the rest of the world how it’s done.

*Update January 2025: GOV.UK announces SMS investigation into Apple’s mobile ecosystem.

Advertisers and Creators Come Together at Our First-Ever Spotify Sparks in London

May 2, 2024

With more than 600 million users around the world tuned in to Spotify, there’s no shortage of opportunity for brands and businesses to connect with their fans in creative ways on our platform.

Last year, we launched Spotify Sparks to help educate advertisers on why Spotify is the destination for reaching the most engaged audiences and leveraging culture-shaping content for impactful advertising campaigns. Following two successful summits in Brazil and India, we brought Spotify Sparks to the U.K. for the first-ever London edition. On May 1, Spotify executives, industry leaders, content creators, and advertisers gathered for a series of live discussions, presentations, and interactive sessions that explored the full power of the Spotify ecosystem.

During the event, Grace Kao, Spotify’s Global Head of Advertising Business Marketing, moderated a conversation with Alex Norström, Spotify’s Co-President and Chief Business Officer, about the evolution of Spotify as a platform and the growth of our global advertising business.

We’re sharing highlights from Grace’s conversation with Alex, as well as Grace’s insights about the inaugural event, the latest ad experience innovations, the feel-good power of audio, and more.

Alex, what have been the most memorable moments of growth during your 13-year Spotify tenure?

Alex: For me, it’s been when we’ve had to bet the farm and commit surgery on ourselves a couple of times. Moments when you ask, Are we really going to do that? The first was when the world shifted from desktop to mobile—clearly evident now, not so much at the time. It paid off, we basically got a ton of growth, and in one month we grew more than the 12 months prior. Same with podcasts. We’re now in our second phase of podcasts, but a few years ago we had to start and establish our reach.

Has adding Audiobooks in Premium been another one of those moments?

Alex: I think so. The moment started last year, when we took a hard look at our proposition and saw there was so much consumer surplus. People spend hours and hours on our product. So, it was the right time to raise prices. This was new for us. But at the same time, we’re putting more value back in. An example being audiobooks, but also music videos and AI Playlist. We keep adding features to reinvest back proportionally.

Something that people don’t realize and we don’t talk about much is that our innovation is feature-led. We’ve been innovating in features—AI DJ, Spotify Connect, and daylist are good examples. Instead of leaning back and just letting the AI and the ML take care of how users interact with Spotify, we actively construct and innovate on features. Which I love.

And what advice can you share with these marketers at Spotify Sparks?

Alex: I’ll talk about marketing from our perspective. We saw a few years ago that as the cost of media increases, the price of advertising goes up. So whether you’re a global brand or a start-up, it’s more expensive to market. When things are expensive, they are riskier. So, you naturally become more risk-averse.

We always try to look at things differently. So we said, If you have millions of users, you can tell compelling stories on the platform. You can talk to the users about their consumption on the platform and what’s relevant. And the hope is they then share with their friends on their networks.

That’s what Wrapped is. When you hit the spot, it’s amazing—it’s marketing and messaging that is very efficient. And we see great growth and retention.

Spotify Brings Entrepreneurs and Trailblazers Together to Talk the Future of Tech in the UK

April 17, 2024

With its particular combination of talent, ambition, culture, and, of course, world-famous music, the U.K. has been an important piece of the Spotify puzzle since we launched in 2008. Today, as one of our biggest research and development hubs, it’s where we experiment with some of our most exciting new launches and products, including audiobooks in Premium, video-based learning courses, and, most recently, AI Playlist.

Spotify’s success in the U.K. is due in large part to the country’s open, connected, and competitive economy. Exceeding £1 trillion, the U.K.’s technology market is the largest in Europe and the third-largest in the world.

But the country is also at a crossroads, with profound technological, political, and economic changes on the horizon. That’s why Spotify decided to gather industry leaders across the tech, media, and policymaking landscape for an action-packed evening at our London office. Together, we celebrated the entrepreneurial spirit at the heart of the U.K. while exploring how the country remains at the forefront of technological advancement and innovation.

On April 16, we assembled entrepreneurs and trailblazers for a series of candid and thought-provoking conversations alongside a group of influencers, commentators, and policymakers. Dustee Jenkins, Chief Public Affairs Officer at Spotify, hosted the evening.

Spotify Tests Video-Based Learning Courses in the UK

March 25, 2024

Today we’re launching a test for video-based courses on Spotify in the U.K. We’ve partnered with educational tech companies including BBC Maestro, PLAYvirtuoso, Skillshare, and Thinkific to bring video content directly to Spotify users.

U.K. users will now find video courses for purchase alongside their favorite music, podcasts, and audiobooks. The content for courses on Spotify covers a variety of topics categorized into four main themes: make music, get creative, learn business, and healthy living, giving listeners an abundance of options to expand their knowledge.

“Testing video courses in the U.K. allows us to explore an exciting opportunity to better serve the needs of our users who have an active interest in learning,” said Babar Zafar, VP Product Development at Spotify. “Many of our users engage with podcasts and audiobooks on a daily basis for their learning needs, and we believe this highly engaged community will be interested in accessing and purchasing quality content from video course creators. At Spotify, we’re constantly striving to create new offerings for our creators and users, and having built best-in-class personalized music and podcast offerings, we look forward to exploring the potential of video-based learning on Spotify.”

With this offer, we are exploring a potential opportunity to provide educational creators with a new audience who can access their video content, reaching a bigger potential swath of engaged Spotify users while expanding our catalog. About half of Spotify Premium subscribers have engaged in education or self-help-themed podcasts.

For this test, U.K. Free users and Premium subscribers will be able to trial at least two lessons per course for free before making the decision to purchase additional lessons, which they can do on a dedicated web page.

Try it out for yourself:

On the mobile app, U.K. users will find course videos in the home and browse tabs.
Once clicked through, users can explore available courses across the four categories before purchasing them on desktop. Once purchased, the courses will be available on mobile and desktop.
On desktop: https://courses.spotify.com/home
Users can select courses they’re interested in, and upon purchase, start learning, watching on mobile app or desktop.

Learn more about our content partners:

BBC Maestro creates content to educate and inspire people to explore their creativity. Through prerecorded lessons and detailed course notes, anyone can learn a wide range of disciplines and follow in the footsteps of experts respected all over the world. www.bbcmaestro.com
PLAYvirtuoso is transforming modern music learning through artist-led courses, mentoring, and structured curriculums. PLAYvirtuoso develops artists to become inspirational educators and empower young creatives with real skills and outcomes. www.playvirtuoso.com
Skillshare is an online learning community where millions of creatives go to develop and deepen their skills. Watch thousands of creative classes in topics including design, freelance, 3D animation, entrepreneurship, photography, productivity, and more. Join today at https://join.skillshare.com/learn
Thinkific Labs Inc. is a leading platform for creating, marketing, and selling courses, digital products, communities, and learning experiences. www.thinkific.com

Update as of June 25, 2024:

Spotify has partnered with Superintelligent, an education platform that teaches anyone to use AI for work and fun, to bring new content to its courses platform for U.K. users. The partnership will bring 10 different courses and companion how-to’s that provide step-by-step instructions for using the most important AI Tools.

Spotify Europe General Manager Michael Krause Reflects on 15+ Years in Europe

October 10, 2023

When Spotify launched in Europe in 2008, the music industry—and the world at large—changed forevermore. At the time, few could have predicted that a start-up originating in Stockholm only a few years prior would grow beyond Europe to become the largest audio-streaming subscription service in the world with over 550 million users worldwide.

Since then, Spotify has innovated and expanded to incorporate podcasts, audiobooks, and the latest technology into our product. And as a result, we’ve also transformed the artist-listener relationship and impacted listening worldwide. Michael Krause has had a front-row seat to Spotify’s expansion—and the trends it’s both inspired and amplified—for quite some time, first in his role as the Managing Director for Central and Eastern Europe, and now as General Manager for Europe.

For the Record recently caught up with Michael to learn about some of the most notable changes in his markets over the last 15+ years.

Can you give us a short musical overview of the UK, Spain, France, and Sweden?

It was amazing to look back at the streaming trends over 15 years and pick up on the similarities and differences between the four countries. It’s also great to reflect on how listening habits have evolved more broadly over time and how we’ve contributed to the growth of local music.

In the U.K., 1990s nostalgia is still going strong. Britpop is high on the listening figures, with Oasis and the Arctic Monkeys as firm favorites. Unsurprisingly though, Ed Sheeran takes the crown for most-streamed British artist, second only to Drake in all-time streams. It is also great to see early British Spotify adopters including Adele, Sam Smith, and Stormzy going on to achieve massive streaming success in the U.K. market and around the world.

Meanwhile, Spain has seen a significant shift in musical taste, replacing pop music with urban Latino, a genre which has topped the charts for the past six years. The likes of Manuel Turizo and Rauw Alejandro in the top five artists reflects the South and Central American influence on Spanish music trends.

France has also experienced a shift in listening habits over the years, from international rock and pop in the earlier years to a dominance of French hip-hop and rap today. This is reflected by the market’s top five artists of all time, led by local sensation Jul. When we look at 2008, when Spotify was launched, to more recent years, we see an embracement of local musical genres, which has overtaken international music.

Sweden—the birthplace of Spotify—on the other hand, has been steadfast in its love of pop music, which has been the most-streamed genre every year since 2011. Fittingly in 2023, given the triumph at Eurovision, Swedish pop leads the way.

Are Spotify fans in these markets more interested in global top musicians, local artists, or a mix of both?

This is something that has changed over time. When Spotify launched in 2008, streaming across all markets was largely focused on international artists and those in the mainstream globally. But as time has passed, streaming for local artists has increased significantly.

Taking France as an example, the figures show that in 2008, French artists made up a very small proportion of listener streams. Jump forward ten years and the majority of France’s top 100 artists were local, something that has continued up to today.

This trend sums up why we are so proud of Spotify and what we’ve achieved over the past 15 years in Europe. The platform empowers creators to grow their audience base and allows listeners to discover a wider variety of artists, and it is fantastic to see that they are gravitating towards local talent. What’s even more interesting is seeing that these local artists can now travel beyond their own geographical or linguistic barriers—as an example, every one of two streams for a French-produced artist comes [from] outside of France. It’s quite an extraordinary achievement, one that was literally unthinkable 15 years ago. Swedish artists are also riding the wave as they are streamed more than twice as much outside of their own country.

What other notable behaviors are you seeing across the region?

There has been a notable rise in the popularity of hip-hop across all markets, and this year the genre is consistently among the top five across the U.K., Sweden, and France. Back in 2008, on the other hand, rock was the top genre across all four countries.

Another trend that stands out is the breadth and variety of genres featured in the top 10. While pop, rock, and other classics remain prominent, the likes of reggaeton, trap Latino, and permanent wave have found their way into the mix.

What about podcasting across Europe?

Podcasts continue to grow in popularity, with listening figures rising across Europe. While they have been well established in the U.K. and Germany for some time, some of the sharpest rises have come from countries newer to podcasting. In Spain, for example, podcast listens grew by 298% in 2022, and France saw a staggering 379% increase. More big influencers are successfully launching podcasts, including Hobbyloss in Germany and Canapé Six Places in France.

Can you share some of the continuing opportunities in the region?

Spotify began as a music-streaming company, and over the past 15 years we’ve evolved into a global platform for audio content. We’re always looking to create new opportunities for artists to connect with audiences across the world and shape the future of creativity.

Audiobooks is a focus area which offers significant innovation and growth potential and has large and engaged audiences in Europe. We launched audiobooks last year and recently expanded our offering to make 150,000 audiobooks available in the U.K. and Australia as part of users’ existing Spotify Premium subscriptions. The U.K. is one of the largest markets for audiobooks globally, and we know there’s similar appetite in countries like Germany. As we help connect creators with new audiences, we’ll be applying the learnings as we plan for launches in further European markets.

Meanwhile, AI has huge potential to help artists and listeners form deeper connections while expanding their reach. We’re piloting new OpenAI technology that translates podcasts into new languages in the original creator’s voice, making them accessible to listeners worldwide.

Do you have a favorite musical moment from the past 15 years? Any you’re anticipating?

One artist who has accompanied me through that time is The Streets with Mike Skinner. Especially in the pandemic—they were my most-listened-to artist according to my Wrapped. The biggest transformation over the last 15 years, which I’ve found fascinating, is that the Arctic Monkeys have gained a whole new audience through social media and now have several songs with over 1 billion plays.

One thing that I’m looking forward to the most is the comeback of Blink-182 with their new album. The pre-save version of it is already available on Spotify.

What’s the importance of Europe for Spotify as you celebrate this milestone?

We’re really proud that we’ve been a pioneer in so many aspects and that we’ve built this in Europe and have remained in Europe. The journey has been amazing, and we’re growing fast in Europe. Music and audio is such a universal use case. Every person from a newborn to members of the older population finds joy in music. And our platform has room for everyone.

With the phenomenal level of engagement that we have on our platform in Europe, we see lots of opportunities for sustainable and profitable growth. We’re going to continue to expand and build upon the Advertising business, our Free and Premium music product, and in Podcasts. Europe is our single biggest source of revenue, and with the opportunities ahead we think it can remain so.

From Heathrow to ‘Heartstopper,’ GLOW Artist Baby Queen is on a Musical Journey All Her Own

September 21, 2023

Bella Latham has long believed in her songwriting and composing abilities—even when it took others longer to recognize and amplify her talents. As a 10-year-old in Durban, South Africa, she learned to play piano by ear, and created compositions which she would then memorize and play repeatedly. She also wrote poetry that translated well to lyrics. After high school, she moved to London to pursue music, where she developed her first project, Baby Queen.

“I came to London with a suitcase and 20 demo CDs, and nobody gave a shit because they were really bad,” she explained to For the Record. “I realized how difficult it was going to be to actually succeed. So, I decided, in order to do that, I had to get a lot better, work a lot harder, and really lean into what was unique about me. I did that, I found the sound, and then Baby Queen was born.”

In those early days, finding the sound came quickly, but Baby Queen didn’t quite have an audience. Everything changed after the artist was featured heavily in the hit Netflix series Heartstopper, which follows two high school boys who fall for each other, and who have the full support and love of their families and group of LGBTQIA+ friends and allies. The show was resonant for Bella, who had struggled for a long time to name and accept her own queer sexuality.

Heartstopper fans quickly fell in love with Baby Queen’s raw, honest lyrics and built a strong, intimate, and fun relationship with the artist. (Fans recently made a now-favorite meme of hers, which features an inhaler marked with her most recent single, “Quarter Life Crisis,” symbolizing its vitality to their physical well-being.)

This month, Baby Queen is also Spotify’s GLOW spotlight artist and part of our year-round campaign. We’ll support Baby Queen on our flagship GLOW playlist, as well as through billboards and other efforts. This comes ahead of the November release of Baby Queen’s first studio album. She spoke with For the Record about her GLOW ambassadorship, fans, and Heartstopper.

Baby Queen is a lyrically focused project. What is it about Baby Queen lyrics that resonate so strongly with your fans?

When I started releasing music as Baby Queen, I hadn’t been in love—or falling out of love—for two years prior to that. A lot of music is about relationships, but that’s not what I had to draw from during this time. It gives you the most feeling and the greatest urge to sit down and write music. So it’s been difficult, not having any of that.

But during this time, I’ve really looked at myself and my face in the mirror and tried to unpack things about myself and tried to be very honest. I really love being so honest that the listener might hear it and feel uncomfortable, or say “Oh, did she really just say that?” And I think the reason people have connected to it is because I just have been really honest about some of the really difficult experiences I’ve had and the difficult parts of growing up and society and the world that we live in. I think that my music is something that young people can listen to and feel like they are being heard, or like the thoughts in their mind are being said out loud.

What are Baby Queen fans like?

They’re really similar to me. That’s been really amazing because I feel less alone by finding this community. They’re really funny, they have great emotional depth, and they think about life deeply. They’re overthinkers. They’re people just like me, who have struggled, and felt alone, and a lot of them are part of the LGBTQIA+ community. I feel there are a lot of them who are trying to find their way through life and find out where they belong. And I feel like we’ve almost been doing that together, which has been amazing.

How does music empower queer communities?

In your upbringing as a queer person, you can feel quite isolated. And you’re quite lucky if you’re living in a metropolitan city and there are more versions of “you” that you can relate to. But most queer people are born in small towns and don’t have that. So finding an artist you really connect with, or a TV show or anything, opens up an entire world. That’s what queer artists like Haley Kiyoko and Troye Sivan were to me. When I was struggling with my queer identity when I was younger, I felt like there was something wrong with me, I felt a bit trapped. Music provides an escape, a hope, a dream, to express your identity and live the life you want to live.

Speaking of TV shows, your music has been featured in Netflix’s ***Heartstopper*. What has that relationship and its impact been like?**

Really surreal. It has been a really natural organic pairing. They—Patrick, the producer and Alice, the writer of the books—heard one of my songs on a playlist and invited me down to watch the first three episodes. I had no idea what it was or what it would become. But I wrote “Colours of You” for the first series. And after that it felt like I could breathe a sigh of relief for the first time in my career.

The week when the show came out last year was the most insane. We were all in shock that music could be so directly linked and have such a spillover from the fandom into the soundtrack of a show, so it’s been surreal.

What does it mean to GLOW?

What it means to GLOW is to radiate. I feel like people really glow when they are doing what they love and free themselves of all fear and overthinking and can really immerse themselves in the present and doing something they love. People radiate the most when they’re talking about something they’re really passionate about. That’s when someone genuinely physically glows.

I feel like the moment I glow the most is when I’m on stage. Because I’m not thinking about anything other than being immersed, in that moment of doing what I love.

Stream Baby Queen on the flagship GLOW playlist.