As its competitors try to steal the streaming crown, Spotify is taking steps to engage and support its massive community of independent artists.
Today, Spotify surprised its talent community by revealing a brand new partnership program for independent artists! Centered around the Fresh Finds playlist, the program focuses on helping developing artists learn, collaborate, and grow, giving them the tools for long-term, sustained career success.
The Fresh Finds playlist is often the very first level of Spotify playlisting for independent artists, serving as a launchpad for many artists who have gone on to wide mainstream success — Clairo, Omar Apollo, Curtis Waters, 100 gecs, Amine, and countless more.
Since its debut in 2016, Fresh Finds has playlisted over 25,000 artists, with their average monthly listeners increasing by 108% in the 28-days following the add, compared to the previous 28-days. For artists whose first Spotify editorial playlist is Fresh Finds, over 44% go on to be added to another editorial playlist on Spotify.
The four artists that join the initial ‘class’ of the Fresh Finds program are Wallice, Unusual Demont, Julia Wolf and EKKSTACY. These up-and-comers will be provided with a substantial suite of opportunities including…
- Education & Access to Resources: Each artist will have access to an array of tools and opportunities to accelerate their careers, including personalized Masterclasses and mentorship, credits to use on Spotify for Artists resources (Marquee and SoundBetter’s Canvas designer category), and more.
- Creative Collaboration: The artists will be given the opportunity to each create an original song that will be released in June under the Spotify Singles banner. Spotify’s Songwriter & Publishing Noteable team has paired the four artists with producers who understand each of their unique visions:
- EKKSTACY to be paired with Jonny Pierce of The Drums
- Unusual Demont to be paired with The Idiot
- Wallice to be paired with marinelli x Ariel Rechtshaid
- Julia Wolf to be paired with Jackson Foote
- Marketing Support: The four artists will be featured in a major marketing campaign on-and-off platform, as well as taking part in a social media documentary series, Spotify Clips, and more.
“Independent artists are at the forefront of what’s next in music,” says Rachel Ring, Music Marketing Manager at Spotify. “It’s vital that we continue to create space and opportunities for this wide-ranging group of artists, meet them where they are, provide tools for them to have agency over their careers, and give them a voice in our marketing campaigns.”
Over the span of six to eight weeks, artists in the program have access to one-on-one mentorship with members of Spotify and a personalized Masterclass to learn how to best use Spotify for Artists tools (like Canvas and Marquee). There will also be collaboration opportunities with songwriters and producers set up in partnership with Noteable, Spotify’s Songwriter and Publishing Relations team. At the end of the program, each of the four groups of artists and producers/songwriters will release an original Spotify Singles track. The collaboration process will be documented through a social content series so fans can follow along as the tracks are created and see the songs come to life.
“It was important for us to build an ecosystem around the artists we’re working with to ensure they have the tools, resources, and support they need to succeed in the short and long term,” continues Rachel. “At the end of this program we want our Fresh Finds artists to leave with a fluency in Spotify’s tools, a connection with other creators, growth across a wide range of new fans, and deeper engagement within their existing fan base.”
As part of the launch, Spotify will also be launching 13 new regional Fresh Finds playlists in Brazil, Spain, Australia/ NZ, UK/IE, Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore/ Malaysia, Vietnam, India, Italy, Germany/Switzerland/Austria, South Korea and Turkey, to further our mission of helping developing artists find a global fanbase.
