Last month Spotify unveiled its EQUAL hub in celebration of International Women’s Day. On the heels of this launch, Spotify will now extend its global commitment to fostering equity for women in music with its new EQUAL Music Program.
The global initiative is uniquely designed to foster gender equity in music by adapting and extending the cumulative blueprint of Spotify’s successful programs into a cohesive experience – supporting women creators of all experiences under one brand.
Only one in five artists in the charts are women, a stark contrast to how integral women’s influence is to Spotify’s success today and the music industry at large.
Spotify takes the responsibility of upending these disparities seriously, and believes the first step towards amplifying the work of all creators identifying as women is to extend critical resources to this community to create opportunity.
The full program includes:
- EQUAL local playlists: Each playlist will reflect the 35 markets spanning 50+ countries – from Japan to Argentina, from Malaysia to the UK.
- EQUAL Global Playlist: The “best-of” flagship playlist will contain music from EQUAL artists from all around the world, as the ultimate listening experience amplifying the EQUAL class of each month beyond borders
- EQUAL Artists of the Month: One artist from each participating market will be featured on the cover of their respective, local playlist
- Artist marketing: Each EQUAL Artist of the Month will be supported with organic and on-platform promotion throughout the Spotify editorial space – which has proven to propel significant growth on platform in both artists’ home countries and beyond
- Created By Women Playlist: The co-branded EQUAL + NOTEABLE playlist is the first of its kind, which will feature 40 songs 100 per cent written, produced, and performed exclusively by women songwriters, producers, and artists from around the world. The new playlist will give fans a new dedicated place to discover music from a host of talented creators with diverse perspectives.
- EQUAL Board: A network of organizations joining forces with Spotify to empower women around the world including: She’s the Music (US), Girls Rock Australia Network (Australia), She Said So (Italy), MEWEM Europa (Europe), Girls Connected (Canada), Music Women (Germany)
- EQUAL Directory re-launch: Spotify is partnering with SoundGirls, to relaunch the EQUAL Directory, formally EQL Directory. The Directory allows women of all experiences and gender nonconforming creators to create a profile and claim their space in the community of women changing the game in audio. You can search The EQUAL Directory by region and audio discipline to find suitable candidates to hire for your next tours and events, studio projects, Film and TV Production, Game Audio, Post Production, Podcasts, and more.
Spotify’s inaugural class of EQUAL artists kicking off the program include: TKay Maidza (AU&NZ) Saweetie (US), DUDA BEAT (BR), Griff (UK), Natalia Lafourcade (MX), and Zoe Wees (DE/UK) – Global Artist of the Month.
Maidza, a Zimbabwean-born singer and rapper who grew up in Adelaide said, “women are standing up and claiming that’s theirs, Spotify is always innovative and mindful – making sure that their artists and audience know they care about them. So it’s an honour to be picked as an equal artist among so many talented women.”
“Being an African Australian woman there weren’t a lot of people I could look up to growing up. I often thought being an outlier was a bad thing. We need more alternative people at the front so we can eliminate outdated standards.”
US rapper Saweetie (pictured) said, “as a female artist working in the music, we have to work twice as hard as men just to get the recognition we deserve not to mention having to deal with societal pressures and sexism associated with just being a woman.”
“Increased equity in music for female creators is important to me because we contribute and give so much of ourselves to our craft and the overall industry that at minimum our voices merit equal representation on the platforms we consume. Together with EQUAL, I hope to bring more awareness to the diverse talent that women of all backgrounds bring to our lives, shedding a light and creating a stage for all our voices to be heard.”
