Spotify launches EQUAL: A Global, always-on commitment dedicated to women creators

Dubai: Spotify is launching EQUAL - Spotify’s new global commitment dedicated to fostering equity for women in audio and celebrating their contributions. Spotify EQUAL will shine a spotlight on women artists ocally, regionally, and internationally through global partnerships, activations, new content experiences, and on and off platform support. To hear more, check out this video manifesto.

Back in November 2020, Spotify launched SAWTIK, its inaugural women-in-music initiative for the Middle East and North Africa to amplify the voices of emerging female artists. Under EQUAL, SAWTIK artists will be given the opportunity to have their art celebrated and recognized on a global stage.

The full EQUAL campaign includes:

• Celebrating women creators around the world, with the launch of EQUAL Hub, takeovers of flagship Spotify playlists and partner playlists.
  • The EQUAL Hub is a dedicated space on-platform to highlight women creators and allow fans to seamlessly stream their music and podcasts. It will extend beyond the month of March and is programmed globally.
  • Over 200 of our top Spotify playlists like Today’s Top Hits, Viva Latino and Modus Mio will feature women on all of their playlist covers to celebrate and amplify awareness on platform and ensure that even more fans have the opportunity to listen.
  • Spotify playlists like Women of Arab Music, SAWTIK and Iconic Arab Women will represent the Arab female artists in the EQUAL Hub.

• Amplifying stories from women with WOMN, a new music + talk show with episodes released throughout the day on March 8. A diverse group of women creators, influencers and cultural figures will discuss women-centered content and share their personal reflections on music that inspired them. Encouraging others to listen to more women too. The dynamic voices include Tokimonsta, Jenny Lorenzo, Spotify’s Dope Labs hosts, Titi Shodiya and Zakiya Whately, Jazzmyne Robbins and more.
• Supporting women voices with our new invite-only EQUAL Board. Made up of 15 organizations from around the world, Spotify’s EQUAL Board will provide each organization a one-time grant and work together on tangible ways to make the audio industry more equitable for women creators.
• Engaging fans by encouraging them to ‘Flex Their Power to Listen’ and to play more women, no matter the day. With data driven social videos, highlighting the breath of content on Spotify created by women. And also with social share cards, empowering fans to share their own personal recommendations of women creators.
• Extending our commitment to women creators beyond March. In April, Spotify is launching the EQUAL music program, fostering equity for women, in 50 countries from Japan to Argentina and from Malaysia to the UK. It will also continue to build on the success of programs like Sound Up and EQL that provide new opportunities for women creators in audio.

As the world’s most popular audio streaming subscription service, Spotify takes its responsibility of highlighting and amplifying women voices seriously by curating top audio destinations for women artists with global playlists for fans from all over the world to discover.

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About Spotify

Spotify transformed music listening forever when it launched in 2008. Discover, manage and share over 70 million tracks, for free, or upgrade to Spotify Premium to access exclusive features for music including improved sound quality and an on-demand, offline, and ad-free listening experience. Today, Spotify is the world’s most popular audio streaming subscription service with 345m users, including 155m subscribers, across 170 markets.

© Press Release 2021