What you need to know
- Spotify is today launching a brand new Fresh Finds program for independent artists.
- It is based on the success of the Fresh Finds playlist and will help independent artists by providing education and resources as well as opportunities for collaboration.
- Spotify is also rolling out new regional Fresh Finds playlists in countries including the UK, Australia, Brazil, Spain, India, and more.
Spotify is today announcing a brand new Fresh Finds program to support independent artists, building on the success of its Fresh Finds playlist.
The program will focus on helping up-and-coming independent artists to collaborate and grow in the industry to help them find long-term career success. Over the course of six to eight weeks, artists will have the chance to access one-to-one mentorship with members of Spotify and will receive a personalized masterclass on using Spotify for Artist tools like Canvas and Marquee. Each artist will also get to collaborate with songwriters and producers in partnership with Noteable. At the end of the program, each artist will release an original Spotify Singles Track, with social content along the way to document the process.
"Independent artists are at the forefront of what's next in music," said 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."
Spotify has announced the first four artists taking part, including one name you might be quite familiar with. They are California artist Wallice, Wisconsin native Unusual Demont, Canadian singer-songwriter EKKSTACY, and Queens artist Julia Wolf.
You might recognize Wolf, who was the star not only of this incredible Mac Pro review from YouTube's Jonathan Morrison, but also the absolute bop that was the MagSafe song, recorded again with Morrison back when the iPhone 12 was released. Wolf and Morrison spoke to us in an interview last October, which you can read here.
Wolf has since shot to fame with the release of her single Hoops last year, and she'll be working with producer Jackson Foote on her collaboration for Spotify. Speaking to iMore, Wolf said "I'm beyond grateful and excited to be a part of this campaign. Being independent has taught me so much about myself and the vision I'm trying to bring to life through my music. To have Spotify believe in what I'm doing too means the world to me."
Spotify says it doesn't have formalized qualification criteria for the program, Ring stating they were instead based on "gut instincts" on "what we think is the beginning of an amazing career."
Spotify is also releasing 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."
The Spotify Singles made in collaboration with the first four artists on the program will drop on June 23.
