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Source: Le Bureau Export.
Source: Le Bureau Export.

Spotify seems to have lost its way, dismissing global music and focusing on heading North

The giant audio streaming platform gives the cold shoulder to local music and focuses on Podcasting business.

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When the Global Cultures initiative was born in September 2018, its primary purpose was to transform non-western hits into a worldwide sensation. However, it seems that they have abandoned the idea less than a year later, according to Rolling Stone's musical sources.

The beginning of the end appears to have been when one of the leading managers for the Project, Rocío Guerrero, moved from Spotify to Warner. Soon afterward, the teamwork dedicated to global culture was disbanded, according to three music sources consulted by the magazine.

However, Spotify insists that having a network of international experts in each region - rather than a small core team - will help them adequately broadcast local music.

Who is feeding the non-western playlists?

"We're behind the curve," stated a music industry source to the magazine, talking about untouchable playlists such as African Heat o Dancehall Official - 50.000 and 800.000 followers, respectively.

The lack of new music is only the tip of the iceberg, said Julian Jones Griffith, representative of Jamaican dancehall.

"Spotify may try to justify their lack of attention to our genres because of the relatively low streaming numbers they generate for the most part, but I would say that's because they aren't giving our music a fair shot." 

The Podcasting' big' business 

Spotify has earmarked up to $500 million this year thanks to podcast-related businesses, and they are planning to create thousands of original podcasts series next year, according to the Los Angeles Times.

In fact, the social streamer company has more than 45.000 podcasts series nowadays.

"Becoming the most listened audio network means that we needed to expand from just being a music platform to incorporating other types of audio, entertainment, and information on the platform," said Spotify's Chief Content Officer, Dawn Ostroff to the newspaper.

Companies are not supposed to always be NGOs, but taking a chance on cultural projects across borders should be a MUST for a platform that calls itself a "worldwide net." Otherwise, how could local music become a profitable business?

The date is open now. The Spotify radar only seems to point North.

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