PROMUSICAE TAKES PART IN THE 15th ANNIVERSARY OF SPOTIFY
06-11-2023
● Some days ago, Spotify celebrated in their premises in Madrid its 15th anniversary with an event in which the company shared its main history milestones ● The event counted on the attendance of Spotify's Melanie Parejo, Head of Music for South and East Europe and Eduardo Alonso, Head of Podcast for South and East Europe, accompanied by Antonio Guisasola, president of PROMUSICAE. ● Streaming, main music consumption format: since 2008, Spain has experience an increase of 3,800% in plays (an annual rise of 37%) ● Almost a third of Spotify users in Spain listened to, at least, one podcast during last month
Last 23rd October Spotify, the biggest audio streaming company worldwide, celebrated its 15th anniversary from launch in Spain in their premises in Madrid. During the event, Spotify shared their milestones along its history in both music industry and podcasts, as well as in other audio formats.
During the event, Melanie Parejo, Spotify’s Head of Music for South and East Europe, and Antonio Guisasola, president of PROMUSICAE, talked about the evolution of music industry in Spain for the last 15 years. For his part, Spotify’s Eduardo Alonso, Head of Podcast for South and East Europe, covered Spotify's main benchmarks in podcasting and how the industry has evolved until the consolidation of podcast as one of current main entertainment formats.
Spotify and its contribution to Spanish music industry
At the beginning of 2000's music industry was bogged down in a critical moment, either in Spain or the world. From listening to CD and vinyl there was a switch to a kind of listening based on shared files on peer-to-peer networks. Likewise, the IFPI Digital Music Report 2008 pointed out that, at a European level, Spain is the country with more illegal downloads, with 35% of users downloading music illegally. Until in 2008 Daniel El and Martin Lorentzon launched Spotify, reinventing once and for all the music industry. The company, with its "freemium" model, offered a solution to the music industry in Spain, democratising access and music distribution with a ground-breaking business model.
So much so that 15 years later, streaming is the main format for music consumption in Spain. According to the platform data, since 2008 Spain has experienced an increase in reproductions of 3,800% (an annual rise of 37%).
Besides, thanks to Spotify and to streaming, music and artists have got a reach more and more global. In fact, there are more than 680 Spanish acts who have reached one million plays monthly since 2008. A trend that necessarily moves to the number of Spanish artists in the platform, growing to 70,400 (which means a 2,300% rice, from 2,800 initial number).
“These 15 years bookmark a decade and half of democratising access to music in Spain and Europe. In Spotify we have prioritise the support to artists and content creators, offering them opportunities to make their dream a profession, thanks to their huge talent. We have created lots of tools and special programmes devoted to help them reach a global audience and develop their careers", declared Melanie Parejo, Head of Music for South and East Europe. "Also, the platform has had a significant impact in the way people in Spain discover new music and introduce it to their everyday life thanks to customised playlists, curated lists and AI functions”.
“In Spain, market drops up to 68% were being accumulated in 2008. However, the arrival of Spotify was a moment of celebration. It came as an alternative for consuming and enjoying music legally. Indeed, the expectations of main actors of the music industry were the highest", stated Antonio Guisasola, president of PROMUSICAE. “Now, after 15 years, we have seen that the model has worked and has achieved to coexist with other formats. The arrival of Spotify was a change of paradigm, and the education of users, artists and even the industry has been key to its current success", he added.
Recent years: committed to talent, driver of last years’ success
Last years, Spotify has launched two key projects in Spain to reinforce its support to artists to let them make a living out of music: RADAR and EQUAL.
RADAR was introduced in Spain in 2020 with the aim of supporting emerging artists, taking advantage of Spotify's cultural impact and relevance. Since then, RADAR has given voice and made grow a multitude of Spanish emerging artists, among them Quevedo, Morad, María José Llergo or Jimena Amarillo. Besides, this year's project had four Spanish artists: Yarea, Queralt Lahoz, Marta Santos and Paula Koops, adding some months later Saiko.
On its side, EQUAL is the global Spotify initiative, celebrating its second anniversary, which aims at promoting genre equality in music and bringing the spotlight female artists deserve all over the world. A programme that works on the removal of the genre gap existent in the music industry so that women such as artists, composers and producers have the representation and visibility they deserve in the sector.
This year Spotify decided to rise the volume and bring EQUAL to the streets, holding the Spotify EQUAL Fest at Wizink Center on 22nd September, with the performances of Lola Indigo, Nathy Peluso, Ptazeta, Natalia Lacunza and Judeline, as well as other starring appearances by Ana Mena, Ginebras, Paula Cendejas and Zahara, and two sessions of DJ Toccororo.
"To us, promoting music discovery is key. If we can get that thanks to initiatives as EQUAL more women are listened to, we shall also get that other artists have more opportunities and, ultimately, contribute to a more equitable industry. Although there is still a lot to be done, we are certain that initiatives such as EQUAL contribute to building an industry that represents, include and celebrate the women's voices", stated Melanie Parejo, Head of Music for South and East Europe of Spotify.
Podcast: history of the upsurge of a unique audio format
In February 2019, Daniel Ek, founder and CEO at Spotify, disclosed the 'audio-first' strategy, making visible the future of Spotify of becoming the biggest audio streaming company, and building an ever more solid business model for the brand. Since then, during the last years Spotify has settled down as leader in podcast listening, with a catalogue of over 5 million podcast titles (from which more than 1 million are in Spanish) in more than 170 markets. From break grounding tools and functions to the investment in original and exclusive podcasts, the company's efforts have made podcast to grow at an incredible pace for the last 5 years.
And in our country, according to recent Spotify data, almost a third of users listened to at least one podcast during last month. In addition to that, Spotify has gone from hardly more than 10 million podcast listeners in 2018 to more than 100 million currently in the world, getting to grow ten times its initial figure.
Besides, Spotify has not stopped investing and launching new and pioneer tools to support podcast creators, also keys for the development of the industry. An example of this is Spotify for Podcasters: launched in 2019, it allows creators to know detailed podcast's consumption and demographics, keeping track of aspects such as the average listening time and the total number of listeners, among other relevant figures. Furthermore, another tool marking a turning point in monetising podcast is Megaphone, arriving in 2021 to offer podcasters the opportunity to access to functions allowing to generate more revenues. These are only a few of most relevant launches along the years, fulfilling Spotify's mission of building the best home for creators.
“All these milestones have made the podcast industry grow and have allowed us to position at the point we stand today. We'll continue with our increasing stake for podcasts, with the aim of bringing them to new audiences, creators, and brands, and building new solid podcasts' consumption habits. At the end, in Spotify we try every day to be the best place for creators, whether be they professionals or emergent, to prosper and make their careers grow", declared Eduardo Alonso, Head of Podcast for South and East Europe at Spotify.
The lists
To complete this time travel, Spotify has created a special section to commemorate its 15th anniversary: click here to access. Besides, down below are the most played songs, artists, and podcasts of last 15 years:
Last 15 years Top 10 Spotify's most played Spanish artists in Spain:
- 1. Quevedo
- 2. C. Tangana
- 3. Melendi
- 4. Aitana
- 5. ROSALÍA
- 6. Juan Magán
- 7. Estopa
- 8. Pablo Alborán
- 9. Beret
- 10. Omar Montes
Last 15 years Top 10 Spotify's most played songs in Spain:
- 1. “Quevedo: Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 52” - Bizarrap, Quevedo
- 2. “La Bachata” - Manuel Turizo
- 3. “Todo De Ti” - Rauw Alejandro
- 4. “Me Rehúso” - Danny Ocean
- 5. “DÁKITI” - Bad Bunny, Jhayco
- 6. “Tusa” - KAROL G, Nicki Minaj
- 7. “Mon Amour - Remix” - Aitana, zzoilo
- 8. “Tú Me Dejaste De Querer” - C. Tangana, La Húngara, Niño de Elche
- 9. “China” - Anuel AA, Daddy Yankee, J Balvin, KAROL G, Ozuna
- 10.“Yonaguni” - Bad Bunny
Top 10 Spotify's most played podcasts in Spain:
- 1. “Entiende Tu Mente”
- 2. “Nadie Sabe Nada”
- 3. “The Wild Project”
- 4.“AM”
- 5. “El Podcast de Marian Rojas Estapé”
- 6. “Estirando el chicle”
- 7. “Las noticias de la SER”
- 8. “La Pija y la Quinqui”
- 9. “Esta no te la sabes”
- 10. “Historia de España para selectividad”
Top 5 Spotify's most played podcast categories in Spain:
- 1. Comedy and entertainment
- 2. Wellness and mental health
- 3. Educational content
- 4. News and information
- 5. True Crime
Click here to download the infographics.
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