@SpotifySA Debuts #AfroHub #SpotifySouthAfrica #AfricanMusic

Hi Friends,

As part of Spotify’s newest Global Cultures initiative, designed to promote and bring to the surface culturally diverse music, Spotify today announced the launch of a new Afro Hub. Spotify’svision for Global Cultures is to connect audiences, bringing cultures from around the world into your playlist, opening a lens into fresh parts of this small world.

Focused on delivering relevant content, the Global Cultures editorial team initiated this global plan with the Latin and Desi hubs followed by today’s launch of the Afro Hub.

This much-anticipated hub celebrates and honors the African culture as well as it’s widely known and loved music. It’s our mission to uncover every layer of this ancient, expressive and rhythmic musical culture which is an important component of today’s mainstream, modern music. Comprised of a variety of different styles, African music has influenced genres in the U.S. and abroad for centuries.

Afro Hub will include multiple tiers of content featuring news, podcasts, and playlists. A few examples of the hub’s playlists include: African Heat (Top Hits); Peppeh (Early Bets); Gold Mine(Classics) and We Everywhere (X-Overs / Diaspora Hits), as well as playlists highlighting the continent’s best tracks within continental shelves (ex. West Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa).

The hub will also offer unique content including playlist takeovers from artists like Major Lazer, Wizkid, Jacob Banks, Burna Boy, and Bas & Mereba, and podcasts by Jesus & Jollof feat. Yvonne Orji and Luvvie Ajayi, some of the best African creators of today.

Visit Spotify’s Afro Hub here: http://spoti.fi/Afro
*****Read our FTR post for a more in-depth look at the Global Cultures initiative****

 

Cheers!!!

Contact me at thelifesway@gmail.com to collaborate on your products, events, and services. #TheLifesWay #PhotoYatra! 

It’s Beginning To Look a Lot Like #Christmas... on @SpotifySA #SpotifySouthAfrica

Hi Friends,

With more than 21 million Christmas-themed playlists on Spotify, it’s safe to say our listeners have a healthy appetite for holiday music.

But how early do they start listening to it? Depending on where you are in the world, there’s a good chance you’ve already begun.

Most countries start to hit play on holiday hits in November, with the first big spike in listening happening around December 1st. (We’ve determined that a country is officially festive once Christmas tracks make up more than 2 percent of all listening in the region).

According to our data, the Philippines is always first out of the gate and cranks up the Yuletide tunes as early as September. Makes sense; the country kicks off a bevy of Christmas-related festivities that month. And while Filipinos can’t get enough of holiday songs from Michael Bublé, Mariah Carey and Ariana Grande this time of year, they also love local veteran singer Jose Mari Chan, whose song “Christmas In Our Hearts” is a favorite in the region.

But not everyone is impatient for Christmas music; some countries like Argentina and Uruguay wait until Christmas Day itself to start listening.

(For an embeddable graphic representation of how streaming kicks into high gear around the world based on 2017 data, go here).

Enjoy our top lists of the songs and artists bringing in the Christmas spirit year after year around the world; it’s a mix of the tried-and-true holiday classics from the likes of Frank Sinatra and Brenda Lee, to more contemporary artists like Ariana Grande, Michael Bublé, and Justin Bieber.

Top 10 Christmas Songs Globally:

1. Mariah Carey - All I Want For Christmas is You
2. Wham! - Last Christmas
3. Michael Bublé - It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas
4. Andy Williams - It’s The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
5. Brenda Lee-Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree
6. Bobby Helms - Jingle Bell Rock
7. Band Aid - Do They Know It’s Christmas?
8. Bing Crosby - White Christmas
9. John Lennon - Happy Xmas (War is Over)
10. Frank Sinatra - Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

Top 10 artists streamed in Christmas-themed playlists, globally:

1. Michael Bublé
2. Bing Crosby
3. Frank Sinatra
4. Mariah Carey
5. Pentatonix
6. Nat King Cole
7. Ariana Grande
8. Elvis Presley
9. Andy Williams
10. Justin Bieber

To get into the festive spirit, check out some of Spotify’s favorite holiday-themed playlists, like Christmas Classics, Christmas Pop, Christmas Jazzand Hanukkah. And on November 19th, look out for Spotify Singles: Christmas Collection, a playlist of holiday covers performed and recorded in Spotify studios around the globe by artists like John Legend, Meghan Trainor and Paloma Faith. 

Cheers!!!

Contact me at thelifesway@gmail.com to collaborate on your products, events, and services. #TheLifesWay #PhotoYatra!

New Ways To Creatively Express Yourself @SpotifySA #Music #SpotifySouthAfrica

Hi Friends, 

 

In 2018, gone are the days of handwritten love letters, sitting hunched over a radio playing a tug of war between ‘record’ and ‘stop’ to create the perfect mixtape, or diligently copying down the lyrics of a favourite song to share with someone special.

While technology may have taken us into a new era there is no reason why we still can’t express our feelings creatively, especially with the rise of music streaming services like Spotify, which have made listening to and sharing music simpler and less time consuming.

While the modern-day mixtape may take on the form of a specially curated playlist - now you can take this a step further by creating a playlist that spells out exactly how you feel or want to say simply using song titles.

Whether you want to ask someone out, apply for a job (this could work as a great covering letter), pop the question, announce there’s a baby on the way, help a friend through a tough time or simply let someone special know you’re thinking of them – the options are endless, and with a catalogue of over 35 million tracks on Spotify there’s a song to spell out any message.

To get you started, if you want to tell someone how much you love them, pick a few song titles that spell out how you feel and arrange them in a playlist to form one beautiful sentence.

Have some fun with your love note. Once you have created a new playlist, add a fun description of the compilation by leaving some blanks, in the description, in the form of numbers so that the recipient fills in the missing words using the associated song titles in the playlist, to read out the love note.

For example, spell out the message in the description placeholder using the playlist below:

‘’I really want to share this with 1 (the one I love) as you are the 2 (love of my life) and I know that I was 3 (made for you) because I really 4 (can’t help falling in love), this is just 5 (the way you make me feel) always!’’

1. The One I Love – R.E.M
2. Love Of My Life - Queen
3. Made For You – Banky W
4. Can’t Help Falling In Love – Elvis Presley
5. The Way You Make Me Feel – Michael Jackson

Take it one step further and pop the big question with a creative playlist proposal.

Title your playlist: I have a question for you? And indicate in the descriptor that the song titles spell out a message, then list the tracks in the following order and share the link to the playlist with your significant other. Turn it into a collaborative playlist and eagerly await the answer.

· I Just Called to Say I Love You
· You’re the One that I want
· Spend My Life With You
· I Have a Question
· Marry Me
· What’s your Answer?

For more inspiration visit Spotify Browse/ Romance for a selection of curated playlists that cover timeless love song classics, to wedding to heartbreak playlists, something to span all occasions of the heart. Download the Spotify app via the Android or iOS app store or by heading to www.spotify.com - to embed Spotify into a website - right click on any playlist, go to 'share' and copy embed code.

#SpotifySouthAfrica - Facebook: @Spotify |Twitter: @SpotifySA | Instagram: @spotify

 

Cheers!!!

Contact me at thelifesway@gmail.com to collaborate on your products, events, and services. #TheLifesWay #PhotoYatra!

On @SpotifySA Playlists Have No Borders - Broadening Reach for Local Artists #SpotifySouthAfrica

Hi Friends,

The launch of Spotify, the largest global music streaming subscription service, into South Africa in March provided a ‘game-changing’ opportunity for the local music industry, according to Claudius Boller, Spotify MD for Middle East & Africa.

Globally, Spotify has enhanced the way artists connect with music fans by introducing individual artists and their music to millions of people around the world. With a worldwide community of over 180 million music fans across 65 countries, the introduction of Spotify to the South African market extends the potential global reach for local artists. The benefits of having a dedicated local music curator on board for South Africa has ensured that local artists are supported across Spotify - promoting these artists to a broad audience who otherwise may not have been exposed to South African talent.

This was the case with South African megastar AKA, where tracks from his latest sell-out album Touch My Blood, featured on global Spotify playlist We Everywhere. To date, AKA’s Beyoncé track holds the highest first-day streaming record for a South African single, in the country.

A key feature of Spotify’s commitment to artists and their careers is Spotify for Artists, a powerful free resource for artists and their managers to track the global performance of their music in real time. In this way, artists can better understand and build their audiences, with invaluable statistical data and insights into who is listening to their music, which music is performing the best, and where those fans are located.

With this resource, artists can access a range of analytics including; the demographics of their listening audience, listeners’ anonymized geographical locations, similar artists that their fans listen to, the number of real-time listeners, song performance data, playlist data and playlist notifications.

Spotify for Artists provides the analytical support that artists need to optimize their performance and focus on doing what they do best - creating music to share with fans around the world. This data provides strategic insight to direct how artists promote themselves and the potential to explore different market and audiences based on who is listening to their music.

The latest data reflects that local artists such as DJ Maphorisa have more Spotify listeners in Paris, Toronto, London, Montreal, and New York than in Johannesburg while most of Babes Wodumo’s Spotify listeners come from Los Angeles, London, Mexico City, Chicago, and New York. Nasty C’s key Spotify listenership originates from Paris, Toronto, London, Montreal, and New York, with additional listeners in Japan and Mexico, which certainly helped propel his latest track King to the spot of second highest first-day streaming record for a South African track since launch. Most streamed South African female artist Shekhinah, also has listeners in the US, Canada, and Sweden among her top 10 listener countries. Overall Jeremy Loops is the most streamed South African artist since launching.*

Educational empowerment is a key focus of the Spotify for Artists platform, with a host of useful and informative video and editorial content to better understand Spotify, music streaming and the music industry in general. The Spotify community, made up of industry experts and musicians, has a wealth of music industry knowledge. To ensure this knowledge is accessible to artists at all stages of their career, Spotify for Artists launched The Game Plan, an original video drawing on the expertise of the Spotify community, to provide tips, tools, and strategies that can help artists build their careers, both on and off the Spotify platform.

The Spotify for Artists platform launched in April 2017 and has since expanded to include a variety of new features and analytics updates and is constantly improving and developing new products and services to better suit the needs of artists at all stages of their career. The Spotify for Artists app also recently launched on both iOS and Android platforms, improving the real-time access for artists allowing them to directly control their profiles from their phones, wherever they are.

Download the Spotify app via the Android or iOS app store or by heading to www.spotify.com - to embed Spotify into a website - right click on any playlist, go to 'share' and copy the embed code.

#SpotifySouthAfrica - Facebook: @Spotify |Twitter: @SpotifySA | Instagram: @spotify

 

Cheers!!!

Contact me at thelifesway@gmail.com to collaborate on your campaigns. #TheLifesWay #PhotoYatra!

Enjoy A Proudly South African Celebration with @SpotifySA #HeritageDay #SpotifySouthAfrica

Hi Friends,

Monday, 24 September marks the 23rd annual celebration of Heritage Day in South Africa. Also known as National Braai Day or Braai4Heritage, over the years, it has evolved to become more inclusive of South Africa’s growing diversity.

We can all see it already, the sun, braai stands, chops sizzling and some of the best local tracks playing in the background. To celebrate, Spotify has curated playlists that celebrate our local music heritage.

The playlists Made in South Africa and SA Gold, featuring artists such as Johnny Clegg, Brenda Fassie, Gold Fish, Nasty C, Shekhinah and more, are a great way to celebrate our country’s diversity through one of the biggest unifiers: music.

Download the Spotify app via the Android or iOS app store or by heading to www.spotify.com.

To embed a Spotify playlist into a website - right click on any playlist, go to 'share' and copy embed code.

#SpotifySouthAfrica - Facebook: @Spotify |Twitter: @SpotifySA | Instagram: @spotify

Cheers!!!

Contact me at thelifesway@gmail.com to collaborate on your campaigns. #TheLifesWay #PhotoYatra!

Give Dad the Gift That Keeps On Giving This #FathersDay @SpotifySA #SpotifySouthAfrica

Hi Friends,

Father’s Day is almost here and choosing a suitable gift can prove quite challenging, at times. What do you get someone who possibly has everything?

A personalized thought out gift adds that special touch so why not get him something he can’t lose and can use every day, like a Spotify account.

Download the Spotify app via the Android or iOS app store or by heading to www.spotify.com onto Dads mobile and/or laptop and create his account. You can then curate a playlist especially for dad and give him access to all his favorite artists, tracks, and podcasts to keep him entertained wherever he is. Personalise his profile by uploading a picture of the two of you. A few minutes is all it takes to create that playlist and recreate the good times and make new memories that will last a lifetime.

Spotify has already done some of the work for you - to stream Spotify’s Father’s Day playlist follow this link.

To give him uninterrupted listening pleasure and the ability to listen while offline, play any song, anytime with no skip restrictions and no ads, upgrade him to the Spotify Premium account for only R59.99 per month.

To create a playlist, go to www.spotify.com and follow these simple steps:

1. Sign up
2. Click New Playlist on the bottom left-hand corner
3. Search dad’s favorite song
4. Tap the (…) button
5. Tap Add to playlist
6. Repeat step 4 and 5 until you are happy with the selection you have made

#SpotifySouthAfrica - Facebook: @Spotify |Twitter: @SpotifySA | Instagram: @spotify

Cheers!!!

Contact me at editor@thelifesway.com to collaborate on paid/sponsored campaigns. #TheLifesWay #PhotoYatra!

Personalized Discovery: Listen to Music You Love with All-New Free on @SpotifySA #SpotifySouthAfrica

Hi Friends,

Music is the great connector. It unites us across markets, ages, backgrounds, languages, preferences, political leanings and income levels. At Spotify, they believe in music for everyone—and they are one step closer to making that a reality as they unveiled a new, improved, and more personalized way to discover music and listen to what you love on Spotify, for free. Spotify introduces its All-New Free service at a press conference in New York City. However, since the 13 March 2018 local launch, South Africans have been lucky enough to have experienced the All New Spotify Free service already!

Unlike many other streaming services, Spotify Free is an ongoing, ad-supported service, with no expiry date. You can listen for free forever, or if you choose can upgrade to the Premium service for offline listening and other benefits for R59.99 per month. With a new design on mobile, Free on Spotify includes a number of new features to make the listening experience more tailored to what you need to hear, now.

On-demand playlists

Spotify want all users to have more control over the listening experience so everyone can both discover new artists and return to old favorites. Fifteen new on-demand playlists offer the ability to pick and play any track within our curated lists—without skipping tracks or waiting on shuffle to bring up the music you love. These on-demand playlists will be unique to you, based on your musical tastes, and may include Spotify-curated playlists ranging from RapCaviar and Viva Latino to Ultimate Indie and Alternative R&B as well as personalized playlists like Discover Weekly, Release Radar, and Daily Mix.

More personalized 

With Spotify for free, users gain easy access to favorite songs and discovering new music is made simpler—and it’s personalized for you. When you sign up, we’ll ask you about the artists you love, and we’ll deliver curated playlists that match your musical taste and personalized playlists, like Daily Mix. These new playlists are easily accessible on the new Home screen, which is always being updated based on your listening activity. 

Make Spotify yours 

Tell us which songs and artists you LIKE ♡ (or HIDE) as you listen. Tap the ♡ to quickly save songs to your Favorites playlist and tap the icon to hide songs you don’t want to hear. Recommendations will improve the more you listen and denote preferences. 

Create your own playlists 

Playlists are the key to creating a mood, whether it’s morning workout or weekend dance party, and now it’s even easier to create and edit a playlist with Spotify. Just give your playlist a name, search and preview specific tracks, and add to your playlist. As you save songs, we’ll continue to suggest more songs that we think you will like.

Play music using less mobile data with Data Saver: Music should be accessible to everyone, in every market—the love of a great song is what connects communities and cultures across the world. But many users of Spotify for free around the world aren’t able to enjoy music whenever they want, because of the volume of mobile data streaming typically uses. That's why we created Data Saver, a simple toggle switch that optimizes the listening experience to use less mobile data when listening to music. One of the benefits of the Spotify’s Data Saver mode is to offer automatic low bitrate streaming. Spotify’s default setting for data streaming in South Africa is 24kbps, perfect if you’re streaming when not on wifi. 

To enjoy music the way you want it, download the app via the Android or iOS app store or by heading to www.spotify.com

Facebook: @Spotify |Twitter: @SpotifySA | Instagram: @spotify The new free experience will be available on iOS and Android and will be rolling out globally to all markets in the coming weeks. Happy Streaming!

Cheers!!!

Contact me at editor@thelifesway.com to collaborate on paid/sponsored campaigns. #TheLifesWay #PhotoYatra! Check my influence and book me via https://webfluential.com/TheLifesWay