Spotify promotes ‘equity for women in audio’ on International Women’s Day by launching a new campaign, EQUAL, to demonstrate its commitment to fostering equity for women in audio and celebrating their global contributions. The campaign will include partnerships, activations, new content experiences, and on- and off-platform support on local, regional, and international levels. It will also call on users to actively take control of their listening habits, making sure they play more women creators, no matter the day.
The new EQUAL hub is a one-stop destination that will highlight the work of women artists and podcasters. Over 200 of Spotify’s top playlists, like Today’s Top Hits, Viva Latino, and Modus Mio, will feature women on the cover art. Spotify will also work with non profit partners such as Girls Make Beats, She’s The Music, Sound Girls, GLAAD, Color of Change, Women in Music and Women’s Audio Mission to curate specialty playlists that highlight artists who are shaping the future of music.
WOMN, a new music + talk show, will release special episodes for International Women’s Day. The content features a diverse group of creators, influencers, and cultural figures discussing women-centred topics, making personal reflections on music that has inspired them, and encouraging listeners to stream more women too. Guests include record producer and DJ TOKiMONSTA, actor and content creator Jenny Lorenzo, Spotify’s Dope Labs hosts Titi Shodiya and Zakiya Whately, model and influencer Jazzmyne Robbins, and more.
To further its commitment to ‘equity for women’ Spotify is creating a new invite-only EQUAL Board consisting of 15 organizations from around the world. Spotify will provide a one-time grant to each organization, with the goal of finding tangible ways to make the audio industry more equitable for women creators.
It is committing to amplifying creators on social media and beyond including highlighting the top-streamed women artists and most popular podcasters from around the globe. For music, Taylor Swift takes the top spot with more than 2.3 Bn streams. Ariana Grande is up next, followed by Dua Lipa. Additional top-streamed women artists include Halsey, Karol G, and BLACKPINK.
When it comes to podcasts, Crime Junkie, hosted by Ashley Flowers and Brit Prawat, is the most popular podcast from women podcast creators globally. The show is followed by Call Her Daddy’s Alex Cooper. Other popular women podcast creators include: Elise Hu, host of TED Talks Daily; and Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark, hosts of My Favorite Murder.
The EQUAL campaign will extend beyond March (Women’s History Month) and in April is launching the EQUAL music programme, which is focused on fostering equity for women in 50 countries from around the world. The streamer will continue to build on the success of existing programs that provide new opportunities for women in audio, like Sound Up and EQL.
Spotify has produced a video (below) to explain its commitment to women in audio.
