Tag: Spotify

Hosted on November 18th, the first-of-its-kind Masterclass in Pakistan introduced musicians to how Spotify helps them tap into a wider audience base

Karachi – Spotify hosted its first Masterclass in Pakistan, exclusive to artists and labels, with the aim to educate them about Spotify For Artists. The signature educational session shed light on avenues for artist development offered through Spotify where musicians have access to the data, tools, and knowledge that they require to facilitate their journey of raising their profile and finding fans across borders.

Spotify for Artists is a platform that provides budding musicians with the insights they need to advance their careers by learning where listeners of their music are found. It gives artists and their teams, the tools to build a following that can make anything possible, including top cities/countries listening to you, age and gender of your fans, which playlists you are added to, your top performing tracks, top playlists, your sources of streams, growth of followers, listeners and streams over time and access to new updates, features and information on the dashboard.

Some prominent names among the artists who attended the Masterclass were Bilal Maqsood, Ali Hamza, Shallum Xavier, Asad Ahmed and Zohaib Kazi. The session was also attended by a number of independent and emerging artists, including indie artists, Maria Unera, Taha G, Asteria, and Faraz Haider, accompanied by labels, namely Silent Roar Records, A for Aleph, and EMI Pakistan.

Further emphasizing the importance of the Masterclass, Khan FM, Spotify’s Artist & Label Partnerships Manager for Pakistan, Sri Lanka & Bangladesh, said, “We’re extremely happy to bring the Spotify For Artists Masterclass to Karachi. These intimate sessions for Artists and Labels allow us to create a bigger and wider creative dialogue with the music community on how to maximize their presence on Spotify and utilize the many tools available only to them. This is the first time Spotify organized a session like this in Karachi in person and our plan is to take these sessions to artists and labels across the country.”

Karachi – Stepping into the world of theater, Spotify, the world’s most popular audio streaming platform, is partnering with the critically acclaimed play Na Mukammal as the title sponsor. The much anticipated play returns with more shows to be held this month in Karachi, Lahore and Dubai.

An original comedy drama centered around music, Na Mukammal is written and directed by Hasnain Raza who is possibly the youngest and the first to have penned an original play in over 5 years in Pakistan. The musical drama uniquely showcases two stories that run parallel and explores identifiable universal themes of love, loss and longing set against the 70s and 90s where music unites the characters and stitches the story together.

“I wrote this play only so I could play all my favorite songs in a large theater hall. When I penned it, I didn’t have any grand ideas for the story, just my love for classical jazz. My friends hated my playlist so I wrote this play, casted them [for the initial run] and made them fall in love with the music,” said Hasnain Raza, writer and director of Na Mukammal.

The play is produced by award winning documentarian turned actor Hani Taha under her banner Hangami Productions that produces only original theatrical content. Hani is possibly Pakistan’s only professionally trained female actor and producer actively doing theater in the country. Na Mukammal’s November run is her third production this year.

“When I first saw Na Mukammal staged, I was blown away by its use of music, live rain, exquisite lights and a story so fresh and impactful that we had never seen in Pakistan. In over 5 years something original was put out and I instantly knew that this was a project that needed to be shown across the world as an emblem of our culture,” said producer Hani Taha on why she chose to bank on Na Mukammal.

“Music and art go hand in hand, and we are excited about our collaboration with Na Mukammal, where music is playing the central character and is pushing the story forward,” said Talha Hashim, Spotify’s Marketing Manager for Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

After its shows in Karachi starting from November 04-06, at the Arts Council, the play will travel to Lahore to the Al Hamra from November 25-27, and then to Dubai on January 06-08. Na Mukammal will be the first Pakistani production to be staged at the prestigious Alserkal Avenue in Dubai, and the only second production to ever go to Dubai from Pakistan.

The soundtrack of the play is available on Spotify. You can listen to it for free here.

With Spotify’s ‘Dhoom Dhaam Guaranteed’ campaign, the audio streaming platform is introducing a wedding songs destination, and curated playlists for every occasion

Spotify has launched its wedding campaign in Pakistan titled ‘Dhoom Dhaam Guaranteed’, to celebrate the wedding season that has just begun in the country. With music being the heartbeat of every occasion, Spotify will be sound tracking all key moments of a Pakistani wedding through this campaign, while also launching a go-to destination with personalized and curated playlists for wedding festivities.

With weddings in Pakistan being grand cultural events that sometimes begin almost a month before the actual wedding date, Spotify has made it easier than ever to access every festive track through a single wedding destination. The ‘Sound of Shaadi Season’ destination features 7 customized playlists which include; ‘Shaadi Hits’, ‘Dholki Tappay’, ‘Shaadi Bhangra’, ‘Mehndi Hits’, ‘Dulhan Entry’, ‘Baraat Entry’ and ‘Rukhsati’ – each containing a list of songs that have and continue to set the groove for all the festivities at Pakistani weddings by highlighting the essence of each event and rekindling our traditional ‘Shaadi’ nostalgia.

Spotify in its ode to ‘Dhoom Dhaam Guaranteed’ is marking the launch of the Shaadi destination with three TV commercials centered around pre-wedding stress, the complex dynamics of family relationships and dance preparations.

Speaking about the campaign, Talha Hashim, Spotify’s Marketing Manager for Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka said, “Weddings are one of the biggest celebrations in Pakistan. A lot of time and effort is put into planning the events and it is rare for them to go just as planned. So, we took it upon ourselves to add a melodic lens to the whole wedding euphoria, that as long as you have Spotify, ‘Dhoom Dhaam’ will be guaranteed.”

The campaign also includes a collaboration between Spotify and TikTok featuring a hashtag challenge, #SpotifyDhoomDhaam, that introduces a unique Spotify branded effect. This filter will provide users with different tasks to perform related to wedding activities.
In addition, “Dhoom Dhaam Guaranteed” campaign will catch your attention through a rich media mix including radio, digital, and out-of-home placements across Pakistan.

The first Pakistani woman rapper known for consistently breaking gender norms, Eva B has joined an esteemed lineup of women artists as EQUAL Pakistan Ambassador for the month of October

Karachi – Eva B, the first veiled woman rapper in Pakistan, becomes the latest face to feature on a digital billboard at Times Square NYC, as EQUAL Pakistan’s Ambassador for the month of October. Her track Mukhtasir Baatein will be featured on Spotify as part of her accreditation on EQUAL’s local and global playlists.

Hailing from Balochistan, Eva Baloch, who goes by her pseudonym, Eva B, has been taking the industry by storm dropping hit after hit, with her monthly listeners nearing 400,000 on Spotify and her song  ‘Kana Yari’, clocking more than 10 million streams on the audio streaming platform.

Taking inspiration from the legendary rappers Eminem and Queen Latifah, Eva B started her career in 2014. She started writing lyrics and posting on social media where she eventually garnered attention and built her following. She has come a long way since then, collaborating with leading names like Ali Gul Pir, Muhammad and Anas Baloch. Her song ‘Rozi’ was even featured in the closing of the first episode of Ms. Marvel TV series.

“I feel super excited and I’m happy to be a part of Spotify’s EQUAL program. I feel very proud. Initiatives like these aren’t just important but they are really required – they are the need of the hour,” said Eva B sharing her excitement on being featured as EQUAL Pakistan’s Ambassador this month.

Known as the ‘veiled woman rapper’ and a first one at that, Eva finds pride in her veil being an integral part of her identity as an artist. Coming from a conservative background and being raised in Lyari, a neighborhood of Karachi that is gaining reputation for the rise of hip hop, producing iron chin boxers, and top footballers lately, Eva has set a great example for the young generation, especially women, that nothing can stop you if you have the resilience, hard work and persistence to achieve what you want.

Listeners can explore Eva B’s tracks on Spotify here.

With an exclusive RADAR Pakistan mini-documentary, Hassan Raheem sheds light on various aspects of his life including his rise to global stardom

Karachi– Following up on the success of EQUAL Pakistan, Spotify is bringing yet another program dedicated to nurturing local talents with RADAR. This global artist program exclusively focuses on helping emerging artists reach the next stage in their careers by paving their way to find global fandom. The audio streaming platform is launching Hassan Raheem as the first artist to be part of Spotify’s RADAR program in Pakistan, shedding light on his talent as one of the rising vocal stars in the country.

Through RADAR, Spotify follows Hassan Raheem in a bespoke mini-documentary that gets up close and personal with him, showing his fans a side of Hassan, they have never seen before.

“This is a closer look into my life. About how I started my musical journey, about my friends, about the people I work with and especially my main support, that’s my family,” says Hassan Raheem in the opening scene of the teaser of Spotify RADAR’s mini-documentary as he introduces his fellow musicians, who have assisted him in bringing his music to life, talks about his debut album, and can also be seen giving a virtual tour of his native home that concludes with a heartwarming interaction between him and his mother.

Hassan expressed his excitement about joining RADAR, saying: “It all started with me posting a song almost three years ago on Spotify and here we are! I’m truly blessed and honored to be the first RADAR artist of Pakistan. I’m excited to see how Pakistani music will evolve with programs like RADAR and how it will elevate more artists from our country. Thank you to everyone who’s been a part of this journey, you know that I truly love you all!”

Celebrating one year in Pakistan earlier this year, Spotify shared music trends and data according to which Hassan Raheem had conquered Spotify’s top lists locally. The indie musician, who started his musical career in 2018, was among the top most-streamed artists and had three of his songs, Joona, Aisay Kaisay and Aarzu, topping Spotify’s most-streamed local songs list.

“We are thrilled to have Hassan Raheem as our first RADAR artist for Pakistan. He continues to be an inspiration for up-and-coming talents, and Spotify RADAR gives the opportunity to artists like Hassan to find and connect with a newer and wider audience, globally,” said Khan FM, Spotify’s Artist & Label Partnerships Manager for Pakistan, Sri Lanka & Bangladesh.

As part of Spotify’s RADAR program, Hassan will receive on and off-platform marketing and promotional support, including billboard placements across Pakistan and the inclusion of his track, “Joona“, on the RADAR Pakistan playlist. In addition, Spotify will also be supporting his debut album launch later this year.

An emerging musician from the fold, AleemRK is making waves thanks to Spotify and its ‘Fresh Finds PK’

After Abdul Hannan, the first face of Spotify’s ‘Fresh Finds’, who rose to dominate streaming charts with tunes like ‘Bikhra’ and ‘Iraday’, the trend continues with AleemRK, an emerging Hip Hop artist who has found global fame with his track “Cold Hours” trending at number 4 and 5 on Viral 50 India and Spotify’s Global Viral 50 respectively.

With close to 800,000 monthly listeners, AleemRK is rapidly on his way to the top as the second “Fresh Finds” artist to pop up on Spotify charts due to ‘Fresh Finds PK’. This locally curated editorial playlist shines light on tracks from independent artists in multiple genres, giving a broader platform to independent artists to get discovered by new audiences. AleemRK’s track, “Cold Hours” has witnessed a 1095% increase in times played over the past month putting it at 5.3 million streams and counting.

After being discovered in June 2021 by Spotify’s editorial team and added to  Fresh Finds PK for the first time, AleemRK has shown steady growth. From his track, “Cold Hours”, being added to prominent local playlists such as Hot Hits Pakistan, Top Songs Pakistan, Pakistani Hip-Hop and Desi Hip Hop to reaching listeners far and wide from India, US and UK.

“I feel honored to be a part of something that I dreamt of. Starting from scratch and now seeing my music going through global charts of Spotify makes me ecstatic. Well, sky’s the limit for me, it’s just a start. Thanks for listening,” said AleemRK.

Earlier this year, Spotify data revealed that Pakistani Hip Hop has grown by nearly 70% since the launch of the music platform, with over 63% of the streams coming from outside the country, highlighting its global appeal.

Explore more of AleemRK’s tracks on Spotify.

The Queen of Pop was honored by Spotify on her 22nd Death Anniversary by being featured as the EQUAL Ambassador for the month of August

Karachi– Remembered as one of the most influential singers in the sub-continent and referred to as “The Queen of South Asian Pop” by her fans, Nazia Hassan lit up Spotify’s digital billboard at the iconic Times Square, New York City, as EQUAL Ambassador of the month. Her ambassadorship and feature on the billboard were timed to coincide with her 22^nd death anniversary as a tribute paid to the pop icon.

Nazia is revered as a legend not just in Pakistan but across the globe for redefining the genre of pop music at a time when it was relatively unexplored. She is amongst a rare league of artists who have etched an irreplaceable mark on people’s hearts. As her voice and services to society continue to live on, Spotify is celebrating Nazia by featuring her on the cover of Global EQUAL playlist, and highlighting her famous song, Boom Boom, on EQUAL’s global and local playlists.

Sharing his thoughts on this special occasion and remembering Nazia as a woman of substance, her brother Zoheb Hassan said, “My sister always considered herself as a social worker, and not really a musician. She worked with the UN for children and peace in the region, she also did a lot of charitable work as she wanted to help children and young people in need, and she did all of this very quietly. She did not share this side of her life with anyone, including her own family. We only found out later after she had passed away. It was her greatness that she never spoke about it.”

“I would like to take the opportunity to thank Spotify for making my dear sister the ambassador for EQUAL Pakistan and Global, representing the female artists of the region,” he commented.

Allanya and Amelia Hassan, nieces of Nazia, also expressed their excitement at this special occasion. “She’s always been a huge influence on us growing up, we love her music and she was an amazing person. To add to that, she and her music have been a huge motivation to us when it came to writing and singing ourselves and we are so grateful and proud to be a part of this legacy,” they stated.