Following the footsteps of the BBC‘s Sound Of… poll and Google Play Music’s equivalent, now Spotify has revealed its UK list of Spotlight artists for 2016.
Spotlight is Spotify’s annual list of the ‘best new artists’.
Spotify said it was decided by a ‘combination of both human curation by Spotify’s team of in-house music experts, and the analysis of millions of streams’ worth of music fans’ current listening data’.
This included:
- ‘The artists being listened to now by Spotify’s most musically-influential users, who have a track record of discovering breaking artists early’;
- ‘The artists whose music is bubbling up in Spotify’s Fresh Finds, a weekly-updated playlists that identifies under-the-radar artists that are generating buzz online’.
This year’s list includes Jack Garratt, Mura Masa, Gavin James, Anne Marie, and LÉON, all of which Spotify is tipping for greatness over the coming year.
Spotify’s Spotlight on 2016 UK Artists
- Jack Garratt
- Mura Masa
- Gavin James (pictured)
- Anne Marie
- LÉON
- Matoma
- Blossoms
- Will Joseph Cook
- Mabel
- NAO
- Jones
- Max Pope
- Honne
- Samm Henshaw
- Frances
Laura Kirkpatrick, Spotify’s UK Head of Label Relations, said: “I believe that nothing delights a Spotify user more than discovering an exciting new artist. Spotlight is a cornerstone of our commitment to discovery and nurturing powerful emotional connections to new artists to help build true fans.
“The Spotlight list is both a barometer of what music tastemakers on Spotify are already listening to, and a prediction of what we believe the wider audience of music fans will be loving in 2016. Through the Spotlight programme, we can identify and highlight new and breaking artists, and help them build their careers by connecting with more than 75 million music fans on Spotify.
“It’s been fantastic to see Spotlight evolve from a grassroots campaign working with a small number of artists, to becoming a global event-driven initiative. We are very excited to start working with the Spotlight on 2016 artists over the coming months and years.”
Previous Spotlight stars have included Norwegian DJ and producer Kygo (who this year became the first Spotlight artist to break a billion streams), James Bay, Hozier, and Glass Animals.
Spotify will be holding a series of events showcasing a number of Spotlight on 2016 artists in London, New York, Stockholm and Nashville.Music Business Worldwide
