Streaming giant Spotify has announced an all-new initiative that intends to invest in and amplify Black voices.
The new initiative “Frequency” is described as a a global hub and holistic destination that celebrates both established and emerging Black artists, all while fostering community and appreciating the culture that has made an impact across fashion, tech, business and music.
“Frequency is a celebration of resilience in all forms of creativity. The genesis of this brand came out of a demand from Black employees who felt it was important to be seen and heard,” Dzifa Yador, supervising creative producer of Studio 4, said in a statement. “Those same employees created space for other Black employees to not just express themselves through the editorial voice of the brand, but give recognition to the culture shifters, artists, and creators that fuel our global brand. The brand does not exist to solve racial injustices. It’s here to celebrate resilience in the face of it.”
According to Spotify, Frequency was created to fill a void where Black voices across industries have been historically left out of the narrative, leaving their contributions “under-appreciated and underrepresented.” The idea for this new initiative is to now build upon the platform’s foundation that’s been working to support Black artists more.
“Frequency adds to our existing work, such as Black History is Happening Now—a dedicated hub and narrative focused on the importance of celebrating Black history and people—and our commitment to further invest in Black creators through a $10M Racial Equity Donations & Giving Program,” Spotify shared in an announcement. “Now, Frequency marks an extension of Spotify’s ongoing commitment to and investment in Black voices. Through the rollout of new content, cultural partnerships, and an ambassador program, Frequency aims to further connect the Black community to upcoming and established Black creators.”
As part of the initiative’s launch, Spotify announced several new global playlists as well as its “‘Raising the Frequency’ Ambassador Program” — which offers a $50,000 scholarship fund for Black college students who wish to pursue careers in music and tech.
Additionally, the ambassador program will provide donation matches of $25,000 to select community organizations and a songwriting camp to connect artists, producers and songwriters.
In an effort to offer more visibility and inclusion, Spotify is also pledging to use its platform to “engage established and emerging creators across the African diaspora” for its range of podcasts created across all four of its podcast studios, all of which have programming announcements slated for the summer.
As a major player in the streaming market, Spotify has the global reach and influence to make a change that reflects our changing times in terms of uplifting Black creators and taking a huge first step for our creative community. Through Frequency, the hope is to give Black artists the long-overdue recognition they deserve for the phenomenal nuanced work they do.
“Coming from a global streaming platform that relies on the art of these creators to be successful, we have a huge opportunity to showcase how broad that spectrum of Black culture is, and giving artists more autonomy in how their story is told is key to building trust and understanding,” Sydney Lopes –Spotify’s head of hip-hop and R&B, artist & label partnerships — said in a statement. “It’s really just the beginning of Spotify’s commitment to uplift Black voices both internally and externally with this brand, and given the platform’s global reach, there’s a ton of opportunity to show up for the community in ways that we have not before.”
For more information about Frequency and its upcoming programming, click here.
