Spotify Aims to Inspire Social Change

Music streaming service, Spotify took over 8 different cities to talk about issues that concern millennials as part of Spotify’s Clarify initiative, which explores “the intersection of music and key issues important to young people.”

Spotify, in collaboration with There., a partnership that develops cultural initiatives for clients by identifying strategic opportunities and translating them into relevant cultural experiences, hosted events in 8 different cities to targeting issues such as student debt, civil rights, and climate change.

The final event was on gender equality and held in Nashville last week.

“The response and reaction to the entire series has been remarkable-We saw great engagement from the video series to the live events, art installations and panel discussions,” said Dave Gallagher, Partner at There.

“Event attendees in each city have been surprised and impressed that Spotify is providing a platform for these kinds of conversations,” Gallagher added.  “People’s willingness to come out to the events and have a really open, honest, and personal conversation has been incredibly inspirational for our team”

The partnership with There. allowed Spotify to bring the digital videos and topics series that lived on Spotify’s website to life by hosting live events on the same topics.

“The idea is that people are very savy about marketing now and you can get a lot of more traction by supporting your audience and speaking to them directly in the lengths they already care about,” Ken Miller, the Principal at There. explained. “Spotify is a very natural fit because music is a topic that’s culturally connected and bringing that to these events makes a lot of sense.”

“We don’t know for sure that we will be able to solve the world’s problems with this program but we are trying to encourage a dialogue here,” added Gallagher.

He emphasized that all their events had speakers that reflected both sides to present a neutral and convincing case.

The series was originally launched by Spotify and web publisher Mic in September featuring a new video series aimed at reaching the younger voters by covering topics that concerned them.

Hosted by author and former Daily Show producer Baratunde Thurston and co-produced by Headcount.org, the weekly series includes conversations and roundtables with well-known artists.

“I think that’s a really special dynamic when you can use art and music as a way to have conversations about really difficult topics in a way that everyone feels that they can get involved in,”said Kerry Steib, Director, Social Impact at Spotify.

“I am really proud that we have created an event that allows people to share their voice,” she added.

Spotify hopes to continue the series beyond the election because “because music, social action, and social issues really do go hand in hand every day, not just during the elections.”

“The response from the audience, panelists, musicians and artists alike shows that there’s an interest in further exploring issues at the intersection of music and social action,” Gallagher told DIVERGE. “The team at Spotify has a continued interest to build programs that use music, and the Spotify platform, to inspire social change.”