Spotify launches new look and feel of RADAR in a global brand campaign

 Spotify has unveiled its second class of RADAR - Spotify’s all-encompassing emerging artist, podcaster, and songwriter program - Podcasters. Spotify is where people come to find their next great listen, and RADAR was built to put the next generation of audio talent on their—yes, you guessed it—radar. 

 Through a careful editorial process, the program sources rising artists, burgeoning songwriters, and promising podcasters to spotlight—all with the aim of helping them find new audiences and deepening their engagement among existing fans. Participating creators are given specialized on-and-off platform support to maximize exposure to potential audiences. 

Covering a range of important and interesting topics through engaging conversations, humor, and humility, the 23 selected shows represent a diverse group of creators from around the world. These are the podcasts Spotify has identified as the next big thing. We know that one of the biggest challenges for podcasters is growing their audience — RADAR aims to create opportunities and pathways for discovery within various markets across the globe, so these shows can garner new, larger audiences. The full list of RADAR Podcasters’ 2023 class can be found HERE and I’ve pulled out the 5 US shows below.    

• Brown Bag  - Hosted by Letty Peniche, DoKnow, Rosencrans Vic, this is an LA-based podcast from 3 Hispanics who love to hustle, put people on game, and, of course, clown.  
• The BCC Club - Hosts Sarah Schauer and Kendahl Landret take a deep dive into the internet and discuss new titillating topics every week.
• Just the Nobody’s - Each week, two brothers and TikTok theorizers, Ryan and Daniel Omoto, dig down the mysterious rabbit holes of the world's craziest conspiracy theories, science facts, murder mysteries, and any and all things pop-culture.
• Good Children - Childhood best friends and hosts Joe Hegyes and Andrew Muscarella dive into their shared history of anxiety, food courts, wigs, and trying their best to do everything right as adolescent closeted queer kids growing up on the south shore of Long Island. 

• The Scottie & Sylvia Show – Besties, Scottie Beam and Sylvia Obell are behind the mic every week on the podcast “The Scottie and Silvia Show”, talking about everything from the personal to the professional to pop culture. Together, the nuanced cultural takes heard on their podcast are borne out of a deep care for Black women and safe spaces. 

In tandem, Spotify will also be launching the new look and feel of RADAR in a global brand campaign. First launched in 2020 as a program for emerging artists, RADAR has expanded to include podcasters and songwriters, and has recognized hundreds of creators. The campaign features a combination of artists, songwriters, and podcasters from the RADAR program throughout the world—including Libianca, Alessandro La Cava, Brown Bag, Veigh, Peso Pluma, Tyla, Anggi Marito, Shermanology and NMIXX—and aims to reinforce Spotify’s commitment to emerging talent and to defining what is next in audio. The new tagline says it best: Meet the Future. The campaign includes a series of videos that will be shared across digital channels, as well as a series of OOH executions in New York, London, and LA. 

 You can find more info about RADAR on Spotify’s For the Record blog, and I’ve also included quotes and assets below.

• Images HERE
• Video HERE
• Photo/Video Credit: Courtesy of Spotify  

 Bryan Thoensen, Senior Director, Head of Content Partnerships, Spotify:

“RADAR is about recognizing emerging podcast talent on Spotify, inspiring listeners to discover new voices, and building new fan-driven audiences for creators. We’re proud to unveil the second class of RADAR Podcasters — a diverse group from around the world — and excited to give these shows some much-deserved time in the spotlight.”

 Says Hannah Beeching, Global Music Programs Lead at Spotify:
“We’re thrilled to introduce audiences to the future of music, songwriting, and podcasts with this new campaign. RADAR originally started as a way to support emerging artists and has now expanded to include songwriters and podcasters from around the world. The program gives creators a global platform to help grow their careers and reach new and existing fans through bespoke social content, marketing, and editorial opportunities. 

 Since launching in 2020, RADAR has featured over 700 artists across 183 markets to date, highlighting incredible talents like Peso Pluma and Wet Leg to Quevedo and Zack Bryan, and more. We’re proud of our track record for identifying and supporting rising artists before they break and we’re committed to helping even more artists reach the next stage of their careers.”