Spotify is dedicated to amplifying and celebrating the incredible contributions of all artists and creators worldwide. As part of that commitment, on March 6 we teamed up with Billboard to host the first-ever Women in Music Executive Honoree Reception, an intimate gathering in Los Angeles.
The evening served as a pre-celebration for the magazine's annual Women in Music event on March 29, which recognizes top artists, creators, producers, and executives for their contributions to the industry.
NEXT
Guests had a chance to network with some of this year's Women in Music honorees and more female trailblazers. Spotify leaders-including Chief Public Affairs Officer Dustee Jenkins, Global Head of Editorial, Music Sulinna Ong, and Global Head of Music Go-to-Market Madeleine Bennett-shared their perspectives. EQUAL artist and DJ Empress Of provided the soundtrack for the night.
It's so exciting to partner with Billboard. This is the first time we've done this for the Women in Music event, so really thrilled to be here, said Dustee. I also want to note that for some time, Spotify has been funding a study with the USC Annenberg team to look at the data of women in the industry, because it's very hard to change something if you don't track it.
When you look at the data, you see progress and there are certainly some bright spots, but it shows us we still have a lot of work to do, she continued. And at the end of the day, it's going to take us supporting each other. It's going to take us fighting for each other. It's going to take us cheering for each other in rooms that we're not even in before we see the kind of progress that we're looking for.
EQUAL: Global reach, global impact The event aligned with International Women's Day on March 8. Spotify's EQUAL Global Music Program, introduced in 2021, is at the forefront of our efforts to raise women's voices in the music industry.
This year, we're expanding support to more EQUAL ambassadors through editorial, marketing, and partnerships, while doubling events worldwide-from educational sessions to songwriting camps, networking, and concerts, said Bel Aztiria, Lead, Global Music Programs at Spotify. It's exciting to see this program not only unite women globally, but also reinforce local culture and networks. The past year has been incredible-women raising their voices, leaving a lasting mark in music, and breaking records. We believe in the power of music to shift culture, and EQUAL is committed to being a space for that.
EQUAL by the numbers Since launch, EQUAL has supported more than 1,200 ambassadors, and EQUAL artists have received 1.5 billion editorial streams within their first month of joining the program.
In total, our EQUAL hub has generated more than 12 million editorial streams across 330,000 listening hours. The hub contains our flagship EQUAL global playlist (featuring tracks from our ambassadors and women artists worldwide), as well as local playlists cocurated by ambassadors, a podcast shelf, an audiobook shelf (available in select markets), and more.
In 2024 alone, more than 30 million artist discoveries were made through EQUAL playlists. Here are a few more program highlights:
Artists who experienced the biggest boost in listeners in 2024 after EQUAL inclusion
Paola & Chiara (Italy)
GONEISBACK (South Korea)
Baaba J (Ghana)
(Taiwan)
So!YoON! (South Korea)
Oumaima Taleb (Tunisia)
Perrie (Egypt)
Diana Burco (Colombia)
Laura Weng (Slovakia)
Julieta Laso (Argentina)
Most-streamed EQUAL global ambassadors (all-time) in 2024
Billie Eilish
Sabrina Carpenter
KAROL G
Shakira
Tate McRae
In addition to on-platform support, EQUAL continues to amplify its mission in communities around the world.
EQUAL Day returns to Mexico On March 14, Mexico's EQUAL Day will return for its third consecutive year, bringing more than 1,000 women together in Mexico City-including artists, creators, partners, influencers, and for the first time, fans. From live performances to panels and workshops, the event will serve as the ultimate destination for women in audio to connect, learn, network, and collaborate.
Colombia's empowerment anthem Spotify is also proud to support women in music through our longest-running original recorded music franchise, Spotify Singles. In Colombia, this support shines through in Rayo, the first Colombian Spotify Single created entirely by women.
The track features Ana Sanz, a pop-rock singer-songwriter from Bogot , Lil Keren, a Cali-based rapper, and Maria McCausland, a genre-bending singer-songwriter from Barranquilla. The trio was selected to create this Spotify Single with renowned music producer Natalia Bautista after participating in EQUAL's 2024 Empowerment Day at Casa Spotify Bogot .
The three emerging artists are also our EQUAL global ambassadors this March, in addition to Cazzu, a singer and rapper from Argentina.
A career milestone I'm proud of is being able to live from music and achieve international recognition, despite coming from a place where such opportunities are limited-it is my greatest accomplishment, said Cazzu. It's the legacy I want to leave for women from similar backgrounds.
Ana Sanz, Lil Keren, and Maria McCausland
Cazzu
Women artists are earning from their art worldwide Canada, South Korea, Sweden, and Argentina are among the top markets globally when it comes to the proportion of women among the top-earning artists. In Canada, for example, more than 40% of artists generating more than $1 million (US) on Spotify are either women artists or women performing in bands with men and women. And globally, 18% of all artists generating at least $1 million in 2024 on Spotify were women, an increase from 14% in 2017.
Check out Spotify's EQUAL global playlist.
Most recent headlines
06/10/2025
France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
30/08/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has adopted its FY 2025 Regulatory Fees Order that establishes the regulatory fee rates for the broadcast stati...
29/08/2025
Australian Red Cross and SBS launch training to help workplaces in the fight aga...
29/08/2025
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...
29/08/2025
L3Harris Technologies has concentrated decades of expertise across the entire enterprise to develop affordable and reliable best-of-breed solutions to rapidly c...
29/08/2025
BURBANK, Calif. The CW Network and the Pac-12 Conference have announced a new media rights deal that will extend their broadcast partnership beginning with the ...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK Gracenote has released a new analysis of its global video dataset showing that the number of FAST channels grew nearly 14% from Q1 2025 and 76% since 2...
29/08/2025
SAN JOSE, Calif. Harmonic has announced a series of improvements to its live sports streaming solution that the company said will improve fan engagement, protec...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK and LOS ANGELES Fox Corp. and YouTube TV last night announced a renewal of the full portfolio of Fox networks, including Fox News Channel, Fox Business...
29/08/2025
Budapest, Hungary, August 2025 - The integration of Microsoft Teams Rooms (MTR) with Lightware's Taurus universal matrix switchers delivers a new level of f...
29/08/2025
Frequency, the engine behind many of the world's best-known streaming television channels, today announced it will launch Studio Live, a next-generation uni...
29/08/2025
In an era when AI and cyber resilience are essential, Scality will mark the 10th anniversary of Scality Day on October 16, 2025 in Paris. This flagship global e...
29/08/2025
Disguise's In-House Creative and Technical Teams Pre-Visualised, Programmed and Delivered Content for the Experience, All Powered by EX 3+
Technology solu...
29/08/2025
Disguise will be demonstrating the latest workflows for TV, film and live events on a number of partner booths at the show
Disguise, the industry-leading tech...
29/08/2025
STOCKHOLM, Sweden Accedo will showcase Accedo Compose, its AI agent-powered modular orchestration layer that assists streaming providers in transitioning client...
29/08/2025
LOS ANGELES Cineverse has announced that it is working with Xperi to bring four of its streaming channels to automobiles for the first time as part of the DTS A...
29/08/2025
DALLAS & ATLANTA Gray Media has announced an agreement with the sports streaming service Victory+ to simulcast 17 Dallas Stars NHL games in 15 television market...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK AND CULVER CITY Comcast NBCUniversal and Amazon have announced new and extended distribution agreements that will expand the content available on their...
29/08/2025
FOOTHILL RANCH, Calif. RED Digital Cinema will feature its Cine-Broadcast Module supporting live broadcast workflows during IBC2025, Sept. 12-15, at the RAI Ams...
29/08/2025
29 Aug 2025
Kyivstar Rings Opening Bell at Nasdaq Marking Landmark Listing and ...
29/08/2025
More than half of all NFL games live on Sky for the first timeFriday 29 August 2025
Sky Sports has announced a new three-year deal with the NFL, extending its ...
29/08/2025
Back to All News
RIV4LRIES: The Trailer of the New Series With Samuele Carrino ...
29/08/2025
Get ready for an inspiring and emotional insight into the world of competitive Irish dancing with My Story: Tomi Champion of the World airing on RT 2 this monda...
29/08/2025
RT has today announced that David McCullagh is to be the new presenter of RT Radio 1's flagship Today programme, which airs every weekday at 10am, replaci...
28/08/2025
By Kristin Feeley, Director, Documentary Film & Artist Programs
If you want to tell untold stories, if you want to give voice to the voiceless, you've got ...
28/08/2025
Directed by Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert, Sundance Institute-supported Amer...
28/08/2025
Corridos have been a cornerstone of M sica Mexicana for generations, telling stories rooted in everyday life. Now, a new chapter is taking shape: motivational c...
28/08/2025
Los corridos han sido un pilar de la M sica Mexicana durante generaciones, contando historias enraizadas en la vida cotidiana. Ahora, un nuevo cap tulo est tom...
28/08/2025
Earlier this month, we promised our Verano Forever party would bring the heat, a...
28/08/2025
L3Harris will provide the Polish F-16V fleet with the Viper Shield electronic warfare system as part of an upgrade program....
28/08/2025
Bilbao, August 26, 2025 - AgileTV, an international television and video technol...
28/08/2025
Ken Wilkinson is an Emmy Awards nominated New York audio engineer who specialises in production sound mixing for film, commercial, episodic and documentary work...
28/08/2025
NEW YORK FuboTV today announced that it will launch Fubo Sports, a skinny bundle that focuses on sports with a subscription price of $56 monthly....
28/08/2025
NEVADA City, Calif. At IBC2025, Sept. 12-15 at the RAI Amsterdam, Telestream will debut its new Global Ingest strategy, introducing a next-generation ingest arc...
28/08/2025
Dr. Rhoda Bernard Releases Groundbreaking Debut Book on Accessible Arts Educatio...
28/08/2025
TAG Video Systems, the leader in software-based IP end-to-end workflow monitoring, deep probing, and real-time visualization, has named Oliver Gappa as Sales Di...
28/08/2025
AI-based voice enhancement will be among a series of innovations making their IBC 2025 debut on the DHD stand B46 in Hall 8 at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Cent...
28/08/2025
Telef nica Servicios Audiovisuales (TSA), the leading system integrator and service provider in the media sector in Spain, with the support of Appear, the globa...
28/08/2025
To fully immerse sailing fans in the world's biggest offshore yacht race, production company, Optical Media turned to LiveU's On-site Production solutio...
28/08/2025
Working with Calrec on its most recent overhaul, radio and television broadcaster, WNED has migrated to a fully IP infrastructure with multiple Type R consoles,...
28/08/2025
Cleeng, the Subscriber Retention Management (SRM ) inventor, has unveiled Cleeng Pro, the first-ever direct-to-consumer (D2C) subscription management platform t...
28/08/2025
Zixi, the industry leader in live broadcast-quality video over IP, today announced that French media distribution platform OKAST has selected Zixi to enable rel...
28/08/2025
Solution offers a streamlined, speaker-free architecture to optimize integration with premium external loudspeakers and advanced loudness metering
Nixer Pro Au...
28/08/2025
Cinegy, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, has announced a strategic partnership with Vision One Touch Film Production Services L.L...
28/08/2025
Telestream, a global leader in media workflow technologies, will debut its new Global Ingest strategy at IBC2025, introducing a next-generation ingest architect...
28/08/2025
Tier 1 operator selects Broadpeak to power high-performance, unified CDN solution across Norway, Sweden and Finland
Broadpeak, a leader in streaming and moneti...
28/08/2025
Leading video software provider, Synamedia, today announced that 24 Frames Digital, one of India's leading live event streaming service providers, has chose...
28/08/2025
Meet VisualOn at IBC2025: See What's Next in AI-Powered Video Streaming Join VisualOn at IBC2025 and discover how our AI-driven Optimizer and advanced media...
Spotify is dedicated to amplifying and celebrating the incredible contributions of all artists and creators worldwide. As part of that commitment, on March 6 we teamed up with Billboard to host the first-ever Women in Music Executive Honoree Reception, an intimate gathering in Los Angeles.
