In 2017, Spotify launched Blak Australia, a music playlist that spotlighted Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander musicians. Since then, our support of First Nations artists has grown into Dreaming Loud, with multiple playlists and programs featured on the platform to amplify these talented creators.
Now we are excited to debut new playlists that highlight Indigenous artists and give listeners music tailored to different genres-and even tailored to family members. Fans will now find a hip-hop playlist called Proppa Bars, a mood playlist called Big Ancestor Energy, and two new kids' playlists, Too Deadly Bub and Blak Hits for Kids.
To celebrate, we are updating all our existing First Nations playlists with a new visual identity created in collaboration with Aboriginal artist and designer Arkie Barton. The new design represents a coming together of community and mobs from all across so-called Australia, specifically within the digital space of the Spotify First Nations arena, shared Arkie.
NEXT
We're also introducing a new Music + Talk show called OUSS HITS, which goes behind the scenes of the music spotlighted on our First Nations playlists. The episodes are hosted by Alethea Beetson, an artist of Kabi Kabi/Gubbi Gubbi and Wiradjuri descent who is Spotify's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Program Lead. Featured guests include Rhianna Patrick, Torres Strait Islander curator of the Original Storytellers playlist, and Em Nicol, Birri Gubba + Ugarem curator of the Blak Australia playlist.
For the Record caught up with Alethea to learn more about Dreaming Loud, her new show, and why it's so important to amplify the work of First Nations creators.
Tell us more about yourself and where you are based. I am a Kabi Kabi/Gubbi Gubbi and Wiradjuri woman based on Turrbal, Jagera, and Yuggera country in Meanjin/Brisbane in so-called Australia. I acknowledge the country that I am on and the many people from my community who paved the way for initiatives like Dreaming Loud.
How has Dreaming Loud evolved since its 2017 launch? Spotify's work in this space started in 2017 with the launch of the Blak Australia playlist, a dedicated space to playlist tracks by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander musicians. In 2018 two more Indigenous playlists were added to the platform: Original Storytellers, which is focused on singer-songwriters, and Deadly Beats, which is focused on hip-hop and electronic music.
In September 2019 Spotify partnered with BIGSOUND-of which I was a producer-to deliver First Nations House. This initiative was a full-venue takeover in Meanjin's Fortitude Valley precinct created as a space to support, promote, and celebrate First Nations music, and included artist masterclasses and showcases.
In 2020, the BIGSOUND partnership pivoted online and hosted the Dreaming Loud showcase, a first-of-its-kind livestream where Spotify sent camera crews to various locations, including remote parts of the country, to capture performances from Indigenous artists in the BIGSOUND50. Some of the artists featured include Aodhan, Birdz, CLOE TERARE, Kee'ahn, Southeast Desert Metal, Matalja, and Oetha.
At what point did you get involved? I was really impressed with the reflective practice within Spotify's music team when it came to the work involved with initiatives like Dreaming Loud and began working with the team in 2021 as Spotify's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Program Lead. Throughout 2021 and 2022, Spotify continued various First Nations partnerships and community engagement, which allowed me to learn more about the platform while also listening to what the community wanted from the platform.
In 2023 Dreaming Loud evolved from a suite of initiatives to a fully considered and constantly responsive community program and strategy to amplify Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander music on and off the platform. Our goal is to always support First Nations new releases and catalog music across all that the business does while also creating Indigenous playlists, initiatives, and partnerships. With Dreaming Loud in 2023, Spotify has launched several new playlists and the new Music + Talk show OUSS HITS.
What excites you most about OUSS HITS? OUSS HITS is really exciting because it provides a self-determined platform on Spotify for Indigenous curators to talk about the music we love from our community. All of the cohosts have such a depth of knowledge in the Indigenous music community, so alongside sharing great songs, they share stories about Indigenous music history that you cannot find in the wider industry due to the way it operates within colonial frameworks.
Platforms like OUSS HITS contribute to the amplification of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander music on Spotify and also give the community an opportunity to find new music made by their community.
Why is it so important to share and amplify the stories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander musicians? Music has always played an integral role in storytelling on these lands, and always will. While I believe funding Indigenous-owned-and-led music initiatives is the priority, businesses like Spotify are called to provide more space for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander music. Celebrating Indigenous music through targeted playlists and across all of Spotify's playlists helps ensure that the wider public have greater access to Indigenous stories.
It is also vital that places like Spotify support First Nations musicians at every stage of their careers as part of the ongoing commitment to respecting self-determination and sovereignty. This work will be extended to partnerships with First Nations-led-and-owned businesses in the future. Spotify exists on stolen lands, so supporting Indigenous music is part of Spotify's obligations in this space.
Join Alethea as she talks
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...
In 2017, Spotify launched Blak Australia, a music playlist that spotlighted Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander musicians. Since then, our support of First Nations artists has grown into Dreaming Loud, with multiple playlists and programs featured on the platform to amplify these talented creators.
