
At Spotify, we empower and amplify the voices of underrepresented creators by carving out spaces for new stories and perspectives to be shared and heard. NextGen, funded by Spotify's Creator Equity Fund, is our ongoing program designed to infuse, activate, and grow podcast culture on college campuses. It supplies students across the U.S. with the audio skills they need to pursue their dreams.
Since partnering with our first HBCU-Spelman College in Atlanta-and announcing an audio-first NextGen curriculum and weeklong Spotify Labs Creator Program at our first NextGen Creator Day at Spelman, we've been working diligently alongside our partners to empower and support the next generation of Black audio creators.
But there's still more to do. And we're excited to highlight a few upcoming initiatives.
Renovating Spelman's Podcast Studio Spotify Studios refurbished and modernized Spelman College's existing on-campus podcast studio, fully outfitting the space with state-of-the-art podcasting and video recording equipment and personalized design touches. We also provided portable audio equipment for students and faculty to utilize in the field. The newly renovated studio and mobile equipment will serve as focal points for hosting guest speakers and collaborative projects. We're excited for students to use the space to create a variety of content, following in the footsteps of their original podcast, Emmett Till: The Cultural Afterlife of an American Boy.
Unveiling Our New NextGen x HBCU Partner Schools: Hampton University and North Carolina A&T State University The Spotify Creator Equity Fund has committed over $100K in scholarship funding for students at both Hampton University's Scripps Howard School of Journalism And Communications and North Carolina A&T State University's ACEJMC-accredited Department of Journalism and Mass Communication.
To kick things off at Hampton, we partnered with the Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications to bring Spotify's Opening Act Roadshow to campus for a one-day internship informational session. This event offered Hampton students exposure to Spotify thought leaders-Kristin Jarrett, Lead, Equity & Impact and Creator Equity; LaShanti Jenkins, Global Head of Early Career Pipeline Team; and Briana Younger, Editorial Lead, Hip Hop-as well as skill-building workshops and networking opportunities. Students also saw firsthand what a career path in the tech and audio industries would look like, and they participated in a live playlist challenge. In the spring, we'll also be selecting scholarship winners from the school, donating audio equipment to the campus, and working closely with faculty to support students in their content creation.
Stay tuned for more on our NextGen Audio initiatives at both schools throughout the 2023-2024 academic calendar year!
Collaborating with Howard University and Nikole Hannah-Jones We recently partnered with professor and Pulitzer prize-winning New York Times journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones to bring a podcast narrative course based on the 1619 Project to Howard University during the 2023 fall semester. As students worked with Hannah-Jones to transform their narrative essays into a podcast that will be available on our platform, Spotify experts taught them about audio production. We also donated audio and recording equipment for students to use to create a three-episode podcast series that explores Black culture and influence and the legacies of slavery in America. We will be hosting a listening party for students in January 2024.
Continuing our work with USC Annenberg This year, NextGen's collaboration with the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, including the USC Charlotta Bass Journalism & Justice Lab, will focus efforts toward open dialogue and career development for aspiring podcast creators from marginalized backgrounds. Throughout the fall, we've been providing USC students the opportunity to hear from top audio creator Edwin Covarrubias of Scary Stories, Wondery podcast producer and LA Times writer Dave Schilling, and author and What A Day host Tre'vell Anderson. We've also provided students access to Spotify executives-Creator Partner Manager Amber Watkins; Production Operations Lead Michelle Kitchen; Senior Program Ops Manager Nichole Henderson; and Community Development Lead Christabel Nsiah-Buadi.
On Thursday, November 9, we welcomed 30 USC Annenberg students with a passion for audio storytelling to a Careers in Podcasting day at Spotify's Los Angeles office to learn more about what a career path in audio looks like in 2023 and beyond.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
30/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/07/2026
At IBC2026, GlobalM will showcase the latest evolution of its software-defined media platform, enabling broadcasters, telecom operators and media organisations ...
30/07/2026
At the 2026 TAB Show, Digital Alert Systems will highlight and demo the new DAS-Link AIR, an over-the-air common alert protocol (CAP) dissemination system for ...
30/07/2026
OpenDrives Named to the 2026 CRN Storage 100 List
Company Recognized Among the 50 Coolest Software-Defined Storage Vendors for Unlimited Capacity, S3 Hybrid M...
30/07/2026
New Scene Search capability in VIDA Content OS makes video content itself searchable, letting broadcasters and streamers find key moments across millions of ass...
29/07/2026
In this series, Grass Valley explores the seven paradoxes shaping the next era o...
29/07/2026
Thats a wrap on Season 1 of SVG Students to Watch! Across the country, these stu...
29/07/2026
The agreement will move Gotham Sports App subscribers to DAZN during the 2026-27...
29/07/2026
Longtime digital-media leader expands role overseeing conference branding, video...
29/07/2026
By Bailey Pennick
One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival is having a front-row seat for the bright future of independent filmmaking. ...
29/07/2026
Organisation team up with TI:ME USA
Founded in 2019 with the aim of helping educators to embrace new music technology, Technology in Music Education (TiME U...
29/07/2026
Doubling & chorus processor gets an overhaul
Acon Digital have just launched the latest version of their free voice-doubling and chorus plug-in. Multiply 2 ...
29/07/2026
New Pultec-inspired pedal revealed
The latest addition to the Origin Effects line-up brings the legendary Pultec EQ into pedal format. Based on the EQP-1A, ...
29/07/2026
SBS Appoints Chief Commercial Officer and Director of Marketing and Audiences
29 July, 2026
Media releases
SBS is pleased to announce the appointment of Ni...
29/07/2026
Rohde & Schwarz showcases unified next-generation broadcasting ecosystem at SET ...
29/07/2026
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({...
29/07/2026
Streaming Hits 48.6% of Total TV Usage in May
YouTube Leads in Media Distributo...
29/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/07/2026
Industry veteran joins Amagi to drive growth in Europe's leading broadcast market and advance cloud-native broadcast, FAST, and AI-driven operations.
LONDO...
29/07/2026
Work is ongoing to specify how to run RIST over WebTransport. This will deliver secure, stable, broadcast quality video playback and origination to any platform...
29/07/2026
Offline Files Makes the Drive Shelf Searchable on Mac
Brie Clayton July 29, 2026
0 Comments
A local Mac app for finding files, photos, and footage acr...
29/07/2026
Blackmagic Design Announces New UltraStudio Mini 12G
Brie Clayton July 29, 2026
0 Comments
New extremely portable Thunderbolt 4 capture and playback ...
29/07/2026
Brightline Lighting, a premier manufacturer of energy-efficient lighting systems for broadcast, videoconferencing, government, education and corporate applicati...
29/07/2026
Applications open for IFFI/WAVES Film Bazaar in Goa - Producer Delegation 28 July 2026
Image credit: Four Years Later
Screen Australia has opened applications...
29/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/07/2026
Foundry today announced that Academy Award-winning creative studio DNEG has implemented Hiero to support its editorial workflows. Part of the Nuke product famil...
29/07/2026
The Latest Addition to the Brand's StudioPro Ecosystem Combines Simple Deployment, Cloud Control and Professional Grade Wireless Reliability
QuickLink, a l...
29/07/2026
The Secret Master Adjustment Layer Hack in After Effects
Graham Quince July 28, 2026
0 Comments
Trish Meyer (who literally beta-tested the original Af...
29/07/2026
Post Completed with Blackmagic Cloud for Shane Kosugi's Feature Film SEEK
Brie Clayton July 28, 2026
0 Comments
Cannes Indie International Film Fe...
29/07/2026
Isabeau Miller Named Chair of Berklee Songwriting Department The Berklee alumna, who previously served on the Songwriting faculty, will begin her new role on ...
29/07/2026
Luxembourg, July 29, 2026 - SES, a leading space solutions company, was selected by LATAM Airlines to provide multi-orbit inflight connectivity service to its g...
29/07/2026
Wednesday 29 July 2026
Hayu is coming to Sky, bringing fan-favourite franchises...
29/07/2026
RT launches Unsolved, a true crime podcast, presented by crime journalist Barry Cummins and presenter Katja Mia.
Unsolved is a weekly podcast exploring unsol...
28/07/2026
LiveU, the pioneer in IP-video transmission and cloud-based remote production, today detailed its historic performance records set during the 2026 FIFA World Cu...
28/07/2026
The NFL franchise rebuilt their off-site content operation for an era when teams...
28/07/2026
Longtime partners expand viewer choice, data-driven analysis, access, immersive ...
28/07/2026
There is a unique moment before every major production. The audience never sees it.
The cameras are ready. The talent is preparing. Directors review the final...
28/07/2026
The CW Network and ESPN have announced their highly anticipated streaming agreement to bring CW Sports' live events to the ESPN App will officially launch o...
28/07/2026
As more than tens of thousands of spectators filled Paris' Champ de Mars and...
28/07/2026
Appear's X Platform played a central role in Chile's first large-scale c...