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.
Europe Stories
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
03/06/2026
Step sequencer-style panning tool revealed
Alongside their flagship self-titled sound-design platform, Sound Particles offer an array of creative effects an...
03/06/2026
Now features full H90 algorithm library
Eventide have announced the upcoming launch of the H9 Harmonizer Gen 2, a new and improved version of their hugely p...
03/06/2026
Significant discount available until 1 October 2026
Aim Audio have just announced a promotion that sees a significant discount applied to their Essence micr...
03/06/2026
Rohde & Schwarz to supply CERTIUM advanced communications system to Memmingen Ai...
03/06/2026
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({...
03/06/2026
RT has today announced Heineken 0.0 as the broadcast sponsor of their FIFA World Cup 2026 coverage.
The sponsorship, brokered by Dentsu, will see Heineken 0....
02/06/2026
Musically intelligent soft synth gets upgraded
Scaler Music will be probably be best known to many for their music theory tools, but their product range al...
02/06/2026
Powerful new vocal-production tool announced
Described as a vocal performance station , Klevgrand's latest plug-in combines pitch-correction with harmo...
02/06/2026
Launched alongside Go Green sale extension
McDSP have just released the latest addition to their APB line-up, DC-2 Dual Compressor, and have also announced ...
02/06/2026
Create custom tools for Ableton Live 12 Suite
Ableton have just introduced a new open JavaScript toolkit that allows anyone to create their own custom tools...
02/06/2026
Now features full H90 algorithm library
Eventide have announced the upcoming launch of the H9 Harmonizer Gen 2, a new and improved version of their hugely p...
02/06/2026
Plus UAD Half Yearly Sale now live
The latest arrival to the Universal Audio range delivers a new native pitch-correction plug-in that's capable of deli...
02/06/2026
Rohde & Schwarz to present comprehensive performance, conformance and spectrum-m...
02/06/2026
BTL Laboratory becomes Taiwan's first test house with a CTIA Certification c...
02/06/2026
If you've kept up with this article series, you know by now where to start w...
02/06/2026
With new DSP configurations and flexible licensing options, Calrec is removing the barriers to virtualised audio, giving broadcasters the freedom to scale produ...
02/06/2026
02 Jun 2026
VEON Closes USD 1.4 Billion Bond Offering, Refinancing 2027 Notes A...
02/06/2026
Praise for series three:
The Times - sun-dappled pleasure
The Daily Mail - The Homes Counties' Charlie's Angels
The Sun - 4* this [is an] enjoya...
02/06/2026
Wuppertal June 2, 2026
Gudrun Scharler Appointed CEO of Riedel Networks The Riedel Group today announced the appointment of Gudrun Scharler as CEO of Riedel N...
02/06/2026
Trust has become a commercial issue With global advertising spend forecast to exceed US$1 trillion this year*, the commercial consequences of weak governance co...
02/06/2026
June sees Ireland's cultural calendar in full bloom, as RT Supporting the Arts showcases a vibrant and wide-ranging programme spanning music, theatre, visu...
02/06/2026
After The Traitors Ireland launched in 2025, Irish audiences proved to have a taste for the global hit reality show. This Bank Holiday Monday fans can indulge e...
01/06/2026
Category line-up & sponsors announced
Photo: Paul Clarke
The Production Music Awards (PMA) have announced that submissions are now officially open ahead of...
01/06/2026
New hybrid sample/synthesis instrument revealed
Excite Audio have just released the latest instalment in their Evolve series, which has been developed in co...
01/06/2026
Latest TONEX expansion captures three rare vintage amps
The newest addition to IK Multimedia's ever-growing TONEX line-up introduces a set of three incr...
01/06/2026
Musically intelligent soft synth gets upgraded
Scaler Music will be probably be best known to many for their music theory tools, but their product range al...
01/06/2026
Rohde & Schwarz Satellite Industry Days 2026 guided by the motto From Earth to ...
01/06/2026
Luxembourg, June 1, 2026 - SES, a leading space solutions company, and Viva, Mexico's ultra low-cost airline, launched fast and reliable multi-orbit satelli...
01/06/2026
Mardi 2 juin 14h00
FilmLight (ARRI), 10 rue Ren Boulanger, 75010 Paris
Rejoignez-nous pour d couvrir comment FLAPI (l'API FilmLight) peut transformer e...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
29/05/2026
The days are getting longer, the temperatures are rising, and playlists are filling up for the season. With summer around the corner, Spotify's global edito...
29/05/2026
New retro-inspired MPC announced
There are few devices that have gained the status held by Akai Pro's MPC range, and in recent years, the company have s...
29/05/2026
Save up to 30 on acclaimed titles
Following a successful launch at Superbooth 2026, Bjooks have revealed that they will be continuing the Kickstarter campa...
29/05/2026
Binaural monitoring application improved
Genelec have just released an update that brings some powerful new features to their HRTF-based binaural headphone ...
29/05/2026
6 June 2026 at SAE Institute, London, UK
IMSTA FESTA 2026 is almost upon us, with some of the biggest names in pro-audio set to descend upon SAE Institute i...
29/05/2026
cetecom advanced certifies Rohde & Schwarz test solution for hybrid and Next Gen...
29/05/2026
May 29 2026, 09:00 (PDT) Dolby and rednote Bring More Immersive Storytelling to...
29/05/2026
Youtube exclusive special drops today
Watch now
UKTV today announces another e...
29/05/2026
Genelec announces V2.1 for Aural ID binaural headphone monitoring application posted: 29/05/2026
Aural ID 2.1 enhances binaural monitoring for stereo and ...
29/05/2026
At just 20 years old, Sean Melia from Summerhill Co. Meath has been revealed as the winner of Super Garden 2026. Sean is the youngest ever contestant and winner...
28/05/2026
Thomsons Climate Crisis Toolkit is already being put to work, helping journalist...
28/05/2026
A little refresh can go a long way. We've been making behind-the-scenes upda...
28/05/2026
Since early last year, our quarterly Creator Milestone Awards have celebrated podcasts from around the world that hit major streaming milestones on Spotify. Tod...
28/05/2026
New software-based MIDI multi-clock announced
Rapid Flow have just announced the launch of a new MIDI utility plug-in that aims to solve one of the most per...
28/05/2026
Company introduce most affordable interface yet
SSL's range of audio interfaces has just gained its latest, and smallest member, the SSL 1. Designed to ...
28/05/2026
New compact drum machine & sampler announced
The latest instrument from Sonicware sees the company kick off an all-new Deconstruct series with a compact dru...
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. 
