Kenyan Singer, Maya Amolo is Spotify’s First Finds Africa Artist
Streaming giant, Spotify has announced Kenyan singer, Maya Amolo, as its first-ever Fresh Finds Africa artist of the month.
The Fresh Finds playlist serves as a launchpad for up-and-coming artists to get exposure, while also catering to fans and industry tastemakers who want to discover fresh new talent.
It is also part of its program aimed at flashing a spotlight on, and developing emerging independent artists from across Africa.
The program focuses on helping emerging artists to learn and grow by giving them the tools for long-term and sustained career success.
The playlist serves as a launchpad for up-and-coming artists to get exposure, while also catering to fans and industry tastemakers who want to discover fresh new talent.
Fresh Finds Africa will be a monthly programme, with a new artist selected every month by the Spotify music team.
23-year-old Amolo an alternative R&B artist from Nairobi, cut her teeth on SoundCloud, while collaborating with internet producers to create sad boi tunes including ‘U Wanna’ and ‘Where Tornados Flew.’
Maya’s sugary vocals and soft harmonies quickly amassed her a dedicated listenership and grabbed the attention of local producers and musicians.
Maya headlines the inaugural Fresh Finds Africa playlist housed in Spotify’s Fresh Finds hub to showcase tracks from other up-and-coming African artists.
Best Practices
In addition to being playlisted with the rest, she gets a one-on-one workshop on the best practices for using the Spotify platform as well as in-app and social support to help her grow her career.
“Fresh Finds artist selection is informed by a combination of data and editorial decision making, with our curation team choosing artists that are showing momentum both on and off Spotify,” said Phiona Okumu, Spotify’s head of music for Sub-Saharan Africa.
“Spotify has always been committed to connecting fans to up-and-coming artists and the music they love. The Fresh Finds programme is an enhanced version of that,” Okumu added.
Since its global launch in 2016, Fresh Finds has playlisted over 25,000 artists, with theiraverage monthly listeners increasing by108% within a month of their songs being included in the playlists.
“For an upcoming artist like Maya, these figures promise an increased audience and opens her up to new opportunities which might not have been possible without Fresh Finds,” concludes Okumu.
Maya’s first work, Leave Me At The Pregame, which takes the listener through a melodious journey of self-acceptance and healing, was released in mid-2020. Maya has since gone on to establish herself as one to watch, having been covered by NPR, Okay Africa and TANGAZA Magazine.
She is set to release the first single from her forthcoming project on March 31.
“I am honored to be chosen as the first artist to launch Fresh Finds in Africa. This is a much needed platform for upcoming artists and I am excited for the growth that will come as a result of this,”says Maya.
Pulse/Hauwa Abu
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