March 1, 2022 is the one year anniversary of Spotify in Jamaica, and the music and podcast streaming company is optimistic about streaming in the island with the possibility of increased interest in Jamaica this year.
In an exclusive interview with World Music Views, Spotify’s communications manager Julia Lavender said it is likely that there will be further local activities (related to music) in Jamaica.
She stated via in a statement that, “Jamaicans are embracing their local music scene after launching a year ago in the island.”
Last year it was reported that Drake is the leader on Spotify in Jamaica over the 9 month period, but in-spite of that midterm data, the full year’s report showed that local artists are favored on the platform across genres.
“Since (last year) Spotify has had a warm welcome from artists and users alike. Data from the year unveils that Jamaicans are enjoying their local music scene, with Alkaline, Vybz Kartel, Masicka and Skillibeng all being the most played artists – both on the global and local top list.” Lavender told World Music Views.
She provided data which showed that newcomers and new singles are dominating the local music scene such as Skeng’s “Gvnman Shift” and Countree Hype and Intence’ “Yahoo Boyz”. Both are among the top songs being played globally and locally on the platform.
Skeng, managed to snag three tracks on the list of most streamed local songs in Jamaica and made waves as one of the new artists that has gained a lot of ground since Spotify launched.
Shenseea, is the leading female artist locally after representing Spotify’s Dancehall Queen playlist.
There is also a resurgence of interest in old school reggae music according to the data.
“Jamaicans are enjoying Reggae Fusion, Lovers Rock and Old School Dancehall” said the communication from Lavender.
Spotify is a playlist driven platform and Jamaicans are a catching on the the hype. Over 370, 000 playlists have been created by users in the last year, and the words that the Jamaicans tend to name their playlists are “dancehall”, “vibe”, “love” and “gospel”. The day that recorded the most plays was the 28th of January.
Spotify is the world’s most popular audio streaming subscription service with a community of more than 406 million Monthly Active Users and 180 million Premium Subscribers. With a presence in 184 markets worldwide, 3.6 million podcast titles and more than 72 million tracks, it has transformed the way people access and enjoy music and podcasts.
Lavender indicated that there are no plans afoot to expand their exclusive podcasts offerings in Jamaica as they do in the US with podcasts like the Joe Rogan podcasts or DJ Akademiks Off The Record Podcast. There are currently over 50 podcasts by Jamaican hosts being streamed on Spotify including Moms Can Relate, World Music Views, Good Gas Mondays, and many others.
See full data below for Spotify’s full year of music consumption.
Most played local artists
- Alkaline
- Vybz Kartel
- Masicka
- Skillibeng
- Intence
- Popcaan
- Skeng
- Dexta Daps
- Chronic Law
- Squash
Most played local songs - Skeng – Gvnman Shift
- Countree Hype, Intence – Yahoo Boyz
- Skeng, Tommy Lee Sparta – Protocol
- Alkaline – Hostage
- 10Tik – Roll Deep
- Skeng – Street Cred
- Skillibeng – Crocodile Teeth
- Sean Paul, Shaggy, Spice – Go Down Deh (feat. Shaggy and Sean Paul)
- Alkaline – Ocean Wave
- Masicka – I Wish
Most played Jamaican artists outside of Jamaica - Bob Marley & The Wailers
- Sean Paul
- Rvssian
- Popcaan
- OMI
- Vybz Kartel
- Damian Marley
- Beenie Man
- Charly Black
- Chronixx
Most played female artists in Jamaica - Shenseea
- Jada Kingdom
- Spice
- Koffee
- Alicia Spence
- Lila Iké
- Stalk Ashley
- Moyann
