In the past few days Spotify hosted the first EQUAL charity gala in Italybringing together in Milan – more precisely in the spaces of the Triennale – over 70 artists and several prominent personalities from the Italian music sector with the aim of raising funds to promote the careers of women within the music industry and support the professional training of producers, musicians and authors.
All this also thanks to the collaboration with the association Equallywhich aims for gender equality in the music industry and will employ i 32,000 euros raised to support the professional training of women in musical production, writing and composition, or in sectors where the female component is less present.
In fact, the gala – which saw the participation of artists of the caliber of ANNA, Annalisa, Aries, BigMama, Clara, Emma, Francesca Michielin, Gaia, M¥SS KETA, Naomi And Rose Villain – is part of the activities conducted within EQUALThe Spotify global program aimed at promoting gender equality in the music industry.
But that's not all! In fact, during the event the next one was announced EQUAL Italy ambassador for the month of January, which will be Minaand the new one was presented EQUAL Global Ambassador of the month of December, that is Victoriawho stated:
“I am delighted to be able to support and be part of such an important initiative, which promotes gender equality in the world of music.
Unfortunately, I believe that gender inequality is still a major problem in Italy, as in many other parts of the world. There is often a different and more severe judgment towards women, which tends to focus on aspects such as physical appearance or the way they dress, rather than on the talent and work we put into what we do.
I think it's crucial to have greater representation of female artists who express themselves freely and without fear of being judged. Music has great power to influence social perception. At the same time, each of us, artists or not, has the responsibility to fight against gender discrimination, even in small things”.
SPOTIFY, Three years of EQUAL towards greater gender equality
Since its launch, EQUAL it represented a turning point for the visibility and valorisation of female talent in music and the figures confirm the positive impact it has had over the last three years.
In fact, on a global level, female artists EQUAL they have accumulated over 1.5 billion listens in editorial playliststhe of Spotify and, in 2024 alone, they were over 24 million “discoveries” of new artists thanks to playlists EQUAL.
To date, Spotify he included more than 7,000 artists in EQUAL playlistsWhile almost 2,000 ambassadors of the program have received support, in their countries of origin and internationally, through partnerships, ad hoc editorial and promotional activities.
In Italy, specifically, the commitment of Spotify has resulted in constant attention over the years, which has led the number of songs by Italian artists included in editorial playlists to increase over 80% in the last three years. Furthermore, there are more and more artists included in editorial playlists, over 2,500 in 2024 (more than 40% compared to 2021).
There presence of songs by Italian artists in editorial playlists outside Italy instead it increased by over 110% compared to the launch of EQUAL in 2021, while the number of Italian artists included in the same playlists as Spotify grew by more than 45%.
Given this commitment, both locally and internationally, Italian artists saw in 2024 a global growth of listeners on the platform by more than 10% compared to last year.
But who were the five artists? EQUAL most listened to Italian songs in our country? ANNA (+120% on 2023), Rose Villain (+115% listeners compared to the last year), Annalisa, Elodie And Angelina Mango.
The latter, specifically, recorded the most significant growth compared to last year, marking a +220% in streaming listeners in 2023.
This is evidence of the cultural importance that events such as the one continue to have Sanremo Festival or theEurovision Song Contest.