Spotify introduces RISE, its New Emerging Artist Programme

Spotify has launched RISE, a programme designed to identify and break the next wave of music superstars.

By harnessing its unmatched cultural influence and 140+ million music fans, Spotify will launch these artists of exceptional talent into the world through a dynamic combination of multi-tiered marketing and editorial programming on Spotify. 

The launch of RISE includes on platform, out of home, digital and social promotion in addition to special, mixed-media RISE playlists. In the coming months, Spotify will create one-of-a-kind experiential events for each RISE artist and release bespoke audio and video content that dives deep into the story behind each rising star.

Spotify kicks off RISE with 4 genre-diverse artists; pop-sensation Kim Petras; pop/rock artist Lauv; country singer Russell Dickerson; and hip hop artist Trippie Redd. Launching in the U.S, Canada and the U.K., the program will add 4 new artists every few months, supporting a total of 16 emerging artists per year.    

Delta Air Lines is also supporting RISE on aircraft seat backs through their Delta Artist Spotlight program.

Spotify is committed to supporting the careers of artists of every level, including the next generation of global superstars” said Troy Carter, Spotify’s Global Head of Creator Services. “RISE is a powerful platform and an investment towards the future of emerging artists and the fans who discovered them first.”

About Spotify’s RISE artists 

Kim Petras

Somewhere between nineties American pop and eighties European disco, rises the undeniable voice of Kim Petras.  Nodding to influences as diverse as Britney Spears, Baltimora, and the “Brat Pack,” the “side bun” sporting German-born and Los Angeles-based songstress powers up a new pop paradigm, sharing intimate lovelorn storylines over explosive production. 

Her brand of escapism remains rooted in a boundless capacity for empathy. Knowing herself from the age of two, Kim notably began transitioning with female hormone therapy following her twelfth birthday before receiving gender reassignment surgery at the age of 16 and making worldwide headlines. Her bravery quietly and subconsciously punctuates the music.

“I have unique experiences and have had unique experiences, because I am transgender,” she continues. “Those experiences one-hundred percent go into my music. Being the outcast and being bullied makes you work harder in life. I had to fight for everything, because I was not the cool kid and had very few friends. At the same time, I’m just a girl going through heartbreak. It feels the same way to me as any other girl would feel about it. Whether or not you connect with people has nothing to do with your gender or sexuality.” 

Ultimately, her experience and intimate understanding of pop yields a universal vision that’s as incomparable as it is inimitable.

“For a moment, I’d love for listeners to forget reality and have fun when they listen to me,” she leaves off. “They don’t have to think about anything negative. I hope they blast it in the cars or when they’re getting ready and want to feel fabulous. I hope it’s a soundtrack to their lives.”

Lauv

23-year-old independent singer, songwriter, and producer Lauv resembles an auteur in his assemblage of electronic tones, airy beats, jazz-inspired guitars, and soulful vocalisations. After logging countless hours in his bedroom writing and producing, Lauv entered the prestigious Music Technology Program at NYU in 2012. Under the auspices that he’d “make music for other artists,” he passionately maintained a prolific output until penning “The Other” during 2014. “The Other” quietly took the internet by storm. Premiered on a friend’s blog as his first release under the name Lauv, the song virally lit up HypeMachine. Fueling the 2015 Lost in the Light EP, the track eventually generated 100 million-plus Spotify streams and placed on Today’s Top Hits and the Global 100—all from his dorm room.

Relocating to Los Angeles and signing a publishing deal with Prescription Songs, he co-wrote the gold-certified Top 5 smash “No Promises” by Cheat Codes and Demi Lovato as well as the Pitchfork-endorsed “Boys” for Charli XCX, among others. In the meantime, “I Like Me Better” became his second bona fide smash. It vaulted past the 200 million mark on Spotify, soaring to the Top 30 of the Global Chart internationally. A mélange of plucky synth chords and a 90s-inspired drum break, the electrifying production snaps into a soulfully staccato refrain “I Like Me better” comprises just one phase of Lauv’s debut playlist, I met you when I was 18. Collating all of his music and the 2017 single “Easy Love,” the project brings everything full circle as he confidently steps into new territory.

Russell Dickerson

Russell Dickerson was born for the stage. “I’m just naturally that kind of dude: a big, loud and over-the- top guy,” he says with a laugh. Yes, one of country music’s most talked-about new talents -- and the voice behind the smash single “Yours,” a stunning ballad inspired by his wife of four years, Kailey, that’s racked up over 50 million streams to date on Spotify, where he’s been on the Hot Country, Country Gold Playlists and more for over a year, and exploded since being serviced to country radio in April -- need not go into “entertainer mode” before he catapults himself onstage to deliver one of his notoriously amped-up live shows. 

He’s already there.

Even as a Union City, Tennessee-raised, obsessive teenage music fan, one who’d regularly wait in wraparound lines to see his favourite artists perform in Nashville (“I just got hooked on that energy”) and held up Garth Brooks and Keith Urban DVD’s as his personal Gospel, Dickerson, says being “that dude onstage was always the dream. We would scream every word of every song, and all I could think about was ‘I want to be that guy!’” Now, thanks to contagious tracks and a stellar live show, he’s steadily built a serious fan base of his own.

Trippie Redd

Blending the elements of rap and trap with touches of emo and punk rock, Trippie Redd creates music that transcends through genres and resonates with audiences. The 18-year old Canton, Ohio native first emerged online in 2015 with a series of tracks and videos that launched him to viral success. People took notice. Trippie signed with Caroline-distributed Strainge Vision in 2017 and released A Love Letter to You, spawning a series of streaming hits including, “Love Scars”. In October 2017, Trippie followed up with his second mixtape, A Love Letter To You 2. Critics and fellow artists have taken notice, and the praise and invitations to feature on tracks speak for themselves. Trippie’s unique vocal style has separated him from the pack. His tracks see him rap, croon, and distort his vocals into a slow-fade that keeps you guessing and makes you keep listening to see what he’ll do next.

October 20, 2017 2:30pm ET by Spotify  

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