Today, Feb. 12, streaming giant Spotify announced the beta launch of an exciting new feature: songwriter pages, which showcase all the music that person was behind, and "Written By" playlists. The new landing pages on Spotify's website, which are currently being rolled out in partnership with music publishers and labels, can be accessed while listening to music on the platform, allowing listeners to discover exactly who helped make that track come to life.
For example, on GRAMMY nominee Tayla Parx's new songwriter page, there are links to 107 tracks she helped pen, including oft-collaborator and friend Ariana Grande's mega-hits "7 rings" and "thank u, next," along with Panic! At The Disco's "High Hopes" and Fifth Harmony's "BO$$." The page shows gives a link to each song along with its streaming numbers (the list begins with the most-streamed track), as well as names and links to the artists they work with the most.
Spotify has been working with music publishing companies and labels to gather the song credit data and roll out the first beta iterations of artist pages. As their announcement notes, the streaming service began showing song credits within the platform in 2018 (which are viewable when you click the three dots next to a track and select "Show Credits"). They say this update led to an impressive "60 percent increase in how often labels and distributors credit songwriters on their new releases."
Now, the Song Credit popups will include links to songwriter pages, as they are rolled out. The "Written By" playlists, which compile all the songs written/co-written by a specific songwriter, are being highlighted within the platform itself as well. Spotify users can check out Song Credits by clicking the three dots next to any song in the app or desktop player now, and click through to the songwriter pages anywhere a name is linked. The blog post announcement linked above also provides links to several of those currently live.
Songwriters who are interested in participating can contact Spotify for Artists with this form.
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"Spotify is always working to create new and better ways to promote music discovery—for artists, for songs and, increasingly, for songwriters," Jules Parker, Head of Publishing & Songwriter Relations at Spotify said via a press release.
"The launch of publicly visible songwriter credits on Spotify in 2018 was merely a first step. Together with the publishing industry, we've continued to evolve our data sharing and analytics efforts, and are proud to unveil this next iteration. Clicking on the credits in this pilot will take users to dedicated songwriter pages—providing a home for a songwriter's work—and present listeners with 'Written By' playlists, a new series of playlists dedicated to songwriters."
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The songwriters themselves have also been a big part in advocating for this new functionality to increase visibility of those left even more behind-the-scenes in the digital age of music.
"Growing up, I looked at the back of my favorite albums to see who was involved in making them—from writers and producers to the engineers and instrumentalists. Those credits inspired me to explore making music and it's great to see Spotify supporting the work that we all do behind the scenes," GRAMMY-nominated singer/songwriter/producer Teddy Geiger said via the press release.
GRAMMY-winning pop star and songwriter Meghan Trainor echoed her thoughts: "It's SO cool that Spotify is working hard to find ways to promote and give credit to songwriters! Having a platform that appreciates and celebrates the songwriting community is exciting and important!”
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