Back in March, Spotify unveiled its new Radar initiative – spanning 50 markets across the globe via a series of 17 sister programmes – which is designed to promote emerging talent. Young T & Bugsey were nominated by Spotify UK & Ireland as their first pick for the new campaign, and now they have company.
Today (May 28), Spotify have confirmed Scottish indie band Vistas as the second artists from the UK and Ireland to join the programme.
To coincide with the release of their debut album, Everything Changes In The End, this Friday (May 29), Vistas’ on- and off-platform support from Spotify will include a full marketing campaign, promotion within Spotify, and editorial support including the Radar: First Listen playlist. The support will be ongoing for a 12 month period.
Speaking about their addition to the programme, Sulinna Ong, Spotify UK/IE, head of music, said: “At Spotify we are in a unique position to connect artists with new and wider audiences. With that comes the desire to make a significant contribution towards elevating new and emerging talent, which is why we created the Radar programme earlier this year. We’ve already seen strong results from the support we’ve provided our debut Radar artists Young T & Bugsey so far, and as we look to add the next round of artists to Radar, it was important to us to represent diversity in genre and look at music coming from different regions.”
Ong continued: “Scottish indie band Vistas will be the second artist to join the Radar programme in the UK and Ireland. Having built a loyal live fanbase and with the release of their debut album Everything Changes In The End this month via their own imprint, the band were a stand-out choice. We will be working closely with Vistas and their team to further support them and introduce new listeners to their music.”
It was important to us to represent diversity in genre and look at music coming from different regions
Sulinna Ong, Spotify UK/IE
To mark their album's release, Vistas will also play an isolation gig at 11pm Thursday May 28, followed by a ‘live’ album listening party via Zoom at midnight.
Terry Edwards, SB Management, said: “It's brilliant to be supported by Spotify: we’ve felt part of the Spotify family since the early support which essentially got the ball rolling for Vistas - and even more so now that we’ve been chosen as a RADAR artist. Spotify editorial support has been a massive part of growing the band from grass roots venues to playing main stages at festivals and beyond. We’re excited to see how things unfold from here, and to keep growing the band together in the future.”
In terms of the Radar programme’s impact so far, Spotify state that the Young T & Bugsey have been provided with full support for their latest mixtape release Plead The 5th and a campaign photoshoot with London based music photographer Kay Ibrahim.
An official press release stated that, since the start of the programme on March 9, Young T & Bugsey have enjoyed a 44% uplift in streams on Spotify, as well as a 29% uplift in engagement on the platform.
Spotify are nominated for the Music Consumer Innovation category at the 2020 Music Week Awards.
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