MANILA – The quickest way to a man’s heart might be through his stomach, but for Filipinos, it could be through their ears, too.
Wednesday marks Spotify’s first anniversary in the Philippines and it has plenty to celebrate, with the country emerging as its second fastest-growing market globally second only to Canada.
Also, with 2.5 billions songs streamed and 6.8 million playlists played nationwide since its debut last April 2014, the Philippines is also Spotify’s biggest market in the Asia-Pacific region.
At the root of this remarkable growth is the insatiable appetite of Filipinos for music, Sunita Kaur (left), managing director at Spotify Asia, shared with adobo, revealing that 1 in 5 Filipinos with internet access are listening to the Sweden-based music streaming service.
“They absolutely love music. The demand is there and immense and Spotify was just there at the right time and with the right partners to capitalize on that,” she adds.
Spotify picked Globe Telecom as its exclusive partner when it entered the country, which enabled the company to tap what was then a potential user base of over 38 million subscribers. Globe’s user base now stands at a whooping 46 million, based on March figures.
Dan Horan (right), senior advisor for consumer business at Globe, was just as ecstatic as Kaur during the #1withSpotify anniversary party but took the chance to explain that Spotify didn’t just bring free music, but also proof that Filipinos are actually willing to avoid piracy if they were given the means to do so.
“The mission was to change the way music was listened to and purchased in a market that was fundamentally pirated. To do that in less than a year is astounding… it shows it can actually be done.”
Over 70 percent of Spotify users in the Philippines are Millennials aged 18 to 30 years old. Interestingly, almost 60% of music fans are streaming on mobile, while another 70% are using Spotify on the Globe network.
The company is not resting on its laurels, already starting the new year in the Philippines with the introduction of Spotify Sessions, a live EP featuring a different up-and-coming artist recorded exclusively for Spotify.
First up on Spotify Sessions will be alternative rock band Hale, which returns to the music scene after a 5 year hiatus, headlining the company’s focus on bringing more Original Pinoy Music (OPM) to its steadily growing fan base.
“We are absolutely delighted to announce that we will be having our first OPM artist join the ranks of Jason Mraz, Mumford & Sons and Imagine Dragons as a Spotify sessions artist, and for the country, its gonna be the mighty Hale,” Kaur said.
