potify has emerged as the most popular (no surprise) and pro-mising audio streaming platform in Pakistan, even though there are labels and artists who prefer to release their music through other mediums such as bandcamp. But that number is on the lower side.

A global app, Spotify offers its listeners (with or without a premium package) millions of songs. If you are on the premium side, advertisements between songs will not arrive out of the blue and ruin the moment. But that’s one of the many differences if you try both. Its modus operandi in each country where it has an official presence might vary due to market dynamics but some initiatives feel almost like game-changers.

In a world that has become heavily dependent on technological advances, Spotify has several initiatives worth discussing.

Spotify’s EQUAL program that highlights women artists on its app does so by promoting at least one song as well as through a digital billboard on Times Square, NYC.

EQUAL features popular as well as upcoming or emerging artists. To that end, their latest EQUAL ambassador is an artist called Annural Khalid, who has diligently worked to accomplish enough popularity and fan following that she made Spotify’s latest ambassador list.

Apart from a digital billboard in Times Square, NYC, she is also featured on the EQUAL Pakistan playlist with a deeply personal single called ‘Trust Issues’.

According to Khalid, she “started singing around the same time I learned how to speak”. However, she entered the music scene formally in 2020, releasing a number of singles as well as collaborations with industry’s well-known names.

A huge fan of artists such as Rihanna from the international circuit, her music is not exactly bound by any parameters or genres and if you listen to her songs, you might find the vibe of chill pop/R&B, which is incidentally enough also something that resonates in Rihanna’s music but what you won’t find are songs that are drenched in some form of imitation of the Barbados singer.

There is an originality to Khalid that reveals itself immediately as well as on several plays.

It wasn’t lost on Annural Khalid that she made the EQUAL ambassador list in July, which is the South Asian Heritage month.

“I’m so stoked to be Spotify Pakistan’s EQUAL artist for July,” said the singer before adding, “Spotify has absolutely changed the game for musicians and Spotify EQUAL has to be the coolest initiative in my opinion. Never thought we’d one day have a platform representing solely women in music, especially in Pakistan. It really makes you hopeful while being a female musician for the future of music in this region.”

Perhaps the most interesting factor is that she is invested in music and has plans to release her album later this year.

On Spotify’s front, Rutaba Yaqub, Spotify Senior Editor in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh said, “EQUAL Pakistan has dug deep and struck chords with the Pakistani music listeners in an unprecedented manner. We feel honored to announce Annural Khalid as the new face of the initiative and look forward to her swaying crowds, raising barriers, and breaking stereotypes in the industry.”

Some of Khalid’s other singles include ‘Kehdena’, ‘Mujhe Leh Chal’, ‘Dil de Bol’, ‘Pretty Lies’ and ‘Sohneya Ve’.

Badshah of Qawwali on
Independence Day

It is safe to say that Spotify has left homegrown apps such as Patari or even a regional platform behind due to the statistics backing this claim. Spotify claims it has more than 551 million users, including 220 million subscribers in more than 180 markets. In other words, it is a platform that can surprise, celebrate and create hype, depending on the occasions.

A case in point is Pakistan’s 76th Independence Day that came around – like every year - on August 14. To mark the occasion, Spotify (thankfully) didn’t roll out new and garish national songs but pointed us to the country’s iconic, prodigious and the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, putting his music front and center and through an updated playlist featuring some of his most familiar and cherished works including Night Song with Michael Brook.

“As per Spotify’s data reveal, he is ranked as the 4th most streamed Pakistani artist on the platform this year, with his tracks inspiring generation after generation of listeners and singers alike,” said a presser.

Though other artists made paid tribute to the maestro through a video and spoke about his influence on them, the real proof is in the pie. It is the sheer numbers of music and poetry and recorded qawaalis he recorded during his lifetime that have lived on decades after his passing.

He truly was among the great artists Pakistan produced and his legacy still continues. Celebrating NFAK was the perfect musical antidote to a day that is a cause for celebration but also signifies a feeling of a profound trauma for many who migrated from what is now India and remember the days leading up to the partition of India and Pakistan, orchestrated by the British Raj.

Back to the future

Moving on from the historic lesson and geographical realities, a new reality has been embraced by music listeners across Pakistan. Pop music, once driven by pop-rock music, has been replaced firmly by the hip-hop and rap genre. According to a data survey provided by Spotify Pakistan, a quarter of all streams on the audio streaming site belongs to hip-hop and rap artists.

Among the most popular artists are the likes of Eva B (crowned as the first female rapper in and of Pakistan), Young Stunners (featuring Talha Anjum, Talhah Yunus with Jokhay as producer) and Rap Demon.

Said a presser: “In a grand tribute to the monumental cultural phenomenon that is hip-hop, Spotify is excited to announce the launch of the “Hip-Hop Turns Fifty” hub. This exclusive on-platform destination is a vibrant celebration of five decades of hip-hop, showcasing a captivating blend of data-driven and editorially curated top 50 best and most-streamed lists that have been the heartbeat of the summer.”

Beyond this, in terms of statistics, Spotify Pakistan has revealed that hip-hop commands an impressive “24 percent share of all plays in Pakistan, with an astounding 67 percent of its streams flowing from the under-25 demographic”.

A presser further noted, top songs include “‘Agency’ by Rap Demon, Talha Anjum and Umair, ‘Gumaan’ by Young Stunners, and ‘Secrets’ and ‘Downers At Dusk’ by Talha Anjum and Umair.”

Other noteworthy songs included ‘Afsanay’ by Young Stunners and ‘Cold Hours’ by Umair and aleemrk, with Talha Anjum, as a solo act, and Young Stunners being the top artists followed by Rap Demon, superdupersultan and Eva B.

In the end though, the listenership is going to a few artists, some of whom are oversaturating the mark. Taste is not as varied as one who would’ve thought since several other worthy, merit-based rap and hip-hop names are missing such as Sunny Khan Durrani and Faris Shafi to name just two but the under 25 demographic is not responding to artists who tell it like it is with a ferociousness other acts mentioned above lack sorely except Eva B. Maybe bombarding the music scene with song after song can work in some cases (we’re looking at you, Young Stunners) but it can also lead to oversaturation of the same.

In comparison, others missing acts from the list includes Lyari Underground, Pindi Boyz, OCL, Adil Omar and Hashim Nawaz to name a few.

-Watch this space for an extensive review of Spotify’s newly introduced AI DJ that will tailor songs to your liking in a way an algorithm hasn’t been able to? Watch this space for the answers.