Spotify expands into six new countries, including Venezuela and Iraq – Music Business Worldwide

Spotify has expanded its service into six new countries, including Iraq, Libya, Tajikistan, Venezuela, Republic of the Congo, and Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Spotify is now available in 184 markets.

The announcement, detailed in a blog post, comes after Spotify promised a “sweeping global expansion” in February, aiming to introduce the service “to more than a billion people around the world”.

Since then, Spotify has expanded into more than 80 new markets, and added 36 languages to its platform.

This included key territories across Africa, such as Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe, while in September, Spotify expanded into Caribbean countries such as Turks and Caicos Islands, Aruba and more.

Spotify has made both its Free and Premium services available in the six markets announced this week, with the company adding that the move makes it “better able to introduce the music and sounds of more people, places, and cultures to listeners around the world”.

A selection of playlists have also been curated to showcase the sounds of these new territories.

Made In Venezuela features contemporary and catalog content from Venezuelan artists, while Llano Adentro is comprised of more traditional sounds from Venezuela and Colombia.

Flow Venezuela, meanwhile, represents the worlds of Venezuelan rap and hip-hop, and features Venezuelan artists Tayko and Irepelusa, who previously featured in Spotify’s RADAR Andinos program.

The hits of Iraq are also showcased in أفضل الأغاني العراقية, and new Iraqi songs can be found at عراقي جديد.

Spotify’s global Premium Subscriber base grew to 172 million in Q3 (the three months to end of September).

That was up 19% year-on-year, and up by 4%, or 7 million subscribers, on the 165m that SPOT counted at the end of the prior quarter (Q2 2021).

Today, Spotify launched interactive lyrics for all of its Free and Premium users worldwide.Music Business Worldwide