As a platform that encourages diversity, Spotify is certainly no stranger to seeing content creators from all walks of life, particularly women creators. So in honor of International Women’s Day, Spotify celebrates Filipina artists, creators and listeners with fresh content through the #PinayPowerInAudio, the flagship International Women’s Day campaign. Held last March 7 and hosted by Joyce Pring of the Adulting with Joyce Pring podcast, the panel touches on the importance of gender representation, as well as tips on how to break new grounds in the music and podcasts space, and its importance to the fabric of Pinoy culture and creativity.
According to Spotify’s Head of Music, Kossy Ng, the world is currently at an “Age of Audio Renaissance” where there are little to no barriers of entry.
“It’s a very exciting phase, to be honest, the growth has been tremendous, there have been so many tracks released every day because there is so much access, and we are also consciously making sure we float all these great music out there. We are at an age of audio renaissance, and we are very excited to see it be heard,” she said.
However, despite the entryway being much easier, many content creators still find that the hardest thing to do is to just start. Particularly in a very male-dominated world, the content creators on the panel stressed the importance of just making one’s voice heard.
“That was actually my difficulty in starting, ‘do I have something to say’ and that is the most difficult thing. Like Keiko said, starting is the hardest part because you don’t know if what you have to say is valid or if you even have an opinion people are interested in hearing. And what I found is that, I really just had to shut that insecurity down by saying that it’s not for people. At the end of the day, when you start you have to know what your goal is within yourself,” said Hannah Pangilinan, Creator of Spotify Original, Pausecast with Hannah.
Moreover, the panelists also shared that with the pandemic came radical changes in lifestyle, and many have turned to music and podcasts as a means to stay connected. At the end of the day, content creators, particularly women content creators, are there to create a safe space for men and women from all walks of life.
“Being in a pandemic is super hard, but having a platform here really opened some doors for me. It’s such a beautiful thing to connect with people all around the world, not just in the Philippines. And hearing them talk about how they say that something changed in their lives because they heard the podcast or they heard a song from you. It’s so good because I think that’s the purpose of being creator. We all have different stories to tell, but we’re still able to connect with people and hear people who have been through the same thing,” concludes Keiko Necesario.