Karachi, Spotify’s EQUAL Pakistan program celebrates its second anniversary this March, highlighting the significant impact it has made on promoting women musicians within the country. The initiative, known for its commitment to enhancing female representation in the Pakistani music industry, shared exciting data that reveals the program’s success over the past year. This includes the addition of more than 6,900 women artists to its EQUAL playlists and a notable increase in streams and audience engagement for local women artists.

According to Spotify, EQUAL Pakistan has played a crucial role in spotlighting the country’s most talented women musicians, leading to more than 1.3 billion editorial streams for EQUAL artists within their first month of joining. Overall, the EQUAL hub has amassed over 31 billion editorial streams across 1 billion listening hours. In 2023, the program facilitated over 14.8 million artist discoveries through its playlists, with EQUAL artists receiving over 11,800 editorial playlist additions.

Rutaba Yaqub, Spotify’s Senior Editor for Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh, expressed pride in the program's achievements, particularly noting a 25% global increase in streams for local women artists in 2023 compared to the year before. The local consumption of music by Pakistani women artists also saw a remarkable 44% rise in streams, indicating their growing popularity among listeners in Pakistan.

Spotlighted achievements include artists such as Asteria and Hareem Rashid, who saw their monthly listeners skyrocket by 408% and 281%, respectively, after being featured as EQUAL Pakistan ambassadors. This significant growth demonstrates the program’s effectiveness in amplifying emerging talents. Veteran artists like Tina Sani, Aima Baig, and Sanam Marvi also experienced substantial increases in listenership since joining EQUAL Pakistan.

The program has not only focused on emerging talent but also highlighted established artists such as Momina Mustehsan, Nazia Hassan, and Hadiqa Kiani, showcasing their work to global audiences. For March, Zeb Bangash has been announced as the Ambassador, bringing attention to her music across several countries, including India, Pakistan, and the USA.

Spotify’s EQUAL Pakistan’s second anniversary underlines the streaming giant’s commitment to promoting diversity and inclusion within the music industry by supporting and amplifying the voices of women artists, contributing to their growing influence both locally and internationally.