Tom Connaughton: Last News

APPOINTMENTSAEG Europe has appointed Lynsey Wollaston as Vice President and General Manager for European Festivals. “With her extensive industry leadership and experience, Lynsey brings huge value to our team”, says CEO of AEG European Festivals division Jim King.

Spotify streams of Little Simz‘ music have soared over 350 per cent following her appearance at this year’s BRIT Awards.The rapper, who released her last album, ‘Sometimes I Might Be Introvert’, back in September, won the award for Best New Artist at last night’s (February 8) ceremony at London’s The O2. She also performed a medley of her tracks ‘Introvert’ and ‘Woman’.Her massive night has since prompted a huge spike in Spotify streams in comparison to other BRITs winners including Adele, Silk Sonic, Ed Sheeran, Dave and Sam Fender.There was a 812 per cent increase in streams of ‘Introvert’ and a 594 per cent spike for ‘Woman’, equating to a 365 per cent jump overall.Elsewhere, Adele, who took home three BRITs last night (Artist Of The Year, Album Of The Year, Song Of The Year), saw a 137 per cent increase in Spotify streams following the awards, while Dave’s streams went up by 217 per cent. Fender’s music saw a 79 per cent jump.“As ever, the BRITs showed the incredible breadth of talent being fostered here in the UK, across every genre of music,” Tom Connaughton, managing director of Spotify UK and Ireland, said in a statement (via Rolling Stone UK).

Spotify UK has announced that it’s launching its first playlist featuring music and news all in one location.Spotify’s Your Daily Drive, which launched in the US in 2019, provides curated playlists that combine updates from reputable news sources.The short-form podcasts draw from news sources including The Times, TalkSport, The Economist, Evening Standard, and more.“At Spotify we believe in providing access to personalised content that our users love,” said Tom Connaughton, Spotify UK’s Managing Director (via Music Week).