Spotify is leaning into catalog programming with the launch of its first-ever catalog hub, Spotify Classics, curated by the streaming service’s editorial team.
The program, which will be highlighted as a hub on the platform starting today, seeks to define more recent albums that the editorial team has deemed as streaming classics. The collection of 30 records dates from 2015 to the present day in North America, contending with the notion of what makes a classic and how the artists shifted the public’s perception of what an album can and should be.
The list of projects from the last nine years spans a variety of hip-hop and R&B albums including Rihanna’s “Anti,” Travis Scott’s “Astroworld,” Jay-Z’s “4:44,” Beyoncé’s “Lemonade,” Daniel Caesar’s “Freudian,” Kendrick Lamar’s “To Pimp a Butterfly” and many more. Additional artists in the package include Frank Ocean, Jazmine Sullivan, Nipsey Hussle, Solange, and Tyler, The Creator. The hub can be accessed here.
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“As editors, most of our work requires us to evaluate music at a song level so for the first iteration of the Spotify Classics program, we thought it was important to celebrate albums as a body of work,” says Carl Chery, creative director and head of urban music at Spotify. “Historically, media outlets would have published a list like the Classic Hip-Hop and RNB albums of the Streaming Era, but as the leader in streaming, we thought we were uniquely positioned to tell that story.
“I don’t think a streaming classic is any different from classic albums from previous eras,” he continues. “This program is 100 percent editorial. We took into consideration factors like quality, impact, influence, and replay value, among others, when making our selections. We expect to spark a conversation among passionate music fans. Whether you’re excited to see your favorite album acknowledged or you’re outraged that your favorite album is missing, we welcome all opinions.”
