Driving Growth Through Equitable Pathways

At Spotify, we believe in homegrown talent and that building a great business starts from within. Our unwavering commitment to being a people-first organisation means helping our bandmates thrive and perform at their best.

Creating Equitable Pathways

In facilitating the growth of globally distributed bandmates, we recognise that everyone’s experiences are different. Each band member brings a unique perspective influenced by factors such as work experience, geographic location, language and culture, socio-economic background, gender identity, race and ethnicity.  

As well as being a people-first organisation and focusing on homegrown talent, we believe in fairness and equal access to opportunities. Therefore, we recognise that these differences in experiences can bring unique barriers and challenges to growth and development.  

According to research by Coqual (a non-profit global think tank), Black, Latine, and Asian Pacific Islander (API) working professionals report encountering ceilings to growth at leadership levels and having less access to mentors, sponsors and role models. To achieve a level playing field for all, at Spotify, we are proactively identifying and removing these barriers and providing tailored tools and resources for our bandmates, allies and leaders.

Spotlight on Black Talent @Spotify

In 2020, we established a holistic approach to driving meaningful impact in partnership with our BLK Belonging Group (Spotify’s Employee Resource Group for Black bandmates and allies). Since then, we’ve been reaffirming our commitment in supporting our Black bandmates, creators and communities with several initiatives, such as our recognition of Black Cultural Moments (e.g. Black Heritage Month in the US and UK, and Afro Swedish Week in Sweden), Frequency (Spotify’s on-platform home for Black creativity), and our NextGen efforts with Historically Black Colleges and Universities in the United States.

This year, we gathered feedback through listening sessions and our Tune:In engagement survey to identify ways to enable people of all identities and backgrounds to do their best work and thrive. The main takeaway was that our Black bandmates and HR can’t do the work alone or in a vacuum – we need the full support of the Spotify ecosystem and beyond, and we need equitable pathways to be embedded within the business and fully supported by leaders.

With this feedback, we identified three future focus areas centered on:

• Creating opportunities for global connection including hosting joint events with regional BLK chapters
• Fostering allyship across the business to drive further engagement and recognition of the diversity across Spotify
• A focus on homegrown talent and the unique experience of Black working professionals

BLK Workforce Development Conference

Our Annual BLK Workforce Development Conference, launched by BLK members in 2019, is an example of work across the three focus areas outlined above. We see the annual event as a culmination of our efforts in designing and delivering tailored resources internally to our bandmates. This year’s event, themed “FWD: The Next Episode”, emphasised the importance of personal development and professional growth, and highlighted the role of allies and leaders. 

The conference spanned over the course of a week with virtual global sessions for all bandmates along with local sessions in the US, UK, Brazil, and Sweden. 

Program highlights included:

• Curated pathways for BLK members, allies and leaders allowing for bandmates to select the most relevant content aligned to their interests
• Conversations on; the state of the Black working professional across the Americas and Europe; becoming an active ally; navigating the world of coaches, mentors and sponsors; and advocating for yourself through negotiations for career advancement
• Regional Listening Circles with Executive team members designed to facilitate small-group, open conversations on the experiences and perspectives of our BLK band members, and identify actions for our leaders to support the community
• 1:1 sessions with our Talent Acquisition team on internal growth opportunities and learning sessions on optimising profiles via Echo, our internal talent platform

Moving Beyond the Fixed Pie

Building equitable pathways goes hand-in-hand with being a people-first organisation. Helping our bandmates thrive and perform means not only acknowledging that different experiences exist, but taking action to remove barriers and address any disparities in their growth.  

In doing so, we unlock the power of our diverse and globally distributed workforce – one that is breaking the next great artist or developing innovative features on our platform and expanding the proverbial pie for everyone.