It was March 2022, nearly a year after Spotify stepped foot in Pakistan that the EQUAL Pakistan Ambassador program was introduced for the local music scene. And its first Ambassador? The effervescent Arooj Aftab! Little did the world know that this emerging talent would accumulate a diverse variety of “firsts” for Pakistan in a short time span.
From
becoming the ‘first’ Pakistani to be nominated for a Grammy in 2022 to actually
winning the accolade for her track “Mohabbat” for the “Best Global Music
Performance’ award at the 64th annual edition of the most
prestigious music accolades globally, and being the ‘first’ local to perform at
the famed American musical festival Coachella, Arooj’s resume has gathered a lot of
stars in a relatively brief duration.
This
year, her track “Udhero Na” once again bagged a Grammy
nomination in the same category and she took the center stage with Anoushka Shankar to perform the song at
the Grammys. As per the insights shared by Spotify, streams for Arooj Aftab increased by 49% in the US in
the hour of 12pm on the day of the Grammys, compared to the same hour the
previous Sunday. Globally, streams for Arooj increased by 13% WoW. In
the hour after the show finished, streams for Arooj Aftab increased 26%
in the US, and 3% globally, WoW.
Arooj Aftab became the face that
introduced EQUAL Pakistan, the local chapter of
Spotify’s global initiative that highlights women artists, both aspiring and
established, for the waves that they are making in the local industry. She was
graced as the first Pakistani female music sensation to feature on a digital
billboard at the iconic Times Square, NYC as part of EQUAL promotions, a feat that has
become a monthly trend over the past year.
“Within
a month of her announcement as the first Ambassador for EQUAL Pakistan, Arooj’s monthly listeners had grown
by 40%. Spotify exported her music all around the world when she was added to Desi hits, Contemporary Folk, Pakka Hit Hai, Hangover Cure, Ballads International, and 37 other playlists with
her listeners coming from all over the globe. India, the United States,
Pakistan, United Kingdom and Canada were the top countries where her music was
being streamed,” Rutaba Yaqub, Senior Editor for Pakistan, Sri Lanka &
Bangladesh said.
From
the look of things, Arooj isn’t done making history for
Pakistan yet. From representing the country at the grandest of stages to being
listed alongside some of the biggest musicians of this era like Stevie Wonder
and Rihanna, this young sensation has catapulted her career to unprecedented
heights. And now, the world awaits to watch which peak this soaring artist will
perch atop next!
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