The first edition of Deezer Next 2019 has been unveiled and UK artists Sam Fender and Lewis Capaldi (pictured) are set for a big streaming boost.
Both artists are Deezer Next global priority acts for 2019. Returning for its third year, the programme provides support over 12 months from Deezer’s artist marketing and editorial teams. It includes playlisting and creative marketing campaigns involving special content, fan events and social media amplification.
It follows Fender's victory as BRITs Critics’ Choice winner, for which Capaldi was also in the running.
Capaldi is the first Deezer Next artist to graduate from local to global support. During his year in the UK Deezer Next programme, Capaldi experienced a 110% increase in streams and a 438% increase in his fanbase.
Someone You Loved – featuring former Dr Who and relative Peter Capaldi in the video – is chasing a Top 5 finish this week. The single has sales to date of 138,069, according to the Official Charts Company.
Capaldi said: “I’ve been absolutely blown away by the support of Deezer since I’ve started releasing music, from coming to a number of my live shows to choosing me as one of their UK Deezer Next artists for last year. So to be told that they’ve now chosen me as their Deezer Next global artist for this year is a huge honour and I’m massively looking forward to the year ahead! Have had thousands of messages of people discovering my tunes over on Deezer so am absolutely buzzing about the year ahead!"
Alexander Holland, chief content and product officer at Deezer, said: “As a streaming platform we have the privilege of connecting artists all over the world with their fans. We also have the opportunity to help talented artists take the magic step that takes them from being a local gem to an international phenomenon. We’ve done that journey several times before with artists like Rag‘n’Bone Man, Anne-Marie and Jorja Smith and I’m very excited to add Lewis Capaldi and Sam Fender to the list. Each of them has a unique sound and they represent exactly the kind of artists that make us crank up the volume in the office”.
Local artists for the UK & Ireland in 2019 include Hamzaa, Jade Bird and Fontaines DC. Other regional acts include Dreezy (US), Gurr (Germany) and Pip Blom (Netherlands).
The Deezer Next 2018 global alumni - Jorja Smith, Zak Abel, The Blaze and Sofi Tukker - between them experienced a 3,370% increase in fanbase on average.
From a month prior to joining Next to the present day, Smith’s fanbase on Deezer grew by 7,781%. On average the streams of the global acts grew 432% during the campaign year.
Deezer will select and announce two additional global priority artists and a selection of regional artists across multiple markets during 2019.
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