Spotify and FC Barcelona have announced a long-term partnership, which officially kicks off in July 2022, which will see Spotify become the main partner of FC Barcelona and the official audio streaming partner.
The Spotify brand will appear on the front of both men’s and women’s team shirts and training shirts beginning in the 2022-2023 season, and Spotify will also become the title partner of the stadium, with the historic Camp Nou stadium rebranded, Spotify Camp Nou.
Additionally, Spotify will use the partnership to shine a spotlight on artists from all over the world. This will bring the worlds of music and football together, giving a global stage to players and artists at Spotify Camp Nou.
The partnership plans are subject to the ratification of the Barcelona Members Assembly, which will take place in early April.
“Why do Spotify and FC Barcelona make sense together? Why do music and football make sense together? There are a lot of answers from different perspectives – the business perspective, the brand perspective and the marketing perspective. All of which are important,” said Spotify’s chief freemium business officer, Alex Norström.
“But for Spotify the answer is very simple: It’s about connecting fans with artists of every kind – players and artists, music and sports. Barcelona fans and audio lovers on Spotify will come together to form a massive, globally connected community bridging the worlds of music and football. The vision for the partnership is to create a new platform to help artists interact with Barcelona’s global community of fans.
“As we look to grow the Spotify brand worldwide, there are few partners that have this sort of scale and global reach. Being able to connect music and football fans from Barcelona to Mumbai, Jakarta to Rio de Janeiro, is really a unique opportunity.
“Our vision for the partnership is this: Spotify and FC Barcelona want to bring the worlds of music and football together, giving a global stage to players and artists at Spotify Camp Nou and building new opportunities to connect with fans,” he clarified.
“Spotify has never undertaken a partnership at this scale before, but we realised that the magic is approaching ambitious projects at this scale. We’ve always used our marketing as a platform for artists, so it’s adding another huge stage, literally a stadium, to help artists interact with fans around the world.
“It’s a privilege for Spotify to support and become a part of the FC Barcelona family and history,” he added.
“We also love that FC Barcelona is committed to equality and supporting and cultivating diverse talent. These are values to which Spotify is equally committed. So the easiest part of assembling this partnership is supporting both the men’s and women’s team. We’re now proud partners of FC Barcelona, the women, the men, the institution.
“Spotify has always used its investment in marketing to amplify and champion artists,” he furthered.
“So we’re taking that same approach and applying it to this partnership. More fans engaging with our platform means more opportunities for creators to live off of their art, and FC Barcelona’s massive global fan base will help fuel that growth. And for fans – both music and Barça fans – we’ll be creating more interactive and exciting experiences to connect with the artists they love.
“FC Barcelona has legions of young fans across the world. In fact, most of Barça’s fans are under the age of 30, which is a hugely important audience for Spotify,” he concluded.
“Those fans also reside in some of Spotify’s fastest-growing markets, including India, Latin America, and Indonesia. Against that backdrop, Spotify will be able to amplify the work of artists to new potential fans and supporters.”