Spotify got several things right with RapCaviar. Its playlist strategy should reflect that. Each company has its strengths and growth objectives. RapCaviar might be the frontrunner, but other playlists from competing services need to run their own game. (Last fall I wrote that the playlist should be spun off from Spotify so it could earn more as a standalone entity.) The marquee playlist has proven its ability to acquire new subscribers, generate standalone revenue, and influence which artists break out.

The current gold standard in playlists is Spotify’s RapCaviar. But no one wins if they all pursue the same strategy. By design, most of these playlists will feature the same popular rap songs. This lack of variety is yet another sign of the limited differentiation among these major hip-hop playlists.

You’re tellin’ me there are no other stock photos to choose from?! Cole photo in its initial picture! Come on. Yet oddly enough, Amazon’s debut playlist used the same J. Last month, Amazon’s new ‘Rap Rotation’ playlist made a statement with a flashy, star-studded promo commercial and an active YouTube channel with interviews featuring rising rappers. Apple’s playlist debuted with a photo of J. It’s led by Ebro Darden, head of global hip-hop and r&b at Apple Music, host on Hot 97, and creator of this suspect top 50 rappers list. ‘Rap Life’-formerly ‘A-List: Hip Hop’-is Apple’s rebranded flagship playlist. Tierra Whack performing at a RapCaviar Live concert (via Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images)īoth Apple Music and Amazon have recently upped their playlist games. As each digital streaming provider builds its own ‘RapCaviar,’ they will need to do more than just copy Spotify’s flagship playlist.

Rapcaviar