After entering Indonesia's music-streaming battleground in 2016, Spotify quickly carved out a niche in capital city Jakarta, serving as an access point for Western and KPOP music.

However, growth began to halt.

Despite previously establishing itself as the home of Indonesian music through its ‘Musik Indonesia’ hub in 2020, the country’s sizable Gen Z cohort, which accounted for more than 25% of the total population, wanted more than a central national hub of music.

They wanted somewhere that presented the unique personalities and stories of Indonesia’s regions.

Search for local music was dramatically growing (+14% YoY) and Indonesian artists became the most streamed on Spotify.

Our challenge was to change perception of ‘Musik Indonesia’ on Spotify from a ‘Top 40’ playlist that didn't capture local nuance, to one that represented the whole Indonesian music scene – from Jakarta to Semarang to Yogyakarta to Medan to Surabaya.

‘IDentitasku’ ('my identity'), a celebration of unique sounds and musical diversity across Indonesian cities.

Starting with ‘Suara Dari Indonesia’ (‘Songs from Indonesia’) playlists within the Musik Indonesia hub, users browsed curated music from specific regions. Then, six Spotify IDentitasku artists from those regions fronted our integrated campaign.

Next, we positioned Spotify as the #1 supporter of grassroots talent, partnering with Indonesia’s largest media network to co-create Indonesia’s new talent search show - “Indonesian Next Big Star”.

We used Spotify’s global credibility to completely revamp the format to attract Gen-Z, including three local judges and two K-POP idols.

Over 13 episodes, IDentitasku stars mentored 60 contestants, with performances featured on Spotify's bespoke ‘Next Big Star’ playlist.

Finally, we helped fans express local pride via Spotify. We conducted interviews and played backstage games with contestants , focusing on local city narratives, and fan tweets were surfaced on DOOH billboards in the cities.

Our strategy was to turn Spotify's global positioning into a strength by elevating local talent and bringing fame to the regions of Indonesia through integrated local music moments.

The driving force for Indonesian music is local pride; not just for Indonesia, but for specific regions where local artists and genres originate.

Music tastes in the cities mirrored these nuances, with fans rallying when grassroots artists from their hometown make it big – particularly on talent-scouting TV shows that propel them into stardom and recognition outside Indonesia.

With global franchises like ‘Indonesian Idol’ transferring to online auditions during the pandemic, fans craved fresh talent and engaging entertainment above the limiting one-way TV format.

For Spotify to change perceptions among Gen-Z, our challenge was to prove to these young music fans that Spotify understood that true representation happens at a local level, not just national.

‘IDentitasku’ was our solution.

Our exclusive 360 integration within Indonesian Next Big Star gave local artists and fans a voice for regional identities.

Our hybrid viewing strategy saw the first 9 of 13 episodes streamed on MNC's RCTI+ OTT channel for targeted reach. The final 4 episodes aired live on national TV.

Whenever we broadcasted an artist performing a song, scannable codes appeared on-screen to drive traffic directly to the Hub where users could explore regional identities further.

Exclusive backstage built-in segments celebrated regional identities, with online trends informing the formats – such as 'This or That' challenges (TikTok trend).

Weekly highlights were captured to build momentum, with 40 content pieces amplified across Spotify, artists, and MNC social channels, along with targeted online video and digital in regional cities.

Finally, we used online media to create offline hype. We surfaced supportive tweets on DOOH screens across the 6 cities the artists were from.

● +140% increase in conversations around Spotify during the show weeks (vs 50% target)

● Indonesian Next Big Star was a trending topic every week from launch, peaking at #1 during the show’s finale

● 50,000 social media mentions

● 787 million impressions

● 52 million reach

● 1 billion impressions of paid social and online videos (296% over target)

● 141.16 million views on TikTok

● 18.7 million streams of Indonesian Next Big Star – 46 times higher than established franchises like Indonesia’s Got Talent

● Perception of Spotify being a “Brand for me” grew 17 percentage points nationally (+56%), including in cities outside of Jakarta

● User numbers grew by 21%

● Traffic drivers across online and offline channels caused a spike in usage (+231%)