Spotify expands festival scheme to Argentina

Spotify is offering up-and-coming artists a slot at one of Argentina’s top rock festivals after expanding its Mi Primer Escenario (My First Stage) scheme to the country.

The streaming behemoth launched the music contest in Mexico in 2024, which saw winner Mia Salinas added to bill at MEXCLA Spotify: Palenque, Feria y Cotorreo – Spotify’s biggest live event in Mexico to date – and land the cover of its top Mexico playlist.

The platform is now inviting Argentine acts to participate, with the winner receiving the chance to play a 30-minute set at the 60,000-cap Quilmes Rock, set for 5-6 & 12-13 April at Tecnópolis in Buenos Aires.

“We launched this contest to give participants the chance to showcase their music to the world and debut at one of the most iconic festivals in the country”

“National rock continues to leave its mark in Argentina, and with the new wave of emerging artists, the genre continues to evolve and transcend generations,” said Carolina Martin, Spotify’s artist & label partnerships lead, Southern Cone. “As part of our mission to support local talent, we launched this contest to give participants the chance to showcase their music to the world and debut at one of the most iconic festivals in the country.”

Participants are asked to record a video of 30 seconds to two minutes of them performing an original rock, indie or pop-rock song, and then upload it to TikTok with the hashtag #SpotifyMiPrimerEscenario.

Entrants must be Argentine nationals and resident in the country. They are also required to have an active Spotify profile with at least six original tracks, and at least two tracks uploaded in the last year, as well fewer than 50,000 monthly listeners.

The 20 entries with the most comments will advance to the semi-finals, from which the Spotify team will select the 10 finalists to feature on a special Spotify playlist. The winner will then be decided by a public vote utilising a new in-app tool.

The victor, who will be announced on 5 March, will also be featured on the cover of Spotify’s Top Verano 2025 playlist for the following week. All 10 finalists will be added to a separate Spotify editorial playlist.

The streaming platform courted controversy in December 2023 when it announced it was withdrawing its financial support from two French festivals – the Francofolies de La Rochelle and the Printemps de Bourges festivals – in response to a new tax imposed on streaming services in the country. It went on to increase its subscription prices in France last year due to the “additional costs” of the tax.

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