An Artful Day Inspired by Spotify Daylist

Iyke Bede

Since the launch of Spotify’s Daylist late last year, the bespoke playlist that updates and changes throughout the day to accommodate listening habits has remained the go-to option for many music lovers. The playlist was recently launched in Nigeria with a similarly positive reception.

According to Spotify’s Head of Communications and Public Relations, Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), Michelle Atagana, Daylist streams in Nigeria have grown by 1326% since its March launch. Lagos takes the cake for the city with the most Daylist love, with an increase of 1411%. Katsina, Port Harcourt, Ibadan, and Enugu made the top 5. 

Acknowledging its growing popularity, especially among the social media demographic that includes millennials and Generation Z, Spotify hosted its first ‘Sip and Paint’ event in honour of the playlist, using it as a medium to inspire art lovers to render their creative visions on a canvas, together with a tailored playlist as muse.

Craftily tagged ‘Beats & Brushes: The Perfect Blend,’ a host of guests comprising social media influencers, and journalists convened for the artsy experience staged at the La Scala Restaurant nestled within the MUSON Centre, Lagos, to unearth their creativity, albeit lacking the precise brush strokes of professional paint artists.

To kick off their artistic journeys, each guest was presented with a painter’s toolkit that consisted of a mini canvas, brushes, pallets, primary and monochrome paint colours, and a mini easel. The toolkits were paired with headsets that allowed them to listen to surround sounds as they initiated their Daylists.

Paired with an array of finger foods, mocktails, and cocktails, the ambience was transformed from one of heightened anticipation at the start to a more relaxed one. A good level of camaraderie was palpable, with each painter deeply engrossed in their work at one point turning around to appreciate the simple brush strokes of their close neighbours, and at other times, there was a general sense of humour with sudden bursts of laughter that reveals failed attempts at replicating the sample shared to guide them.

Each hobbyist painter primarily listened to music from their personalised playlists, which helped them project their unique interpretation of the subject, influenced by their music preferences. This creative approach allowed them the freedom to replicate, enhance with layers, or strip down to a minimalist form, conveying their individual stories in endless ways.