It’s finally time for the biggest festival of the year: Glastonbury 2025, and who better to ask about the festival than the editors at Spotify? They’re the heroes behind all the curated playlists we know and love, giving us recommendations on what we should be listening to and generally being tapped in on what’s good in the industry.
That’s why we asked Shannon Carragher (Alternative & Rock), Matt Kent (Pop) and Jesley Fantolgo (Rap/R&B) from Spotify about their own background in music as well as personalised questions about the genre they specialise in. Of course, we had to ask them about the festival and if you’re attending (or just want to get into the Glasto’ spirit), make sure you check out Spotify’s own Glastonbury 2025 Hub. It’s home to countless hours of music from thirty individual stage line-ups and even has wider podcast and audiobook content related to the festival for ticket holders and fans to explore.
Anyway, without further ado, here's what the music editors at Spotify have to say.
Shannon Carragher (Alternative & Rock)
Tell us about you, what got you into music etc.?
Music has been the one constant passion in my life since I was a kid. Some of my earliest emotional memories are tied to it - my Dad blasting U2 and The Killers, or getting hooked on music videos on Kerrang. I struggled with most school subjects except music performance. When I realised I probably wasn’t going to sell out Wembley, I got a job at HMV during my A Levels and worked in the CD department. I became obsessed with new releases, learning about people’s music tastes, and talking about music all day. I’d research the record labels on CDs and started a blog to review albums. That’s when I realised the music industry was a real career option. I never finished my A Levels or went to uni, but that curiosity and obsession got me here.
Who are you most looking forward to seeing at Glastonbury 2025?
CMAT making her Pyramid Stage debut is going to be so special. No one deserves that moment more. I also can't wait for The Maccabees to headline The Park. That hiatus broke me, so I’ll be sobbing my way through the whole set.
Who’s an underrated artist people should definitely go watch at Glasto?
Gurriers are one of Ireland’s most exciting new bands. Their mix of post-punk and noise rock is loud, gritty and full of energy. Their live sets are chaotic in the best way, and they’re the kind of band that could win over a whole field.
How do you find songs to add to your curated playlists for Spotify?
At Spotify, we rely on a mix of instinct, knowledge and data. Each week, we listen to hundreds of tracks submitted through Spotify for Artists, it’s an amazing database that really feels like digital crate digging. We're always watching how different audiences are reacting to songs and keeping close to new scenes as they emerge, both online and in the real world. There are over 100 editors globally, and we have endless discussions with each other every week to share what’s exciting us. There are lots of factors at play, but in the end it always comes down to the quality of a song.
Who’s an artist in your genre that you think is about to blow up/we should watch out for?
Divorce feel right on the edge of a breakthrough. Their music has a raw, off-kilter charm with lyrics that are self-aware and gut-punching. They make discomfort sound catchy, and their live sets are full of heart. Glastonbury is the perfect setting for them to connect with an even bigger audience.
Who’s set will you be singing the loudest at?
It has to be Turnstile. Hardcore bands don’t often make it to Glastonbury, especially with this much momentum. Their shows are pure joy and chaos, and the energy is unmatched. I’ll probably lose my voice and love every second.
Matt Kent (Pop)
Tell us about you, what got you into music etc.?
I’ve always been a fan, ABBA Gold was the soundtrack to my childhood thanks to my parents. I remember before we had a computer with the internet I used to write out my favourite artists’ website URLs, which were usually on the back of CDs, and go browse them in our local library. When I went to uni I got involved with student radio, booking artists for parties and I started writing for blogs online; reviewing live shows, recommending new music and interviewing artists. Moving closer to London also made going to gigs easier, no longer having to factor in whether I could hack an all-night 3am coach back up north.
Who are you most looking forward to seeing at Glastonbury?
It’s my first time so just the experience of the whole festival and site is going to be a game changer for me. In terms of specifics, it’s got to be Wolf Alice. I’ve been a fan of them since I was 17, I remember sneaking into a tiny venue in Leeds with my friend to see them on their first UK tour. Then I interviewed them a few years later for my student radio show and I was wearing the Fluffy merch I’d got at that show in 2013 because I have absolutely no chill. So I’m excited to see the new set with all the new material from The Clearing and how they incorporate the older classics into the world they’re building with this record. For me, they’re the absolute best British band out there right now.
Who’s an underrated artist people should definitely go watch at Glasto?
jasmine.4.t is so special. More on the alternative side, but her album You Are The Morning is full of hidden gems like “New Shoes” which is currently my favourite from the record and her voice is incredible live. She’s based in Manchester, the whole record was co-produced by boygenius (the Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker supergroup – iykyk) and her performances are just so captivating. Well worth sitting with the album for a while before you catch her set, you’ll hear some familiar backing vocals too if you are a fan of boygenius.
How do you find songs to add to your curated playlists for Spotify?
Through our backend tool that artists and their teams pitch via the Spotify For Artists tool. Boring, I know. It’s maybe the least glam part of the job talking about our internal systems, but like any corporate job, we have workflows and digging through those submissions is at the core of our day-to-day tasks. I’ve definitely seen artists live and then kept an eye out for new releases too. Recommendations from other editors across the team are vital as well. We have Global Curation Groups for different genres and I find so many amazing songs through them, our weekly catch-ups are usually my favourite meeting of the week.
Who’s the best live performer there?
Obviously that’s subjective. I think it’s so impressive what Charli xcx can do on a huge stage, on her own. Her headline show at The O2 last year was such a triumph and that was just her commanding an entire arena solo with the BRAT backdrop and a couple of surprise guests. Excited to see what she does for what’s arguably the biggest performance of her career, but also she could just do the same thing again and it'd be great and so brat of her.
Do you think Charli XCX’s album will be a flop (as she said in a recent interview with us)?
When you’ve been a fan of an artist like Charli for as long as I have, you’re just excited to hear what she does next. BRAT was an artistic statement which just happened to become a global phenomenon thanks to not only the music, but the entire marketing strategy around it. Genius. The idea of her doing a full 180 to a Lou Reed-inspired singer/songwriter record is really exciting to me. We’ve not heard Charli like that before. During the how i’m feeling now era I remember hearing this “acoustic remix” of ‘Forever’ and thinking how cool it would be to hear Charli do something so stripped. The original track is absolutely packed with emotion, but this version transformed that emotion to resonate in a different way. The next album, a flop? Maybe, but who cares? I think it’d be difficult for any artist to top that level of commercial success, but if Charli sticks to her instincts and does what feels right for her as an artist the next project will be worth the wait.
JESLEY FANTOLGO (Rap/R&B)
Tell us about you, what got you into music etc.?
Apart from being around karaoke at every single family affair just by being Filipino, I really got into music through playing guitar and producing music since I was 10 after watching a video of a fan playing Paramore’s Ignorance on an acoustic guitar with Hayley Williams in the middle of a street. It made me realise that I could probably one day play guitar with Paramore too if I really manifested it. I got into the world of music production at such an early age, so naturally, I was exposed to the industry in bitesize experiences up until I was 16 - I emailed NME’s HR team every week for a year until they gave me work experience. I continued to pursue my love for music through producing tracks for artists, building my own studio, and even becoming a DJ all while studying Astrophysics at university. During the summer between my second and third year of university, I got the Spotify internship, and I’ve been able to support the amazing music scene in the UK that I’ve grown up and been a part of since.
Who are you most looking forward to seeing at Glastonbury?
As a part of the Spotify partnership with Glastonbury last year, we were able to take four artists to experience Glastonbury for the first time, and Nectar Woode was one of them, so to be able to see her perform this year really warms my heart. Another artist I’m really looking forward to seeing is Bricknasty - they’re a five piece band from Dublin who’s really been bubbling over the last few years, and I cannot wait for more people to experience them live at Glastonbury; I’ve seen them live five times now and their sets are never the same. I’m also really excited for the BAMBII B2B Jarreau Vandal set - I just know that it will be a good time. I also have 19 sets already highlighted in my Glasto app, so I can really talk all day here.
Who’s an underrated artist people should definitely go watch at Glasto?
Jalen Ngonda - the name you’d see if you searched up the word ‘timeless’ in a dictionary probably. His music sits within the retro-soul space, and sure it’s also ‘feel good’, but it’s also the music that you know you can share with your kids in the future and tell them ‘what do you know about real music?’. He performed at the festival last year, and this year, he’s back on a bigger stage; more specifically The Park Stage on Friday at 2pm - 2:45pm. See you there.
How do you find songs to add to your curated playlists for Spotify?
The age old question! If you’re an artist, you should have access to your Spotify for Artist page and through there, you’ll be able to pitch an upcoming release which will allow your track to be listened to by the editors in our backend system. The recommended time is two weeks ahead of release, so we have time to listen to as many songs as we can - I spend a lot of my listening through the songs submitted through our pitching tool. In addition to that, I personally also listen to a lot of radio shows and DJ mixes. For me, it’s all about the quality of the track - good music is good music. You might also find me lurking around random shows and cyphers to see who’s doing their thing, or crate digging.
Which artist that’s performing will get you in your feels?
In all honesty, I will most definitely be crying at The Script’s set on Saturday at the Pyramid Stage. I am not ashamed to admit that ‘Breakeven’ is my greatest heartbreak song of all time, so catch me there and offer me a tissue if you have some. Sasha Keable has been releasing some absolute bangers recently - the type you know you’ll scream every single word to and really mean it, so I’ll be crying (angrily) at her set too!
Who’s your guilty pleasure artist?
Don’t throw tomatoes at me, but there is no such thing as a guilty pleasure in my household! The artist I’ve got a ‘?’ in an expressive form the most, would be the Hamilton Original Broadway Cast, or the Glee Cast and their versions of popular songs. Lin Manuel Miranda’s breakdown of the hip-hop and R&B influences for the Hamilton soundtrack always mesmerises me whenever I remember what he did with it. He’s cold. And for the Glee Cast, there are just some cover versions that are just done too well. Also cold.
Featured image via Spotify©
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