\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tSYDNEY, AUSTRALIA \u2013 NOVEMBER 17: The Kid LAROI performs onstage the Spotify Artist Party at Cell Block Theatre on November 17, 2025 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Hanna Lassen\/Getty Images for Spotify)<\/span><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty Images for Spotify<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n \n\t\u201cIt\u2019s been a crazy last year. I don\u2019t know how to process it still,\u201d he tells the gathering at Cell Block Theatre in Darlinghurst, where the likes of Ninajirachi, Baker Boy and members of the Wiggles watch on.<\/p>\n \n\tWhen he last time performed on home soil, exactly a year ago, LAROI played arenas for his The First Time <\/em>tour, and at Accor Stadium, for the NRL Grand Final. On Monday, for this inaugural Spotify Artist Party, LAROI played to a space smaller than some of the L.A. parties he attends.<\/p>\n \n\tARIAs Week is always a special time of year. The Australian sun is typically baking in mid-to-late November, the holiday period is closing in, and the ARIA Awards, the national recording industry\u2019s flagship event, is the crescendo for the year in music.<\/p>\n \n\tHomegrown stars Dom Dolla, Missy Higgins, Amy Shark and many more will stroll the red carpet, and brave the heat, alongside internationals Kacey Musgraves and Olivia Dean.<\/p>\n \n\tLAROI won\u2019t be there. He bailed for a flight early Tuesday. The Kid admittedly has work to do setting up his next record, but he played his part in this annual celebration of Aussie music.<\/p>\n \n\tSpotify wants in, too. 2025 marks the first in the streaming giant\u2019s three-year partnership with the ARIA Awards, and comes at a time when domestic artists are struggling<\/a> to impact the national charts, the official singles tally in particular.<\/p>\n \n\tAccording to data supplied by Spotify, this campaign has already driven hundreds of thousands of additional streams for ARIA-nominated artists, and included 800-plus \u201chigh-impact\u201d placements<\/a> across Australia and key global markets, including the United States, United Kingdom, Korea and Japan.<\/p>\n \n\tAhead of the big show, more than 250,000 Australians have already cast votes in-app for the public-voted categories, including best music festival, a new category. That result is said to surpass total engagement for the past two years combined.<\/p>\n \n\tBillboard <\/em>caught up with Joe\u00a0Hadley, Spotify\u2019s global head of music partnerships & audience, to peel back the layers on the ARIAs collaboration.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPicasa<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n \n\tBillboard: Let\u2019s talk about the three-year partnership, how that came about and why<\/strong>?<\/p>\n \n\tJoe Hadley: <\/strong>If you were to just zoom out and look at our partnership strategy as a whole, we really want to show up as a company where culture is happening, in a way that we can be supportive of both the industry and the artists.<\/p>\n \n\tWhen we were looking at the ARIAs, it was a no-brainer to show up here for this community.<\/p>\n \n\tIt\u2019s not about sponsoring an event. It\u2019s about creating something together with the artists and the labels and our partners to build long-lasting impact.<\/p>\n![\"SYDNEY,](\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-billboard-2021\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\")
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