Teen band break records for Welsh language music

ANORTH Wales band are on their way to smashing a host of Welsh language music records as they take South America by storm thanks to a surprise boost from Spotify.

Alffa, a blues-rock duo from Llanrug, near Caernarfon, have seen their popularity skyrocket on the digital music streaming service after their single Gwenwyn was picked up by bosses and promoted in South America.

The track is tipped to top a million streams any day now, and is one of the most listened-to Welsh language tracks ever.

The group’s success online has been partly attributed to a new Welsh music distribution company which promotes artists to the major digital music services in the UK and beyond.

PYST have been offering the service – the first of its kind to be based in Wales – for a little over a year.

Founder Alun Llwyd said: “We take the songs off the labels and we promote them to the streaming services.

“We’ve been doing this for a year and, in that year, we have seen Welsh music streams surpass a million hours.

“This has never been done before.

“Alffa are a two-piece from Llanrug. They’ve not long left school, and they are set to break all sorts of records on Spotify.

“They’ve had over 850,000 listens. For a Welsh language act, that’s massive, and it’s only their second single.

“Spotify don’t view tracks as in any language. They curate purely on the music. The ones they like they take and they push it.

“They thought it would do well in South America, so they popped the track on playlists and promoted it.”

Mr Llwyd said there has been a “massive increase” in the number of people releasing music.

“There’s such a variety and all sorts of genres too,” he said.

“There’s been a massive shift in how music is consumed these days. My daughter is 15. She loves music but has never bought a physical album.

“We saw a gap in the market. Most of these labels here are part time. They have day jobs, so they don’t have the time to promote the acts.

“We push the music to the streaming services and it allows the labels to concentrate on signing new acts.”

PYST have just been awarded a financial boost from the Welsh Government to help grow the service and promote the Welsh music scene on a UK and international scale.

“We want to raise the profile of Welsh music to the highest level available – not just internationally but with our home listeners too,” said Mr Llwyd.

“People don’t seem to realise that around three or four songs are released every week. We’ve got a really healthy output here in Wales.

“Sadly, this isn’t reflected in the gig circuit. We know that most bands want to get out and promote their music live but, with more venues closing down and many nervous about hosting Welsh language-only bands, it’s difficult.

“But the funding means we are now looking at hiring a booking agent solely for Wales and get the Welsh touring circuit back up and running.

“This person will be dedicated to securing and promoting live shows across the whole of Wales and hopefully increase confidence with venues.”