How Dua Lipa’s Service95 maintains her relevancy

As streaming platforms become even more saturated with both music and podcasts, fragmenting consumption, creating a hit single or superstar artist is not as simple as just dropping a new track. Artists are using every tool, including podcasts, to build engaged audiences and amplify their brands. For some artists, like Dua Lipa, this is an opportunity to build a reputation outside of their music persona and maintain attention even in between major releases. Lipa’s Service95 media company and podcast Dua Lipa: At Your Service exemplifies how a popstar can break away from their native environment, build a persona, and find new audiences by exploring passions outside of music. 

Inspired by Lipa’s love of list-making and habit of sending travel recommendations to her friends and family, Service95 is a cultural concierge service made up of three pillars: a newsletter, a book club, and a podcast. On Dua Lipa: At Your Service, Lipa interviews professionals from a variety of industries, including psychotherapist Esther Perel and former The New York Times editor Dean Baquet. This creates opportunities for Lipa to express her personality — a crucial building block for cultivating fandom — and reach a wider, slightly older podcast audience. Moreover, Lipa taps into her music roots by interviewing fellow pop stars, such as BLACKPINK’s Jennie and Charli XCX. Here, Lipa simultaneously engages her core fanbase with extra, non-music content, builds her brand among newer listeners, and reaches new audiences entirely.

Perhaps most importantly, this business is a sustainable way for Lipa to remain relevant and keep her business going while off-cycle in her album and tour schedule. For reference, Lipa’s last album, Future Nostalgia, was released in 2020, yet the artist remains as relevant as ever. While her podcast can help boost her musical audience and promote other projects, such as her interview with Barbie director Greta Gerwig, it also separates her popstar status and wider cultural brand.

Roles

This report is relevant to the following roles:

Fandom