Spotify pick is key to Irish balladeer’s success story

Irish singer-songwriter Dermot Kennedy couldn’t get any interest from record labels in his music, but then the streaming giant Spotify playlisted one of his songs, because it had been selected by their algorithm

Dermot Kennedy, who will be playing next Sunday alongside Imelda May in the Olympia Theatre in Dublin Rich Gilligan

A humble algorithm looks set to turn an unknown Irish singer-songwriter into the next pop superstar, with a reach to rival the likes of Ed Sheeran.

Irish singer-songwriter Dermot Kennedy couldn’t get any interest from record labels in his music, but then the streaming giant Spotify playlisted one of his songs, because it had been selected by their algorithm.

“I was going from playing on the street to having decent plays on Spotify,” ...