Africa’s music scene isn’t just growing – it’s exploding! Across Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), established stars are pushing boundaries, while sounds like Afrobeats and Amapiano continue to captivate audiences worldwide.
This explosion is more than just a trend it’s backed by impressive numbers. According to the 2024 IFPI report, the Sub-Saharan Africa market boasts the world’s fastest-music growing revenue with a staggering 24.7% growth increase.
This growth is fueled by a surge in paid streaming services, which now contributes 24.5% of the revenue. Notably, Sub-Saharan Africa is the only region surpassing 20% growth.
The Nigerian music revolution: Powered by streaming
Nigeria, sometimes referred to as the Giant of Africa, has undoubtedly contributed massively to this growth.
With a population of approximately 230 million and being home to some of Africa’s biggest artists, the country’s music scene is a force to be reckoned with.
Streaming platforms like Spotify have been a game-changer, allowing artists to reach audiences beyond their borders and benefit financially from their craft.
Spotify launched its annual report, Loud & Clear, to increase transparency in the music industry by sharing data on Spotify’s royalty payments and breaking down the global streaming economy, the players and the process.
For the second year in a row, Spotify is releasing the data on earnings specifically for Nigerian artists on the platform.
Here are the key figures from Spotify’s 2024 Loud & Clear Report on the Nigerian music streaming:
- Streaming royalties for Nigerian artists on Spotify alone exceeded 25 billion NGN in 2023, double the prior year. (2,500% increase since 2017)
- The number of Nigerian artists earning over 10 million NGN in royalties quadrupled since 2018
- Over half of these royalties went to independent artists or labels, showcasing the democratizing power of streaming
- Spotify listeners discovered Nigerian artists nearly 950 million times in 2023
- Nigerian artists own over 80% of the tracks featured on Nigeria’s daily top 50 chart in 2023
- Over 1,400 Nigerian artists added to Spotify editorial playlists in 2023
“The significant growth in royalties earned by Nigerian artists on our platform is a powerful testament to their talent, creativity, and global appeal. We’re proud to amplify their voices and fuel the Nigerian music revolution. As a leader in the streaming economy, we’re committed to supporting African creators to make a living from their art and we’ll continue to invest further in African artists to ensure this momentum continues,” says Jocelyne Muhutu-Remy, Spotify’s Managing Director for Sub-Saharan Africa.
Beyond Afrobeats: A genre revolution
While Afrobeats remains the king, Nigeria’s music scene is experiencing a genre revolution. Spotify data reveals an increase in popularity across local genres:
- Homegrown genres like Highlife (up 224%), Igbo Pop (up 303%), and Fuji (up 187%) are experiencing significant increase in listenership in the last 12 months
- Highlife, Fuji, and Igbo Pop also saw listenership increase in Q1 2024 growing by 240%, 175%, and 270% respectively compared to Q1 2023
- Top Artists: Fuji king K1 De Ultimate remains on top, while Highlife finds new life with Umu Obiligbo‘s energy and Phyno for Igbo Pop
- Top Tracks: Fuji gets a fresh spin with Adewale Ayuba’s Koloba Koloba, Highlife goes nostalgic with Chief Stephen Osita Osadebe’s Nwanem Ebezina and Igbo Pop gets a vibrant boost with KCee’s Ojapiano
- Men dominate listeners of local music genres like Fuji (85%), Highlife (89%), and Igbo Pop (81%). However, Gen Z (aged 18-24) is the leading age group across all the three genres, making up 32% of Fuji listeners, 31% of Highlife listeners, and 46% of Igbo Pop listeners
- Interestingly, cities like Lagos, Port Harcourt, and Katsina all top the charts for streaming these local genres – Fuji, Highlife, and Igbo Pop
- The top 5 exported music genres from Nigeria are Afrobeats, Nigerian Pop, Afropop, Nigerian Hip Hop and Afro R&B
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