Spotify Clocks One Year in Nigeria

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

Operations of the foremost audio streaming platform, Spotify, in Nigeria have clocked one year.

About 12 months ago, the company launched its services in Nigeria and over 40 new markets across the continent, allowing music lovers to enjoy both local and foreign tunes.

Since coming to the country, the average number of artists streamed per user has grown by 60 per cent, with about 1.3 million user-generated playlists.

During the period, Nigerian artists dominated the local music scene, with artists such as WizKid, Burna Boy, DaVido, Buju (now known as BNXN) and Olamide topping the list of five most-streamed local artists.

Some local artists have found a megaphone for their work, and the top exported local artists are Ckay, followed by WizKid, then Burna Boy. Tems is the fourth top exported local artist and Mr Eazi rounds off the top five.

Coming in as the most-streamed song in Nigeria is Fireboy DML’s Peru, followed by Monalisa by Lojay and Sarz, then Feeling by Buju and LADIPOE in third. Omah Lay’s Understand was the fourth most streamed track, with High by Adekunle Gold closing off the top five local songs.

Of the 10 exported songs, nine are collaborations with local and international hitmakers – proof that Nigerian music is attracting worldwide popularity. Love Nwantiti by CKay is the top exported song, followed by Essence, a collaboration between WizKid and Tems.

Next is a remix of Love Nwantiti and Essence by CKay and WizKid with international artists such as Justin Bieber, DJ Yo, and Axel. Most of the plays of the exported songs have come from countries such as the Czech Republic, India, Canada, Ghana, Morocco, Tanzania, and the UK.

Since its launch, there have been 20,935 songs added to the Spotify platform by creators. This places Nigeria as the country with the second most streams after Pakistan, with Kenya third in the ranking.

On user-generated playlists, the Spotify playlist that Nigerians showed the most love is Hot Hits Naija, which really portrays the fact that Nigerians love homegrown music.

Lagos, the entertainment capital of Nigeria is still living up to its title as the top city where Nigerians streamed from. Other cities are Kano, FCT, Niger, and Rivers.

Goya Menor claimed the top spot on the list of emerging artists, while the most popular local genre is Afropop from Nigeria.

Worldwide, Nigerian music is growing in popularity, too. Data on local genres being exported across the globe reveals that 30 per cent of the Nigerian Alte genre is being streamed in the US, with a growth of more than 200 per cent over the past year. Additionally, over 40 per cent of Afropop from Nigeria is streamed in the US, UK and France.

The full breakdown of the top lists is below.

Most streamed Nigerian artists