Spotify, an online streaming platform, has rated Nigeria as the second country with the most musical streams after Pakistan.
The music platform’s Head of Music for Sub-Saharan Africa, Phiona Okumu, disclosed this during a media chat in Lagos state on Thursday.
Ms Okumu, who said that the study was carried out by Spotify, revealed that Kenya is ranked third in the list.
She noted that artistes including WizKid, Burna Boy, Tems and Mr Eazi ranked amongst the top five exported local artistes from Nigeria on Spotify.
Ms Okumu expressed Spotify’s presence in Nigeria over the past years had seen Nigerians go on a journey of discovery.
She said;
Interesting facts and data gathered by Spotify reveals that the average number of artistes streamed per user locally has grown by 60 per cent. And 20,935 songs were added to the Spotify platform by creators, since market entry. This places Nigeria as the country with the second most streams after Pakistan, with Kenya ranking third. Data also revealed that of the top 10 exported songs from Nigeria, nine are collaborations between local and international hit makers, a proof that Nigerian music is attracting worldwide attention and popularity.
According to her, 30 per cent of the Nigerian Alte genre is being streamed in the United States, with a growth of more than 200 per cent over the past years.
She noted that over 40 per cent of the Afropop from Nigeria was streamed in the United States of America, United Kingdom and France.
Ms Okumu said the streaming app helped make it easier to discover new music and podcasts through a truly personalised experience.
She noted;
Africa is one of the fastest growing music markets in the world and now, more than ever, African genres of music have become more popular and accepted globally. This comes as no surprise when you consider the region’s wealth of music genres and sounds. Genres like afropop, afrobeats, gengetone, amapiano, and more, are influencing the sounds of artistes who are taking the world by storm.
Ms Okumu added;
Last year, Spotify announced its expansion into Nigeria among more than 80 new international markets. The West African country is a key market for Spotify as it is quickly becoming Africa’s biggest success story in the music space.
Behind Afrobeats’ popularity is the streaming services enabling the music industry. Spotify and other players are leveraging the growing adoption of digital technology to push the music industry in Africa to the globe.
Spotify launched on February 23 helping music fans in Nigeria to easily discover new music and podcasts through a personalised experience. The company said it uncovered, managed, and shared over 82 million tracks for listeners for free or to premium subscribers since it was founded in 2008.
Ms Okumu says this is possible because the internet is helping in enabling culture and music distribution around the world.
Spotify has also created programmes to enable it to discover new talents in the industry in Nigeria and Africa. The programmes include the Spotify for Artists, Equal Music Programme, Radar, African Heat Playlists, and Fresh Finds Africa.
