Spotlight

One year after launch, Nigerian users generated 1.3 million playlists on Spotify

Since Spotify's launch in Nigeria, the average number of artists streamed per user has grown by 60%, and Nigerian music fans have created 1.3 million user-generated playlists.

In February 2021, Spotify expanded to Nigeria and 79 other countries (including Ghana, Kenya and Cote d’Ivoire). What has been the growth?

To mark its one year anniversary in Nigeria, Spotify revealed how users streamed Nigerian music locally and globally. Since launch, the average number of artists streamed per user has grown by 60%, and Nigerian music fans have created 1.3 million user-generated playlists.

“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.” Spotify stated in a statement made available to Benjamindada.com.

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

Meanwhile, 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.

Prior to Spotify’s official launch in Nigeria, users in the country had to use a VPN to “trick” their devices about their location to access the streaming platform.

Arguably the largest music streaming platform in the world, Spotify had about 180 million paid subscribers in Q4 2021, according to Statista. In 2018, it added some new features fit for emerging markets like a free mobile subscription plan and access to on-demand songs initially available only to paid subscribers.

What are Nigerian users listening to on Spotify?

WizKid, Burna Boy, Davido, Buju (now known as BNXN) and Olamide are the five most streamed local artists. Meanwhile, 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.

According to Spotify, 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.

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