Nigerian music industry tops charts as Spotify clocks 1

Audio streaming and media services provider, Spotify has revealed that since its expansion into the African continent, Nigerian music has topped the charts for users which has reflected in the operations of the company and its streaming activities, as it marks its one year anniversary in Nigeria.

Spotify, a global music streaming pioneer launched in Nigeria amidst heavy local competition, however, this was rewarded with a growing interest among users in the country as well as beyond, as Nigerian music lovers discover more music, local artists find a megaphone for their work, and Nigerian genres are getting exported across the globe.

According to a statement by the company, 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. Furthermore, 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.

“As Nigerians have become more familiar with Spotify, they have used the platform more and have broadened their tastes, since its launch the average number of artists streamed per user has grown by 60 percent, and Nigerian music fans have created 1.3 million user-generated playlists,” it read.

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The company also revealed that worldwide, Nigerian music is growing in popularity with data showing that 30 percent of the Nigerian Alte genre is being streamed in the US, with a growth of more than 200 percent during the past year.

In addition, over 40 percent of Afropop from Nigeria is streamed in the US, UK, and France while Nigerians streamed majorly from Lagos, are Kano, FCT, Niger, and Rivers.

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

Coming in as the most-streamed song in Nigeria is Fireboy DML’s Peru, with Lojay and Sarz’s Monalisa track following closely. Feeling by Buju and LADIPOE emerged third and 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 such as Love Nwantiti by CKay which emerged as the top exported song, followed by Essence, a collaboration between WizKid and Tems.