Spotify has reported a remarkable surge in the popularity of Afrobeats songs on its streaming platform, with a staggering 13.5 billion streams recorded in 2022.
The genre, primarily dominated by Nigerian artists, has experienced an extraordinary growth over six years, as illustrated by the updated figures on Spotify’s Afrobeats tracker site, titled ‘Afrobeats: Journey to a Billion Streams’.
Back in 2017, Afrobeats tracks were garnering 2 billion annual streams on Spotify. However, the year 2022 witnessed an exponential explosion, registering an astonishing 550% increase, reaching the milestone of 13.5 billion streams.
A breakdown of the statistics reveals an upward trajectory: 5.9 billion streams in 2020, 8.4 billion in 2021, and the notable surge to 13.5 billion in 2022, reflecting a remarkable year-on-year leap of 60.7% in growth between 2021 and 2022.
Spotify’s report highlights the financial success of Nigerian artists within the platform’s ecosystem. In 2022 alone, Nigerian musicians generated an impressive N11 billion in revenues from their streaming activities, marking a noteworthy 74% increase in earnings compared to previous periods.
“In 2022, revenues generated by Nigerian artistes from Spotify alone reached over 11,000,000,000 NGN. While Nigerian music industry revenues overall have grown 63% from 2021 to 2022.
“According to IFPI, revenues generated by Nigerian artists – from Spotify alone – grew 74% over this same time period,” the report read in part.
Below are some other data points from the streaming service.
Top Afrobeats Artistes Globally
