Spotify celebrates over 13 billion streams in Africa
Spotify launched in South Africa in 2018 and now, in 2023, has over a billion streams on the platform from Africa.
Spotify celebrated the Afrobeat genre with a two-day event. The event was held at La Madison Place in Lekki, Lagos. The Spotify event, themed "Afrobeats: Journey of a Billion Streams," took place on October 12th and 13th, 2023. The festivity brought together renowned figures from the entertainment industry, podcast hosts, social media influencers, music industry leaders, media figures, and devoted music enthusiasts during two immersive gatherings known as #SpotifyPodcastsLagos and #SpotifyAfrobeats.
Day one of the two-day event featured a podcast workshop and panel. The panel featured FK Abudu and Jola Ayeye from the I Said What I Said Podcast. The panel session featured a live question and answer section with Afrobeats stars Pheelz and Nissi. The workshop was titled Understanding Spotify's Playlist and Partnerships. The second day of the celebration brought together afrobeats fans and musical sensations for a night of electrifying music with performances by Shallipopi, Bloody Civilian, Ruger Sarz, Fave, and many more.
Spotify also announced their most streamed Afrobeats songs via the Interactive website themed Afrobeats: Journey of a billion streams
- Rema- Calm Down ft Selena Gomez
- Ckay- Love Nwantiti
- Libianca- People
- Burna Boy- Last last
- Fireboy DML- Peru ft Ed Sheeran
- Oxlade- KU LO SA
- Ayra Starr- Rush
According to Spotify data, the afrobeat genre has grown since 2017 by 550%. In 2023, Afrobeats garnered 15.3 billion streams, as opposed to two billion streams in 2017. In 2022, Nigerian artists earned more than 11 billion naira solely from their music on Spotify. Rema and Selena Gomez Calm Down reached a billion streams on Spotify.
