Music streaming platform, Spotify, has said that Nigerian artists generated over N11 billion in revenue from its platform alone in 2022.
The company disclosed this in its latest report on the growth of Afrobeats released on Thursday. Spotify said the 2022 streaming revenue was 74% growth year-on-year and even higher than the 64% revenue growth recorded by the entire Nigerian music industry last year.
Revenue accountability
While noting that the company is releasing the artists’ revenue figures to show accountability, Spotify’s Managing Director for Sub-Saharan Africa, Jocelyne Muhutu-Remy, said:
- “Our commitment at Spotify is to ensure that professional musicians make a living from their work. Releasing the revenues generated by Nigerian artists in 2022 on our platform is our way of keeping ourselves accountable, and keeping true to our mission to enable artists to live off their art.”
The company further disclosed that the number of artists generating more than N10 million in royalties from the platform has also increased significantly.
- “The number of Nigerian artists who generated more than 5 million NGN and 10 million NGN in royalties from Spotify alone has increased by nearly 25% over the last year. This figure represents revenue generated from Spotify alone and does not consider earnings from other services and recorded revenue streams, concert tickets, or merch.
- “In 2022, revenues generated by Nigerian artists 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 period,” Spotify stated in the report.
Afrobeats on the rise
Emphasizing the popularity of Afrobeats which originated from Nigeria and Ghana, Spotify said the growth of the music genre has moved from West Africa to the global stages.
It added that Afrobeat’s surge in popularity could be linked to several factors including international collaborations, the power of social media, the rise in music streaming and the African diaspora.
According to Spotify, some of the top cities outside of Lagos, where Afrobeats are getting the most streams include London, Paris, Abuja, Nairobi, Amsterdam, and Accra.
While noting that music streaming has brought a certain level of democratization to the music industry, thanks to music streaming, Spotify said its commitment is to ensure that African creators earn from their art, by exposing them to 550 million active users on the platform, resulting in new audiences and more streams for the artists.