Nigeria’s music streaming grew by 163.5% in five years — Spotify

Five years after its launch in Nigeria, Spotify says music streaming in the country has grown at an average rate of 163.5 per cent, underscoring the speed at which Nigeria has emerged as a global streaming force.

In a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria on Monday in Lagos, the company reported triple-digit year-on-year growth in its early years and sustained momentum through 2025.

The platform, which entered the Nigerian market in February 2021, described the journey as one marked by rapid cultural acceleration.

Spotify said at the heart of that growth was Afrobeats, which recorded a 5,022 per cent increase in streams locally between 2021 and 2025.

It added that other genres also witnessed remarkable expansion. According to the platform, Amapiano surged by 10,330 per cent; Gospel and Praise grew by 5,499 per cent; Hip-hop and Rap rose by 3,020 per cent; while R&B climbed by 2,602 per cent.

Spotify further said language had become another growth engine, with indigenous-language listening increasing by 554 per cent in 2024 and 87 per cent in 2025 within Nigeria.

Globally, indigenous-language streams rose by 141 per cent in 2024 and 41 per cent in 2025, reflecting what the company described as a growing appetite for local-language storytelling and sound.

According to Spotify, listening habits reflected global curiosity from day one. The first track streamed in Nigeria at launch was “到此為止” by Shiga Lin, reinforcing the platform’s view that Nigerian users are eclectic and open to discovery.

Over the five-year period, the most-streamed artistes in Nigeria include Burna Boy, Davido, Asake, Wizkid and Seyi Vibez.

Among the most replayed songs are ‘Remember’ and ‘Lonely At The Top’ by Asake; ‘Kese (Dance)’ by Wizkid; ‘Doha’ by Seyi Vibez; and ‘With You’ by Davido featuring Omah Lay.

The platform said the number of Nigerian artistes on Spotify has grown by 158 per cent since launch, while users have created more than 25 million playlists within the period.

According to the company, in 2025 alone, Nigeria recorded over 1.4 million play hours on the platform.

Spotify also noted that podcast consumption is expanding, with more than 59 billion total podcast hours streamed since its launch.

The platform added that user behaviour reflects a young and adventurous market, with the average listener aged 26. In recent months, Nigerians streamed an average of 150 different artistes, which Spotify described as evidence of a discovery-driven audience.