Spotify, a global online music streaming platform, said it paid more than N25 billion to Nigerian artists as royalties in 2023.
Jocelyne Muhutu-Remy, Spotify’s Managing Director for Sub-Saharan Africa, who disclosed this in a statement on Friday, said this was double what was recorded in 2022, with a 2,500 per cent increase since 2017.
Muhutu-Remy said these details were contained in Spotify’s recently launched annual report “Loud&Clear”
She said the report was meant to increase transparency in the music industry by sharing data on Spotify’s royalty payments and breaking down the global streaming economy, the players and the process.
She further revealed that the number of Nigerian artistes earning over N10m in royalties has quadrupled since 2018.
According to her, over half of these royalties went to independent artistes or labels, showcasing the democratising power of streaming.
“Spotify listeners discovered Nigerian artistes nearly 950 million times in 2023 and Nigerian artistes own over 80 per cent of the tracks featured on Nigeria’s daily top 50 chart in 2023.
“Over 1,400 Nigerian artistes added to Spotify’s editorial playlists in 2023.
“The significant growth in royalties earned by Nigerian artistes on our platform is a powerful testament to their talent, creativity and global appeal.
“We are proud to amplify their voices and fuel the Nigerian music revolution.
“As a leader in the streaming economy, we are committed to supporting African creators to make a living from their art and we’lIl continue to invest further in African artists to ensure this momentum continues’ she said.
Muhutu-Remy noted that while Afrobeats remained king, Nigeria’s music scene was experiencing a genre revolution as Spotify data revealed an increase in popularity across local genres.
She said homegrown genres like Highlife have experienced a significant increase in listenership in the last 12 months by 224 per cent, lgbo Pop by 303 per cent, and Fuji by 187 per cent.
She noted that Highlife, Fuji and lgbo Pop also saw listenership increase in Q1 2024, growing by 240 per cent, 175 per cent, and 270 per cent respectively compared to Q1 2023.
