By Taiye Olayemi
Spotify, a global online music streaming platform says 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 of what was recorded in 2022, with 2,500 per cent increase since 2017.
Muhutu-Remy said these details were contained in Spotify’s 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 N10 million in royalties 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’ll 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 significant increase in listenership in the last 12 months by 224 per cent, Igbo Pop by 303 per cent, and Fuji by 187 per cent.
