Entertainment

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

Five years after launching in Nigeria, Spotify says music streaming in the country has expanded at an average rate of 163.5%, highlighting how quickly Nigeria has grown into a major player in global streaming.

By japhet samuel

2 min read 17 views Updated Aug 28, 2026
Five years after launching in Nigeria, Spotify says music streaming in the country has expanded at an average rate of 163.5%, highlighting how quickly Nigeria has grown into a major player in global streaming.

In a statement shared with the News Agency of Nigeria on Monday in Lagos, the company reported triple-digit year-on-year growth in its early period, with strong momentum continuing through 2025. It said its entry into the Nigerian market in February 2021 sparked a period of fast cultural growth on the platform.

The company credited a large part of that expansion to Afrobeats, which it said saw local streams jump by 5,022% between 2021 and 2025. Other genres also posted major gains: Amapiano rose by 10,330%; Gospel and Praise increased by 5,499%; Hip-hop and Rap grew by 3,020%; while R&B climbed by 2,602%.

Spotify also pointed to language as another key driver, saying listening to indigenous-language music within Nigeria increased by 554% in 2024 and a further 87% in 2025. Globally, it said indigenous-language streams rose by 141% in 2024 and 41% in 2025, which it linked to rising interest in local-language storytelling and sounds.

The platform added that Nigerian listening behaviour showed broad curiosity from the start, noting that the first track streamed in Nigeria at launch was “到此為止” by Shiga Lin, which it cited as proof that local users are open to discovery.

Over the five-year span, Spotify listed the most-streamed Nigerian artistes as Burna Boy, Davido, Asake, Wizkid and Seyi Vibez. It also named some of the most replayed tracks during the period, including “Remember” and “Lonely At The Top” (Asake), “Kese (Dance)” (Wizkid), “Doha” (Seyi Vibez), and “With You” by Davido featuring Omah Lay.

Spotify said the number of Nigerian artistes on the platform has grown by 158% since launch, while users in Nigeria have created more than 25 million playlists over the same period. In 2025 alone, it added, Nigeria logged more than 1.4 million hours of listening time.

The company also noted growing podcast engagement, claiming more than 59 billion total podcast hours have been streamed since it launched. It described Nigeria’s audience as young and adventurous, putting the average listener age at 26 and saying that in recent months Nigerians streamed an average of 150 different artistes, which it described as a strong sign of discovery-driven listening.

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Five years after launching in Nigeria, Spotify says music streaming in the country has expanded at an average rate of 163.5%, highlighting how quickly Nigeria has grown into a major player in global streaming. Five years after launching in Nigeria, Spotify says music streaming in the country has expanded at an average rate of 163.5%, highlighting how quickly...

Key takeaways
  • Five years after launching in Nigeria, Spotify says music streaming in the country has expanded at an average rate of 163.5%, highlighting how quickly Nigeria has grown into a major player in global streaming.
  • Five years after launching in Nigeria, Spotify says music streaming in the country has expanded at an average rate of 163.5%, highlighting how quickly Nigeria has grown into a major player in global streaming.In a statement shared with the News Agency of Nigeria on Monday in Lagos, the company reported triple-digit year-on-year growth in its early period, with strong momentum continuing through 2025.
  • It said its entry into the Nigerian market in February 2021 sparked a period of fast cultural growth on the platform.The company credited a large part of that expansion to Afrobeats, which it said saw local streams jump by 5,022% between 2021 and 2025.
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Five years after launching in Nigeria, Spotify says music streaming in the country has expanded at an average rate of 163.5%, highlighting how quickly Nigeria has grown into a major player in global streaming. Five years after launching in Nigeria, Spotify says music streaming in the country has expanded at an average rate of 163.5%, highlighting how quickly...

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Glow 99.1 FM published this story with japhet samuel listed as author.

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February 23, 2026

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