For the second consecutive year, Spotify has shared market-specific data, encompassing details on revenue and royalties earned by artists from various countries through Spotify alone. I got my hands on reports from Nigeria, South Africa, UK, Australia, and Italy - for comparison, of course 😅!

For Sub-Saharan Africa, Spotify discloses that Nigerian artists reached 25 billion naira ($16.4 million at current exchange) in revenue in 2023, doubling revenue from the previous year, which stood at 11 billion naira. The number of Nigerian artists earning over 10 million NGN in royalties solely from Spotify has increased more than fourfold since 2018.

Meanwhile, South Africa generated 256 million ZAR ($14 million at current exchange) in revenue, marking a nearly 240% increase since 2019. Spotify says that the number of South African artists earning over 100,000 ZAR in royalties solely from Spotify has multiplied more than fivefold since 2018.

According to the 2024 IFPI report, the Sub-Saharan African market has the most rapid growth in music revenue worldwide, boasting a 24.7% increase. This increase is due to a rise in paid streaming services, which presently account for 24.5% of the recorded music revenue. Interestingly, Sub-Saharan Africa stands as the ONLY region surpassing a 20% growth rate.

However, Spotify did not specify the primary sources of this revenue. With the United Kingdom, for instance, Spotify discloses that 75% of the £750 million royalties generated by UK artists on the platform in 2023 came from listeners outside of the UK.

While it may appear surprising that Nigeria generated more revenue than South Africa, which reportedly accounts for over 70% of recorded music revenue in Sub-Saharan Africa, it's important to understand that Nigeria's 25 billion naira revenue signifies revenue from all streams of Nigerian music worldwide; given that Nigerian music enjoys widespread popularity globally. Whereas South Africa's [70%] revenue lead is based on revenue generated internally.

Last year, I published a Luminate report showing that Afrobeats generated 2.5 billion on-demand audio streams in the US during the first half of 2023, marking a 34% increase from the same period in 2022. This increase was primarily led by artists like Burna Boy, Tems, and Wizkid.

Another report I shared earlier this year identified Luxembourg, the Netherlands, France, the United Kingdom, and Portugal as emerging hotspots for Afrobeats abroad.

AUSTRALIA

Australia saw nearly AUD 275M ($183.6 million at current exchange) in royalty payments in 2023 and a growth of almost 10% since 2022.

ITALY

In 2023, the royalties generated by Italian artists from Spotify alone exceeded 126 million euros ($136.8 million at current exchange). Nearly 50% of all royalties generated by Italian artists on Spotify in 2023 came from listeners outside Italy.