Key Factors
- Spotify’s 2024 royalty funds to Nigerian and South African artists hit $59 million, pushed by rising international curiosity in African music.
- Nigerian artists, led by Davido, Burna Boy, and Wizkid, earned over $38 million in 2024, greater than doubling their 2023 royalties.
- African artists’ international playlist presence grew considerably in 2024, with 250 million playlists that includes Nigerian artists and 220 million showcasing South African expertise.
Royalty funds to African artists by Swedish streaming large Spotify hit new heights in 2024, with Nigerian artists main the cost, outpacing their South African counterparts.
Afrobeats stars like Davido, Burna Boy, and Wizkid continued to dominate the worldwide music scene, drawing thousands and thousands of streams from listeners worldwide. Collectively, they contributed to a share of the $10 billion in royalties Spotify paid out globally in 2024.
Spotify’s African royalties surge in 2024
In accordance with a current report by Reuters, Spotify’s royalty funds to artists from Nigeria and South Africa, its two largest African markets, reached $59 million final 12 months, reflecting a surge in curiosity in African music. Nevertheless, that is only a fraction of the worldwide royalty pool, as Spotify disbursed round $10 billion worldwide in 2024.
Curiosity in African artists soared in 2024, thanks partly to internationally acknowledged figures like Burna Boy, Davido, and Wizkid. Nigerian artists earned over N58 billion ($38 million) in royalties, greater than doubling their earnings from 2023.
South African artists additionally noticed vital development, with royalties rising to R400 million ($21 million), a 54 p.c enhance from the earlier 12 months. South African singer Tyla was among the many high recipients of this payout.
African artists see international playlist development
As African artists acquire extra international recognition, Spotify reviews that round 250 million user-created playlists now characteristic a minimum of one Nigerian artist, whereas 220 million include a South African.
“What we’re seeing is a wonderful evolution round increasingly more mid-tier or up-and-coming artists making a dwelling,” stated Jocelyne Muhutu-Remy, Spotify’s managing director for Sub-Saharan Africa.
A lot of the revenue for African artists on Spotify comes from exterior their house markets. Nigerian artists have seen a 49 p.c enhance in export development over the previous three years, whereas South African artists have seen a fair bigger 104 p.c development.
The variety of Nigerian artists incomes N10 million ($6,500) or extra has doubled year-on-year and tripled since 2022. In South Africa, the variety of artists incomes between R100,000 ($5,250) and R500,000 ($26,200) has additionally doubled up to now three years.
Artists earn past Spotify royalties
Spotify’s royalty payouts are rising, however they nonetheless account for under a small portion of what many artists earn. For a lot of musicians, the vast majority of their revenue comes from stay performances, model endorsements, YouTube channels, and their very own companies.
For instance, Forbes estimated that Nigerian celebrity Davido would earn over $20 million in 2023, the primary time the journal had projected such a excessive revenue for an African artist.
