Spotify Records Strong Audio Growth In Nigeria
Spotify’s latest data on listening behaviour in Nigeria reveals significant expansion in both music and podcast engagement. In 2025, Nigerian users on the global streaming platform accumulated more than 1.4 million hours of music streaming, a robust indicator of sustained demand for digital audio content. Over the lifetime of the service in the country, podcast consumption has reached 59 billion hours in total, signalling a substantial shift toward long-form spoken content alongside music.
The company attributes this growth to a rapidly expanding user base in Nigeria that is both youthful and deeply engaged with a wide range of audio genres. The average Nigerian listener is 26 years old, suggesting a predominantly young demographic with strong digital consumption habits. Across the past five years since Spotify’s entry into the Nigerian market, streaming activity has grown at an average annual rate of 163.5%, underscoring a steep adoption curve.
Genre trends reflect diversification in musical tastes. Afrobeats stands out as the dominant force, with streams increasing by over 5,000% locally between 2021 and 2025. Other genres have also seen explosive rises, including Amapiano, Gospel and Praise, Hip-hop and Rap, and R&B, all experiencing multi-thousand-percent growth across the same period. Indigenous language content has also gained traction, with local streams up significantly in 2024 and 2025.
Spotify’s metrics indicate that Nigerian listeners are not just consuming a narrow set of familiar hits. On average, users recently streamed music from approximately 150 different artists, suggesting broad exploration and engagement with a diverse catalogue. Artists such as Burna Boy, Davido, Asake, Wizkid, and Seyi Vibez rank among the most streamed over the platform’s tenure in Nigeria, while specific tracks like Asake’s “Remember” and Wizkid’s “Kese (Dance)” have enjoyed repeated plays.
Alongside music, podcasts have become a significant component of listening patterns. The cumulative 59 billion hours of podcast streaming illustrates a robust appetite for spoken-word formats, ranging from talk shows and storytelling to news and education. This growth elevates the potential for the podcast segment to contribute meaningfully to the local creative economy, although maximising monetisation remains a strategic challenge for the sector.
Industry observers point to several structural areas that could enhance value for creators. These include more transparent royalty frameworks, deeper data analytics, and strategic playlist placements to improve discoverability and revenue capture for both established and emerging performers. Investment in local advertising and creator support tools is also seen as crucial to converting high consumption volumes into sustainable income streams for talent across Nigeria’s audio ecosystem.
Spotify’s figures illustrate not only the scale of listening but also the broader cultural influence of digital audio in Nigeria. Local artists are gaining international exposure, while user-generated playlists featuring Nigerian music number in the hundreds of millions. The report highlights increased earnings for Nigerian artists, with royalty income rising sharply in recent years and a growing number of local acts added to editorial playlists.
Overall, the data confirms a dynamic and evolving market where both music and podcasts are integral to digital media consumption, driven by a young and increasingly global audience.
