Transcription
One of the African exports in high demand in the US is music. Global interest in African music is nothing new, but the massive monetization of that music knows only one way, and that's upwards. Spotify says it paid bumper earnings in 2024 to artists from the two biggest markets, Nigeria and South Africa, buoyed in part by internationally recognized acts like South African singer Taila and Nigeria's Burna Boy. The global music streaming service says it paid out more than $38 million to Nigerian musicians, more than doubling their earnings compared to a year earlier. South African singers and musicians took home $21 million, a 54% increase year on year. Move your hands up, and that's all coming off the back of a global audience listening to African musicians.
In the US capital, DW Africa's Rachel Unati discovered new African music is taking some listeners back to their roots. Here in Washington DC, Afro beats and amapiano seem to be taking the center stage in some public spaces like restaurants and shops. They are playing a few favorites of my own today. We ask American people what they think about streaming Afro beats.
"Um, I feel like I like Afro beats cuz it's a nice genre. Like, um, I didn't grow up in it, but once a few years ago when I heard it, like about like 3 years ago when I first started listening to it, and I said like it's really, I can relate to it a little bit."
"I'm a huge fan of Afrobeats."
"Why do you listen to Afro beats?"
"Well, you know what, it takes me back to my roots of Africa, you know? Thailand… like, make me swim, make me holler. Yeah, of course, it's lively, it's very alive, it's very positive. Um, it's a wonderful beat. Uh, Burna Boy is another big one. Uh, who else I have in here? Uh, I have a lot of people in here. I have Fields, uh, Techno, uh, Rema."
Again, it looks like sounds from the continent are reaching the western world, reshaping the global music industry. For more, I am joined now by Jocelyn Mui, Spotify's managing director for sub-Saharan Africa. Jocelyn, welcome.
"Thank you. Thank you for having me, Michael. It's our pleasure."
"How do you explain the extraordinary success of African artists in the past year?"
"Uh, well, it's been such an incredible evolution, Michael, uh, and actually it didn't start in the past year. Um, it's been going on since we launched, um, in uh, most of uh, the continent, and that was in February 2021. We've seen uh, an evolution starting from there, um, uh, and in the past two, three years we started uh, publishing our artist payout numbers, um, and those numbers have been growing at extraordinary rates."
"How do you explain it? What's behind it?"
"Oh, what is behind it is uh, I think the the power of African cultures, um, the the fact that uh, our music is kind of meeting the moments, uh, the power of our diasporas in uh, some big markets like the US, the UK, France where um, artists of African descent are really dominating the music scene. So that is really uh, one of the reasons. Um, it's our diaspora and it's also the world's catching on uh, onto the, you know, the the power of and the variety of African music, and once you hear it, it is infectious."
"I wonder how much platforms like yours play a role in driving further interest. I was really struck by the fact, according to Spotify, Nigerian artists were discovered by first-time listeners over 1 billion times on Spotify last year. South African artists reach 1.1 billion first-time listeners. So, given the interest is clearly there, does your algorithm push more content from those artists or similar artists to those users?"
"Uh, of course, there's an algorithmic element, but really uh, it is quite a deliberate strategy on our part. Uh, there are different ways in which music can reach uh, people around the world. There's of course the organic element where you're sitting in Tokyo, in Buenos Aires, or Reykjavik in Iceland and you discover um, African music on the platform because while Spotify allows for that, there is also our own efforts uh, via our editorial team. We are connected to Spotify's entire network of curators, music curators, and it is our job to put in front of them uh, what we think uh, has that, you know, export power uh, or export, you know, potential."
"Have you noticed trends or anything unique maybe about the way Africans consume music?"
"Yes, uh, so right now we were talking about how the world consumes music, but one very interesting trend that we're seeing is how Africans themselves are really much more interested now in their own music. So, for example, in Nigeria, we've seen a 200, over 200% increase um, in local music consumption in the past year, and if you look at the past three years, it jumps to over 700% growth. Um, so that is also the power of our work. Uh, it's not just about export, it's also about amplifying interest in our own music locally."
"I have to ask you, critics, uh, many of them artists say other streaming audio platforms pay more per stream. Is Spotify considering paying more?"
"This is a narrative that we've heard, you know, a lot globally, but I think our numbers uh, speak for themselves. We are the only platform that actually uh, talks openly about how much we pay out artists. Um, in Nigeria last year we paid out 58 billion naira uh, to Nigerian artists, and in South Africa that was 400 million rand. This is uh, really considerable amounts. Um, of course, uh, compared to what we pay out globally, this is really small, but we've also just started. It's been uh, 3, 4 years only that we've had a sustained effort on the African continent. Um, Spotify uh, as a whole uh, dedicates two-thirds of uh, its revenue to artist payouts. So really, um, uh, we're doing our best here."
"2024 was clearly a big year for African artists. What can you tell us so far about 2025?"
"The trajectory continues. We are also seeing a diversifying of the the genres, genres that are resonating across the globe. Uh, I'm sure you're well familiar with Afro Beats, which was, you know, for several consecutive years one of the fastest-growing music genres in the world. Um, amapiano is another one, but we see new things, we see new trends. Um, African gospel is doing very, very well. Um, Afro house and electronic music in general, um, you know, with the various subgenres such as Afro tech and EDM and uh, lots of African electronica um, is uh, traveling across the world in nightclubs. Uh, Michael, I don't know if you spend a lot of time in nightclubs, but if you do, you will notice that a lot of the music these days is um, African electronic music. Um, so these are the kind of trends we are seeing, and of course, we want to be behind them, supporting them and elevating them."
"Let me just tell you, back in the day, Jocelyn…"
"Back in the day…"
"That's Jocelyn Mui from Spotify. Many, many thanks."
"Thank you, Michael."