0
0 NewsGhana, Latest Updates and Breaking News of Ghana, Roger A. Agana, https://www.newsghana.com.gh/spotify-bets-on-volume-not-price-to-grow-africa/Spotify says earnings for Nigerian artists will grow through more subscribers paying for music rather than higher subscription prices, as the streaming platform prioritises volume over pricing across Sub-Saharan Africa, its regional head has confirmed.
Jocelyne Muhutu-Remy, Spotify Sub-Saharan Africa Managing Director, told TechCabal that subscription prices in Nigeria will not be raised to meet benchmarks in other markets. “We cannot just say, let us try to meet our benchmark and multiply and increase unreasonably,” she said. “We need to take into consideration people’s reality.”
The pricing gap across African markets is stark. Spotify Premium currently costs approximately ₦1,600 ($1.16) in Nigeria, compared to $2.07 in Ghana, $3.23 in Kenya and $4.29 in South Africa. Muhutu-Remy said the goal is not price convergence but subscription habit formation, with the platform investing in local pricing, telecom alliances and alternative payment methods to bring more users into paid tiers without increasing financial pressure on subscribers in economically constrained markets.
The strategy is already producing results. According to Spotify’s annual Loud and Clear report, Nigerian artists generated over ₦60 billion in revenue in 2025, with earnings growing more than 140 percent over the two years between 2023 and 2025, driven by 30.3 billion global streams. Local consumption of Nigerian music grew 170 percent year-on-year, while Nigerian music appeared in nearly 320 million user playlists globally.
The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) reported that streaming accounted for 69.6 percent of all recorded music revenues worldwide in 2025, underscoring the structural importance of subscription growth to artist livelihoods.
“Nigeria is a superpower from a cultural perspective,” Muhutu-Remy said, arguing the country had the conditions to become a commercial superpower as well. She pushed back on the notion that lower subscription prices in Nigeria diminish the value of Nigerian fans, noting that local listeners create the cultural foundation that drives diaspora consumption at far higher price points across North America and Europe.
About 58 percent of Spotify royalties earned by Nigerian artists in 2025 went to independent artists and labels, reflecting how streaming is reshaping music economics beyond traditional record label structures.
South African artists earned $30.69 million on Spotify in 2025, with nearly 74 percent of that revenue coming from listeners outside the country, demonstrating the export potential that Spotify’s volume growth model is designed to replicate across the continent.
Local streams of Nigerian female artists increased by 55 percent year-on-year, while streams of Nigerian independent artists grew by 75 percent over the same period, pointing to a broadening and diversifying creator base feeding the streaming economy.
For Ghana, which sits in the middle of Africa’s streaming price spectrum at $2.07 per month, Spotify’s volume growth strategy carries direct relevance. As the platform deepens telecom partnerships and broadens payment access across the region, the same conditions driving Nigeria’s streaming explosion are gradually taking shape in the Ghanaian market.
NewsGhana, Latest Updates and Breaking News of Ghana, Roger A. Agana, https://www.newsghana.com.gh/spotify-bets-on-volume-not-price-to-grow-africa/
