Spotify is celebrating its five-year anniversary in Nigeria, marking a significant milestone since its launch in February 2021. The streaming giant has released a compelling set of data that underscores the remarkable growth and diverse listening habits of Nigerian users, reflecting a borderless and discovery-driven audio landscape.

Upon its debut, the very first song streamed by a Nigerian user was Shiga Lin's Cantopop ballad from Hong Kong, a unique start that foreshadowed the platform's future of global music exploration. Five years later, the statistics are even more impressive: Nigerian users have collectively created over 25 million playlists, accumulating more than 1.4 billion hours of listening time in 2025 alone. The average Nigerian listener on the platform is 26 years old, and overall listening time has surged by over 163 percent year-on-year since 2021. This growth extends to content creators, with the number of Nigerian artists on Spotify increasing by 158 percent since launch, enabling wider reach for local talent both domestically and internationally.

Highlighting the most popular artists, the top five most streamed artists in Nigeria over the past five years are Asake, Wizkid, Seyi Vibez, Burna Boy, and Davido. Asake's dominant presence is particularly notable, as he claims four of the top ten most streamed songs in Nigeria during this period, with his track “Remember” securing the coveted number one spot.

Genre-wise, Afrobeats continues to be a massive driver of growth, experiencing an astounding 5,022 percent increase since 2021. However, Nigerian listeners are embracing a broader spectrum of genres. Amapiano has seen an even more staggering growth of 10,330 percent, while gospel and praise music has grown by 5,499 percent, hip-hop and rap by 3,020 percent, and R&B by 2,602 percent. A particularly significant trend is the 554 percent growth in streams of music in Nigerian indigenous languages in 2024 alone, which Spotify notes as a testament to a deep connection to local-language storytelling.

Beyond music, podcasts are also capturing a substantial audience. Nigerians have streamed nearly 60 million hours of podcast content since Spotify's inception in the country, confirming a robust appetite for audio entertainment that extends far beyond just musical tracks. Five years in, Nigeria firmly stands out as one of the most passionate and engaged listening audiences on the Spotify platform globally.