Today, Spotify announced the launch of ‘Afrobeats: Journey of a Billion Streams’, a dedicated site that will track all things related to the genre.
The site will explore the origins of Afrobeats in Ghana, its popularization in Nigeria, its fusion with other genres, and how it has become one of Africa’s biggest cultural exports.
Afrobeats is one of Africa’s major musical exports and is currently making waves worldwide. On Spotify, the genre has experienced a growth of 550 per cent since 2017, and in 2022 alone, it was streamed over 13 billion times.
Leading Afrobeats artists have achieved significant milestones on the global music stage, including live events, awards, and streaming records.
The site will serve as a repository for this cultural phenomenon, featuring text, infographics, visual elements, Spotify streaming data, and the results of the April 2023 Afrobeats survey commissioned by Spotify. This survey, conducted by research firm Kuvora, tracks the rise of Afrobeats and its cultural impact over the decades.
The site will be updated biweekly for the next eight weeks and will remain an always-on resource with frequent updates on new Afrobeats moments. It will also offer an interactive experience for fans to discover and connect with new knowledge about Afrobeats.
Jocelyne Muhutu-Remy, Spotify’s Managing Director for Sub-Saharan Africa, stated, “There is no doubt that Afrobeats as a genre is here to stay and will only continue to shatter more ceilings. In 2023 alone, the genre has been played for more than 223 million hours with streams exceeding 7.1 billion on Spotify.
We created this site for both new and longtime fans of the genre who would like to have a better understanding of how and where this explosive sound came to be.”
‘Afrobeats: Journey of a Billion Streams’ will have five key pillars:
- Origins: Exploring the genres that influenced the development of Afrobeats, including Afrobeat, Highlife, and Juju, among others.
- Evolution: Highlighting the industry players who have contributed to the current Afrobeats sound.
- Fusion: Examining the fusion of Afrobeats with genres such as Reggaeton and Amapiano, and their impact on its success.
- Cultural Exportation: Exploring Afrobeats’ Role in Exporting African Culture through Music, food, language, and Fashion.
- Women of Afrobeats: Shedding light on key female figures who have propelled the genre to its current global sensation status.
The site will also include Afrobeats timelines, Spotify data, excerpts from interviews with industry experts, and on-the-street videos from key markets in Sub-Saharan Africa.
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