Afrobeats adds $2B to the global music economy

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Writer: Great Ekama

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“Afrobeats is gaining ground globally and the financials reflect this”

Afrobeats have exploded onto the global stage, igniting a cultural wildfire that can't be ignored. The success of West African mainstream pop music is best explained by its soaring numbers.

Burna Boy's "Love, Damini" album racked up over 1 billion streams across platforms in 2022. Wizkid's "Essence" featuring Tems became the first Nigerian song to crack the Billboard Hot 100's top 10. Wizkid's fourth album "Made in Lagos", spent a record-breaking 77 weeks on the Billboard World Albums chart. Rema and Selena Gomez's "Calm Down" remix made history by recording Afrobeats first 1 billion Spotify Streams.

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According to a report by PwC, Afrobeats contributes about $2 billion to the global music industry which is estimated to be worth $26 billion. In 2022, Nigerian artists generated a whooping 11 billion Naira on Spotify. These staggering numbers capture Afrobeats' fast-rising success with Nigerian superstars selling out landmark venues and breaking grounds across global charts.

However, amidst this turn in financial fortune, there are concerns over the failure of the Afrobeats ecosystem to retain a bulk of the revenue it generates. Only a fraction of the revenue it generates returns to the ecosystem struggling to build infrastructure to support and sustain Afrobeats' global exploits.

As Afrobeats' rise continues to be documented through its numbers, banging DJ mixes of hit records across global festivals, and award-winning hits, stakeholders are calling for more local investment to ensure Afrobeats fully harnesses its gains and reaches its full potential.