The global streaming platform’s annual Loud & Clear report says that Nigerian artists made about ₦1.98 for every stream on Spotify in 2025.
Spotify said that in 2025, Nigerian artists made more than ₦60 billion ($43.92 million) in royalties from the site, which had a total of 30.3 billion streams.
If you divide the revenue by the total number of streams, you get an estimated payout of just under ₦2 per stream.
Many artists can make money directly from Spotify, but artists in poorer markets often make a lot less per stream than artists in richer markets because of how streaming payments are calculated.
This report from 2025 says that one million streams in Nigeria make only $300, but the same streams in Sweden can make up to $10,000.
The difference is because of Spotify’s territorial payout model, which changes how much money you make based on where you live and the state of the economy. In Nigeria, Spotify’s premium plan costs about ₦1,600 ($1.17) a month.
In Sweden, where the company is based, monthly subscriptions cost about $13.78.
This model helps keep streaming cheap for listeners, but it also lowers the amount of money artists make per stream in poorer areas.
Spotify says it doesn’t pay artists a set amount for each stream.
Instead, it pays them based on their share of all streams on the platform.
The streaming platform said, “If an artist makes up 1% of all streams in a certain country, their chosen rightsholder(s) get 1% of the recording royalties we pay there.
“Spotify gives two-thirds of every dollar it makes from music streaming to rights holders, who then pay artists.
Labels, distributors, publishers, and collective management organizations get this money before it gets to artists.
The company paid out $11 billion around the world in 2025.
Nigerian artists made ₦60 billion ($43.92 million), which was 0.39% of the total.
Streaming growth and a growing global audience: Spotify’s data shows that the Nigerian music scene is growing quickly, both in Nigeria and around the world, in addition to payouts.
Nigerian artists had 1.6 billion listening hours and 30.3 billion streams on Spotify in 2025.
In the last two years, Nigerian artists have made more than 140% more money on the platform.
It paid out ₦58 billion ($42.45 million) in 2024.
In 2025, more than 1.3 billion people who had never heard of Nigerian artists before found them on Spotify.
This was a 26% increase from 2024.
Over 80% of the songs on Spotify Nigeria’s Daily Top 50 were by Nigerian musicians, showing that there is a lot of demand for local music in Nigeria.
The report also talks about how independent artists and labels are becoming more important in Nigeria’s music industry.
In 2025, about 58% of all royalties earned by Nigerian artists on Spotify went to independent artists or labels.
This shows that a lot of money is going to artists and labels that aren’t part of the traditional label system.
In 2025, Nigerian artists were added to almost 2,000 editorial playlists. Nigerian music was also on almost 320 million user playlists around the world and over 12 million playlists in Nigeria.
During the year, Spotify made more than 60 million playlists with Nigerian artists.
Jocelyne Muhutu-Remy, Managing Director of Spotify in Africa, said in a statement, “Nigeria’s music story continues to be one of creativity, innovation, and global cultural influence.”
“Talent is not only reaching new audiences around the world, but also making deeper connections at home.”
