Johannesburg – Digital music service Spotify announced on Thursday the launch of Afrobeats: Journey of a Billion Streams, a dedicated site that will track all things related to the genre.
Spotify said the site tracks the genre from its beginnings in Ghana to its popularisation in Nigeria, its fusion with other genres, and how it came to be one of the major cultural exports from the continent. One of Africa's major musical exports, Afrobeats, is currently sweeping the globe.
The genre's popularity on Spotify has increased by 550% since 2017, and it was streamed more than 13 billion times in 2022. The genre's top performers are still accomplishing enormous feats on the international music scene, including live performances, awards, and streaming.
Spotify said the website will serve as a repository for information about this phenomenon, containing text, infographics, and visual components, as well as Spotify streaming statistics and the findings of an April 2023 Afrobeats poll that Spotify commissioned.
The poll, carried out by the research company Kuvora, charts the development of Afrobeats and its cultural influence across several decades.
“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 will have 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," said Jocelyne Muhutu-Remy, Spotify’s Managing Director for Sub-Saharan Africa.
Afrobeats: Journey of a Billion Streams will have five key pillars: Origins, which examines the genres that served as the forerunners of Afrobeats as we know it, including Afrobeat, Highlife, and Juju. The second pillar will be Evolution, which will focus on the industry participants who helped create the current Afrobeats sound, which the entire world can't get enough of. The third pillar will focus on the fusion of Afrobeats with other genres, like Reggaeton, Amapiano, and others, and how that success story has affected Afrobeats.
The fourth pillar will be cultural exporting, particularly to nations outside of Africa, and the contribution of Afrobeats to this through music, food, language, and fashion. The fifth pillar will be devoted to the Women of Afrobeats, bringing light on some of the significant female characters whose contributions to the field helped the genre achieve its current stature as a worldwide phenomenon.
Spotify said the site will also include key Afrobeats timelines over the years, interesting Spotify data, excerpts from interviews with industry experts, and man-on-the street videos from key markets in sub-Saharan Africa.
The Star