New Wizkid Record Highlights Rising Trend in Nigerian Streaming Market

Last week, Wizkid and Brent Faiyaz achieved a milestone as their song “Piece of My Heart” became the first track on Spotify Nigeria to exceed one million streams in a single day.

This debut not only set a new record but also marked the first time a Nigerian original song hit the million-stream milestone on its first day. Wizkid continues to hold the top three spots for biggest debut-day songs, with “IDK” and “MMS”—where Asake featured him—securing the next two positions.

The success of “Piece of My Heart” reflects a broader increase in Spotify streaming activity from Nigeria. The country has set new all-time streaming records three times since June.

According to Spotifystats, an unofficial streaming tracker, Nigeria first broke its record on June 21, with a daily high of over 8 million streams, surpassing its previous peak of 7.9 million from December 22, 2023.

By August 9, Nigeria had set a new record of 13.5 million streams across its top 200 songs, ranking as the 20th highest country globally and becoming one of only 29 countries to have daily top 200 streams surpassing 10 million in 24 hours.

In the first half of 2024 alone, Spotify Nigeria recorded one billion streams, representing 1.37% of the global total of 72.9 billion and showing a 96.7% increase from the same period in 2023.

This impressive growth follows a staggering 352% rise from 2022, when Nigeria logged just 112 million streams in the first half of the year.

By October 2024, Nigeria’s total streams reached over 1.85 billion, with approximately 850 million streams from July to October alone, averaging 212 million streams per month. August saw the highest monthly total with over 255 million streams, making up 2.03% of the global total of 12.6 billion, surpassing July’s 242 million.

These statistics highlight Nigeria’s rapidly growing streaming culture, especially notable since Spotify only launched in the country in February 2021. For comparison, Spotify South Africa, launched in 2017, recorded 637 million streams from January to June 2024.

With a population exceeding 200 million and Africa’s most vibrant music scene, Nigeria’s music industry is poised to set even more records in the final quarter of 2024.