Luxembourg, Netherlands, France Emerge as Hotspots for Afrobeats Abroad

Last week, renowned music market monitor, Luminate released its much-anticipated 2023 Year-End Music Report. This analysis gives an in-depth look at consumption trends and consumer research insights, shedding light on the year-on-year growth of the global music industry. 

For context, Luminate is the data company behind Billboard charts.

Among the key highlights are insights into the performance of genres outside their home regions, detailed consumer profiles in select African countries, and a notable increase in the daily delivery of International Standard Recording Codes (ISRCs) to streaming platforms.

Genres Making Waves Abroad

One part of Luminate’s report that caught my attention is examining where genres perform best outside their home regions. For Afrobeats, for instance, the following regions emerged as its hotspots, based on the proportion of streams for the top 100 songs.

• Luxembourg

• Netherlands

• France

• United Kingdom

• Portugal

These regions have shown considerable affinity for Afrobeats, contributing significantly to the global presence and influence of the sound.

Luminate further examines the music consumption patterns of listeners in Nigeria and Kenya, such as their preferences, discovery methods, and favourite genres.

Nigeria

• Overall streaming penetration: 98% among all music listeners

• Top Music Discovery Methods:

  • Social media

  • TV

  • Friends/relatives

• Top Local Genre: Afrobeats

• Top Foreign Genre: Blues

Kenya

• Overall streaming penetration: 99% among all music listeners

• Top Music Discovery Methods:

  • Social media

  • TV

  • Streaming services

• Top Local Genre: Kenyan Gospel

• Top Foreign Genre: Christian/Gospel

Average Daily ISRC Delivery to DSPs

The report also highlights a substantial increase in the average daily delivery of International Standard Recording Codes (ISRCs) (read: songs) to streaming platforms in 2023, with an average of 103,500+ new tracks being delivered each day. This marks a 10.8% increase compared to 2022 when the average was about 93,400+.