Spotify South Africa Market Share [October 2023]: Universal Music and Sony in Hot Lead

Merry weekend 🎉🎊?

In my previous dispatch, I mentioned we would be going to South Africa to get firsthand insights into the music scene and discover which songs or labels are driving market share there. Well, in the past month, I've kept track of, scraped, and analyzed the data, and now we have some exciting findings to go over.

You might be wondering why South Africa specifically. To put it simply, I have personal interest in emerging markets across various industries. But quite frankly, it's no secret that South Africa holds a crucial position within Sub-Saharan Africa. According to IFPI, sub-Saharan Africa is the fastest-growing region, enjoying a 34.7% growth in 2022. And within the region, the revenue surge in South Africa (+31.4%), the largest market, played a significant role in driving this growth.

In the music business ecosystem in Africa, South Africa is usually the starting point for many foreign companies including major labels, whose operations are usually headquartered there before spreading across other African countries. Also, interestingly, one of Africa's hottest musical exports right now, Tyla, being South African has drawn attention and sparked creative and commercial interests in the region.

In case you missed it: Spotify Nigeria Market Share [October 2023]: NATIVE Steps Up While EMPIRE Keeps Pace

Overall Performance

Per the total number of streams, South Africa contributed 86 million streams on Spotify across more than 270 songs, in comparison to Nigeria’s 115 million streams across over 250 songs.

Interestingly, Spotify launched in Nigeria in February 2021, three years after it launched in South Africa back in March 2018. Despite this head start, South Africans contribute at least 20 million streams weekly on the platform, in comparison to Nigeria’s 28.9 million streams. On an average day, South Africa generates around 2.8 million streams (compared to Nigeria's 3.8 million streams). 

Now, we’ll keep an eye on the progress month by month and how it all pans out.

Among some old and new releases, the three records that stood out the most among South Africans in October are iPlan by Dlala Thukzin, Zaba, Sykes. It claimed the top spot with 2,486,470 streams, beating Imnandi lento by Mellow & Sleazy, SjavasDaDeejay, TitoM, Tman Xpress which comes second with 2,457,993 streams.

Then Awukhuzeki by DJ Stokie, Omit ST, Sobzeen, Zee_nhle follow in the third spot with 1,619,212 streams across the region.

Have a look at the 10 most streamed records, their week-on-week performance, and their total performance in both South Africa and Nigeria.

South Africa

Nigeria

Top 20 Market Share Snapshot

In October, the competition was interesting among record labels vying for the top positions in the highly sought-after Top 20 most streamed songs in South Africa.

Taking the lead, Universal Music secured the top spot, with an impressive appearance of three tracks that amassed a total of 3,663,933 streams. They captured a significant 16.4% market share fueled by the following releases:

3. "Awukhuzeki" by DJ Stokie, Omit ST, Sobzeen, and Zee_nhle (1,619,212 streams)

6. "Isgubhu" by Sam Deep, Njelic, and Aymos (1,148,586 streams)

13. "Sgudi Snyc" by De Mthuda, Da Muziqal Chef, and Eemoh (896,135 streams)

Not far behind, Sound African Recording claimed the second spot, with two tracks that garnered a total of 3,214,531 streams, amounting to a 14.3% market share. Their success was propelled by the following releases:

2. "Imnandi lento" by Mellow & Sleazy, SjavasDaDeejay, TitoM, and Tman Xpress (2,457,993 streams)

16. "Wena Wa Pallwa" by Jimmy Maradona, QuayR Musiq, Mellow & Sleazy, Ch'cco, and LeeMcKrazy (756,538 streams)

PS: It's worth noting that Sound African Records is a division of Sony Music Africa.

In the third spot, Dlala Records held its own with a single release. The song "iPlan" by Dlala Thukzin, Zaba, and Sykes gained a remarkable 2,486,470 streams in October. It was the overall most streamed song on Spotify by South Africans in October, earning the label 11.1% in market share.

Then there’s New Money Gang Records, ranking fourth with an 8.9% market share. They made waves with two tracks that collectively earned 1,984,536 streams. These tracks include:

4. "Mnike" by Tyler ICU, Tumelo_za, DJ Maphorisa, Nandipha808, Ceeka RSA, and Tyrondee (1,258,679 streams)

20. "Gangnam Style" by Mas Musiq, Daliwonga, DJ Maphorisa, and Kabza De Small (725,857 streams)

Exciting things were happening in the music world, with these record labels competing for listeners' attention and delivering hit songs! 

Top 50 Market Share Snapshot

In an impressive feat, OVO/Republic Records clinched the top position, accumulating a staggering 5,364,209 streams across nine tracks, all from Drake's newly released album, For All The Dogs. This resulted in a 13.9% market share in Spotify streams for the label in South Africa. Here are the records that contributed to this feat:

11. "First Person Shooter" by Drake (937,105 streams)

14. "IDGAF" by Drake (859,114 streams)

22. "Virginia Beach" by Drake (715,655 streams)

32. "Calling For You" by Drake (523,829 streams)

36. "Slime You Out" by Drake (506,020 streams)

40. "8am in Charlotte" by Drake (486,213 streams)

42. "Amen" by Drake (464,194 streams)

48. "Daylight" by Drake (441,034 streams)

49. "Fear of Heights" by Drake (431,045 streams)

Holding their own at second place, Universal Music secured an impressive 4,303,409 streams within the Top 50, marking an 11.9% market share. They achieved this milestone through four tracks, including:

3. "Awukhuzeki" by DJ Stokie, Omit ST, Sobzeen, and Zee_nhle (1,619,212 streams)

6. "Isgubhu" by Sam Deep, Njelic, and Aymos (1,148,586 streams)

13. "Sgudi Snyc" by De Mthuda, Da Muziqal Chef, and Eemoh (896,135 streams)

27. "iMpumelelo" by Sam Deep, Eemoh, and Da Muziqal Chef (639,476 streams)

Sound Africa Recordings also made its mark at third place in the top 50, amassing a total of 3,691,473 streams with three tracks. This accounted for a 9.6% market share of Spotify streams across South Africa. The tracks that contributed to this standing are:

2. "Imnandi lento" by Mellow & Sleazy, SjavasDaDeejay, TitoM, and Tman Xpress (2,457,993 streams)

16. "Wena Wa Pallwa" by Jimmy Maradona, QuayR Musiq, Mellow & Sleazy, Ch'cco, and LeeMcKrazy (756,538 streams)

41. "Kwelinye" by Mellow & Sleazy, Tman Xpress, and Keynote (476,942 streams)

Can you take a wild guess about which emerging market we'll be visiting next?

Update: Check out Egypt’s