Spotify launches new website dedicated to Afrobeats

The site will serve as a repository for this cultural phenomenon, housing text, infographics and visual elements, including Spotify streaming data and results from the Spotify-commissioned April 2023 Afrobeats survey. The survey, conducted by research firm Kuvora, tracks the rise of Afrobeats and its cultural impact over decades.

“There is no doubt that Afrobeats as a genre is here to stay, and will only continue to shatter more ceilings,” Spotify’s managing director for sub-Saharan Africa, Jocelyne Muhutu-Remy, said.

“This year alone, the genre has been played for more than 223 million hours with streams exceeding 7.1 billion on Spotify. We created this site for both old and new fans of the genre, who would like to have a better understanding of how and where this explosive sound came to be.”

Afrobeats: Journey of a Billion Streams will have five key pillars, starting with Origins, which explores precursor genres including Afrobeat, highlife and juju and Evolution, which spotlights industry players who have contributed to the current Afrobeats sound.

Fusion, exploring how Afrobeats has been blended with genres such as reggaeton and amapiano, will be the third pillar, while Cultural Exportation and Women of Afrobeats complete the list.

The site will be updated biweekly for the next eight weeks but will remain active beyond this as an always-on resource, with frequent updates on new Afrobeats moments.It will also include an interactive experience for fans to discover and connect with new knowledge on Afrobeats.

Origins, the first instalment of the Afrobeats journey, is now live here.