Spotify wants more paying Nigerians, not higher subscription prices

Spotify believes Nigerian artists’ streaming earnings will grow through wider paid adoption, not by raising subscription prices in one of its cheapest markets globally.

Spotify Premium currently costs about ₦1,600 ($1.16) per month in Nigeria, far below pricing in other African markets such as South Africa, Ghana, and Kenya.

“We cannot just say, let us try to meet our benchmark and multiply and increase unreasonably,” Jocelyne Muhutu-Remy told TechCabal in an interview on April 14. “We need to take into consideration people’s reality.”

Streaming generated 69.6% of global recorded music revenues in 2025, according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry.

In Nigeria, artists earned roughly ₦1.98 per Spotify stream in 2025, based on the company’s annual Loud & Clear report.

“That is the reality now, but it will evolve with volume, with the growth of the market,” Muhutu-Remy said. “If the revenue per user is at that level, then it is going to be less.”

Spotify said the long-term opportunity lies in converting more African listeners into paying subscribers rather than pushing aggressive price increases in economically sensitive markets.

“For us, that is the most important thing, really building that habit and making it a daily thing for Nigerians and Africans to stream music,” she said.

Spotify operates in 184 markets globally with 761 million active users and nearly 300 million subscribers. While the company does not disclose country-level subscriber figures, it said African subscriptions continue to grow steadily.

Nigeria remains strategically important to Spotify because of Afrobeats’ global reach and the country’s influence on international music culture.

“Just because Spotify costs less in Nigeria does not mean a Nigerian fan is less valuable,” Muhutu-Remy said. “Because it takes a Nigerian to take Nigerian music out of Nigeria.”

Spotify said Nigerian artists’ earnings on the platform grew by 140% between 2023 and 2025. However, growth slowed recently as local streaming expanded faster than subscription revenue. Local consumption of Nigerian music on Spotify rose by 170%, while artist payouts increased by 3.45% between 2024 and 2025.

Rather than relying on price hikes, Spotify is focusing on telecom partnerships, local payment integrations, and bundled subscription offers to increase adoption.

In 2023, Spotify partnered with Orange to bundle music access with mobile plans in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar, and Mali.

“By diversifying the partners we work with, by making payment accessible, and by being sensitive to affordability. And by putting forward a product that really brings value in people’s lives, this is what will build the business,” Muhutu-Remy said.

She also pushed back against assumptions that African consumers are unwilling to pay for digital subscriptions.

“You will be glad to know that generally, in Africa, the willingness to pay is there,” she said. “It is a cliché to say the opposite.”

For Spotify, Nigeria represents a long-term market where cultural influence already exists, but commercial monetisation is still developing.

“Nigeria is a superpower from a cultural perspective,” Muhutu-Remy said. “It has the foundation to be a commercial superpower because the right conditions are there.”