At the beginning of December, everyone was waiting eagerly for their Spotify Wrapped to release. Spotify Wrapped is the annual end-of-year feature from the streaming platform. It gives users of the platform insights in which artists and songs and podcasts they streamed throughout the year. Along with the individual “Wrapped”, there is also the overall statistics for the platform. These showed that K-pop is on the rise around the continent.
Spotify Wrapped provides listeners with insights into the type of music that people love to listen to and stream. It also shows the mood of the year and what was the most popular genres and groups that were listened to around the world.
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K-pop or Korean pop music has been growing in popularity over the years led by groups like BTS and BLACKPINK. According to Spotify’s head of music for Sub-Saharan Africa, Phiona Okumu: “Surprisingly, there’s been a 93% year-on-year increase in K-pop streams in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2022, accounted for by over 3 billion hours of streaming. It’s clear from this data that K-pop is not just a passing phase, but has a devoted and growing African fandom.” The markets around the continent leading this increase are Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya.
Increased access to the internet around the continent along with the rise in platforms like Spotify, TikTok and others have contributed to this. Spotify’s Wrapped data for Africa found that a combined 88% of K-pop music streams came from people under the age of 29.
Okumu said: “In an increasingly connected world, on-demand streaming services like Spotify have certainly made it easier than ever to tap into another country’s music. Streaming has become instrumental in not only enabling the discovery of African music abroad but also in exposing African listeners to new and unexpected sounds.”
South Africa leads the continent as the top market for K-pop on the continent. Recently the country hosted one of its first K-pop groups. The group MustB performed in Cape Town as part of celebrations commemorating thirty years of diplomatic relations between South Africa and South Korea.
“This year, K-pop showcased its staying power in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) with millions of streams in countries like South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria – the top three for K-pop consumption on the continent respectively. Other countries that made it into the top 10 K-pop markets in SSA included Mauritius, Ghana, Uganda, Namibia, Tanzania, Zambia and Botswana,” said Okumu.
BTS leads the way as the most streamed K-pop artists in Sub-Saharan Africa. Early this year, movie company NuMetro live-streamed BTS concert Permission To Dance which took place in Los Angeles. The tickets were sold out in a hour.
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| TOP 10 MARKETS FOR K-POP IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA | TOP STREAMED K-POP ARTISTS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA | TOP STREAMED K-POP TRACKS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA |
South Africa | BTS | My Universe – BTS, Coldplay |
Kenya | Stray Kids | Left and Right (feat. Jung Kook of BTS) – Charlie Puth |
Nigeria | BLACKPINK | Dynamite – BTS |
Mauritius | TOMORROW X TOGETHER | MONEY – LISA |
Ghana | TWICE | Butter – BTS |
Uganda | j-hope | Stay Alive (Prod. SUGA of BTS) – Jung Kook |
Namibia | ENHYPEN | Yet To Come – BTS |
Tanzania | Jung Kook | Christmas Tree – V |
Zambia | ATEEZ | Run BTS – BTS |
Botswana | SEVENTEEN | Pink Venom – BLACKPINK |
