Spotify Wrapped 2023 demonstrates that South Africans were listening to songs this year
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According to Spotify Wrapped 2023, there’s a rising trend among local users leaning towards South African songs, with artists from the country making a significant impact nationwide.
This surge is reflected in consumption numbers, which have seen remarkable growth, spiking by 101% in 2023.
The data from this year’s much-anticipated Spotify Wrapped demonstrated that South Africans are consuming more local songs, compared to 2022.
“The South African music industry is evolving and growing with every song released. We are glad to see the local creators resonating with South African users,” says Phiona Okumu, Spotify Sub-Saharan Africa’s Head of Music.
The top two songs on the South African music streaming list, which is primarily made up of local music, are ‘Mnike’ by Tyler ICU and ‘Hamba Juba’ by Lady Amar.
Compared to the two years prior, when international songs dominated the list, nine out of ten of the top streamed songs in South Africa are all South African songs.
Similarly, Tyler ICU’s "Mnike" (featuring DJ Maphorisa, Nandipha808, Ceeka RSA, and Tyron Dee) is the most streamed song and the most added to user-generated playlists.
The search function on Spotify is one of the key tabs of discovery for many users. Its intuitive searching capabilities in South Africa landed Kelvin Momo on the second most searched artist list behind Drake.
The local resonance can also be attributed to artists’ innovation, for example, Sjava and Big Zulu’s partnership.
The duo named Inkabi Zezwe, who released their first album project this year, appear in two lists. Their single ‘Umbayimbayi’ sits at number 10 on the most-streamed South African songs in SA, while the album, ‘Ukhamba’ makes an appearance at the same spot on the most streamed albums in SA list.
Award-winning star Sjava also appears in two lists where he is the most streamed South African artist in SA and his album ‘Isibuko’ is the third most-streamed South African album in SA.
Amapiano continues to dominate the lists. The most streamed songs are Amapiano songs, and the top two on the most-streamed South African artists list are Amapiano artists.
Kabza De Small is leading the pack as the most-streamed South African artist for the second year in a row, with two of his projects ‘KOA II Part 1’ and ‘The Konka Mixtape: Sweet & Dust’ respectively rounding up the top five most-streamed South African albums in SA.
He and DJ Maphorisa are the only two South African artists to feature in the top 10 most-streamed artists overall in South Africa, ranking second and third after Drake.
Male artists are still dominating the most-streamed lists, however, female artists are making notable progress in average streams overall. The average streams year-on-year increase is at 49%.
Female Amapiano artist Lady Amar appears on the most-streamed South African songs in SA list.
Makhadzi is the most-streamed South African female artist, followed by Ami Faku with Nkosazana Daughter, Lwah Ndlunkulu, Nomfundo Moh, MaWhoo rounding up the top five, respectively.
Lwah Ndlunkulu also appears in the top 10 of the most searched South African artists.
The Star
anita.nkonki@inl.co.za