Spotify Wrapped 2023: South Africans listened to more local songs than in 2022

Makhadzi is the most streamed South African female artist

Spotify Wrapped 2023 demonstrated that South Africans are consuming more local songs, compared to 2022. Spotify Wrapped is the streaming giant’s thorough look into the music and podcasts that defined the year for South African users. 

Spotify Wrapped 2023 shows that local users are listening to more and more local songs and South African artists are resonating with users across the country. The improvement is also evident in the consumption. Local music consumption has grown exponentially, increasing by 101% in 2023. 

Tyler ICU’s Mnike and Lady Amar’s Hamba Juba lead the most streamed songs in South Africa, in a list dominated by local songs. Nine out of ten of the top streamed songs in South Africa are all South African, a major difference from the two previous years when international songs dominated the list. On the same token, the top streamed song; Tyler ICU’s – Mnike (feat. DJ Maphorisa, Nandipha808, Ceeka RSA & Tyron Dee) also tops the most added song to user-generated playlists list. 

“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 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. In addition, Drake’s Slime You Out (feat. SZA) is the number one most shared song on Instagram. South African users like to share what they are listening to, especially on social media. Correspondingly, Drake and SZA are the top two most shared artists on the same platform. The majority of the social platforms’ users, 18-24-year-olds listen to more non-South African artists than 25-34-year-olds. However, they have one artist in common, Drake, who tops both their lists.

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 ten 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. Sjava also appears in two lists. He is the third most streamed South African artist in SA and his album Isibuko, is the third most streamed South African album in SA. The duo’s appearance on the Bhinca culture-leaning playlist Bhinca Nation can be one of the reasons they featured in the two lists. Bhinca Nation is the fifth most streamed South African playlist. The playlist rounds up the top five most streamed South African playlists in SA led by Amapiano Grooves. Other playlists on the list include Made In South Africa, Afrikaanse Hits, and Hot Hits South Africa. 

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 remains 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 5 most streamed South Africa albums in SA. Furthermore, Kabza De Small and DJ Maphorisa are the only two South African artists to feature in the top ten 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. While Taylor Swift leads the most streamed female artists in South Africa, 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 ten on the most searched South African artists. 

South Africa’s top exported list features Master KG, Black Coffee, Lucky Dube and Lebo M. 

On the podcast side, Wisdom & Wellness with Mpoomy Ledwaba is the most streamed South African female-led podcast in SA. Podcast and Chill with MacG retains its number one spot on the most streamed South African podcast in SA list. 

Eligible users can access their personalized 2023 Wrapped experience exclusively in the Spotify mobile app (iOS and Android) and also this year, via web view on mobile or Desktop by heading to Spotify.com/Wrapped. 

Additionally, Spotify has also launched its Wrapped creator experience for podcasters and artists.  With access to their own individualized Wrapped microsite experience, creators can dive into all the ways in which their fans listened this year. Check out Spotify for Artists and Spotify for Podcasters to learn more.

The full breakdown of South Africans streamed on Spotify this year

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