Spotify’s latest Afrobeats move is a festival partnership

Recent reports suggested that Spotify was keen on joining YouTube and Amazon Music in securing livestreaming rights to music festivals.

That’s not quite what it’s doing with Afro Nation Portugal, but the partnership shows Spotify’s continued ambitions to grow its activities with these kinds of events.

The deal sees Spotify become the official ‘sponsor and exclusive streaming partner’ for the three-day Afrobeats-focused festival, which takes place this weekend in Portimão, Portugal.

The streaming service will launch an Afro Nation hub on its service with an official playlist and “selected performance videos after the event” according to Nigerian news outlet Business Day.

“Afro Nation is more than a festival, it is a global expression of African music, fan culture and creative influence,” said Spotify’s content marketing manager for sub-Saharan Africa Rifumo Mdaka.

This is all part of Spotify’s ongoing activities around Afrobeats. Since last September it has launched a ‘Global Afrobeats’ playlist; added a dedicated Afrobeats section to its news site; run a three-week ‘Greasy Tunes Café’ pop-up in Lagos; and debuted a ‘Culture Club’ podcast focused on the scene.

Spotify also recently revealed that in 2025 it paid out more than N60bn (around $44.3m) in royalties for music by Nigerian artists. That was up just 3.4% year-on-year, although currency shifts were a key factor there: the payouts were up more than 140% compared to 2023.

Meanwhile, Afrobeats artists have continued to hit new milestones on Spotify: 3bn streams for Ayra Starr and 10bn for Wizkid being two of the recent landmarks. Wizkid is the Sunday-night draw for Afro Nation Portugal this week, with Burna Boy, Tyla and Asake among the other headliners.

In November 2025, the ‘Basslines to Billions’ report from investment firm Regalstone Capital noted that live performances still generate 65.7% of the Nigerian music industry’s revenues, with streaming royalties accounting for 30.1%.

The report called attention to the impact of Spotify and other DSPs though.

“Streaming adoption is expanding rapidly, buoyed by a young, digital-native population,” it noted. “Global platforms are increasing investment in local operations, while international sync placements and brand deals are boosting global exposure and revenues.”