At this point, it’s hardly news in the music industry that the digitalization of music has brought listeners to artists from long-overlooked corners of the musical world. But new data from Spotify offers a sharp glimpse into how powerful this trend can be.
The South Africa-born amapiano genre is only a decade old, but in 2023 it clocked 1.4 billion streams on Spotify alone, the music streaming service said in a series of articles dedicated to the growth of the genre on the platform.
That represents a growth rate of 5,668% since 2018, Spotify said.
As recently as 2019, the genre had clocked just 34 million streams. In 2020, it tripled that count to 102 million, tripling it again to around 300 million in 2021.
Amapiano’s hypnotic electronic melodies backed by percussive bass lines and log drum-inspired beats were massively helped along by an unexpected force, Spotify says: The Covid-19 pandemic, when a world locked at home turned to music discovery – especially on social media – to pass the time.
“As young people in South Africa looked for new ways to connect with friends, dance challenges sparked their imaginations,” Spotify wrote.
“The fact that they couldn’t groove [in public] didn’t stop them from combining their flair for dance, with amapiano tracks that were trending on messaging apps. Social media gave them a way to show off their moves and get others to imitate them.”
Pandemic-era social media dance challenges such as the #Johnvuligatechallenge, JazziDisciples dance challenge, and #Amanikinikichallenge “marked key moments when youth culture connected with and amplified the genre through social media,” Spotify said.
The music streaming service didn’t waste the opportunity for a little self-promotion, noting that, during the pandemic, it set up a feature that allowed artists to raise money from listeners.
“Pandemic restrictions on live events meant many artists lost their income. Some resorted to loans or selling their equipment to make ends meet. And young emerging musicians were worse off because they didn’t have the networks or the savings to support themselves,” Spotify said.
“Thank God for platforms like Spotify where anyone, anywhere in the world, can go and search the music, so it can reach the people that way,” DJ and music producer DBN Gogo said, as quoted by Spotify.
The borderless world of digital music meant the genre spread far and wide from South Africa, and in 2023, the US and UK were behind only South Africa in the number of amapiano streams. Germany, the Netherlands, France and Canada were also among the top 10 countries where amapiano has gained a foothold, in terms of streaming count.
Some key moments in the cultural expansion of amapiano in the past few years came when Beyonce played Uncle Waffles’ Tanzania during her Renaissance world tour; when Jennifer Hudson of the US syndicated daytime show The Jennifer Hudson Show learned the viral dance from Titom & Yuppe’s Tshwala Bam; and when Tyla performed her megahit Water on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. (That track, released in July 2023, has already racked up 675 million streams on Spotify, and more than 150 million views on YouTube).
Spotify tallied up the most popular amapiano tracks on its platform over the past decade, and Tyler ICU’s Mnike came out on top. DJ Maphorisa was named “the decade’s top amapiano artist.”
But for all its international appeal, amapiano remains most popular closest to home, in South Africa and other parts of sub-Saharan Africa. In 2023, 55% of all amapiano streams came from South Africa, and in sub-Saharan Africa, it accounted for 78% of all streams, per Spotify’s data.
It’s also very much a youth-driven musical phenomenon, with 40% of amapiano streams coming from people aged 18 to 24, and another 22% from the 25-29 age group, Spotify says.
“Just being from Africa, we’re obsessed with saying things in our own voice right now. It’s how you make an imprint.”
Focalistic
“Young people have always driven big shifts in the music sector, but with amapiano, their impact has been and continues to be especially significant,” said Jodie Tabisher, Spotify’s Artist, Label and Partnerships Manager for South Africa.
Spotify asserts that access to digital music via smartphones was also key to the success of amapiano.
“Four years before South Africa’s first [pandemic] lockdown, less than half of the country owned smartphones,” Spotify wrote. “By the end of 2019, this number rose to 92%.”
Spotify says 84% of all amapiano streams are on smartphones.
Given all this, it’s little wonder that amapiano is becoming a major part of South African culture – and a part of the country’s identity.
“Amapiano was kind of like a breath of fresh air, the light of the sun, something that was close to our heart,” Spotify quotes Pretoria-born rapper Focalistic as saying.
“Just being from Africa, we’re obsessed with saying things in our own voice right now. It’s how you make an imprint.”
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