Spotify Explores Amapiano In South Africa. The music industry has changed dramatically over the last decade, following the popularity of amapiano. Record sales have plummeted and the way people listen to music has shifted. Artists rely heavily on streaming services and social media to promote their music. Some have found success in this new landscape, while some are still figuring it out.
Amapiano genre has become a force to be reckoned with after being one of the biggest and fastest growing genres for the past three years. The genre has grown from South Africa all the way to international boarders. Organised in partnership with South African Tourism, the tour, designed around some of Spotify’s most popular amapiano playlists, sought to highlight South African and amapiano culture to content creators from Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana and South Africa.
The tour started off with Amapiano 101 where it detailed the background of the genre and giving guests an opportunity to experience its origins in townships like Mamelodi before exploring other popular amapiano spots in Soweto. During the session, one of the genre’s leading artists, Lethabo Sebetso also known as Focalistic, appeared at Jack Budha in Mamelodi, one of the birthplaces of amapiano, to share the genre’s origin story.
Spotify data show amapiano received close to 2 billion streams last year, representing a 143% year-on-year increase. The genre has garnered a huge following, with more than 240 000 playlists featuring amapiano in the title and over 10 million playlists featuring at least one amapiano track. Interestingly, more than 40% of amapiano streams come from listeners outside South Africa, making it the country’s hottest cultural export.
The music streaming platform also shared that listeners love tuning into the genre on weekday afternoons, with peaks on Friday evenings. Amapiano Grooves, Spotify’s biggest amapiano playlist, is most popular among 18 to 24 year olds, with most listeners hailing from South Africa, the UK, US, Mozambique, Botswana and Zimbabwe.
