Muyiwa Awoniyi, the manager of Grammy-winning Nigerian singer Tems, has raised concerns about the vast revenue disparity faced by Nigerian artists on music streaming platforms compared to their counterparts in developed countries.
Speaking on a recent episode of the Afrobeats Intelligence podcast, Awoniyi highlighted how the geographical location of music streams plays a significant role in determining the earnings artists receive from these platforms.
According to him, while artists in countries like Sweden can make between $8,000 and $10,000 from a million streams, Nigerian musicians earn as little as $300 for the same number of streams.
“Do you know how much a million streams is worth out of Nigeria? It’s $300,” Muyiwa Awoniyi revealed. “Your one million streams [in Sweden] is between $8,000 and $10,000.”
Tems manager explained that this imbalance is largely due to the low pricing of music streaming subscriptions in Nigeria, around N900 monthly on Spotify, and the wider economic challenges affecting purchasing power in the country.
Awoniyi further pointed out that streaming platforms operate on a territorial model, meaning earnings are determined by the region where the streams originate. “Spotify treats things territorially. So if my IP is anchored to a region where one million streams is $300, I am cooked,” he stated.
His comments have since sparked conversations within the Nigerian music industry about the need for fairer streaming revenue structures for African artists.
“A million streams from Nigeria is currently $300… In Sweden, your 1 million streams is $8000 – $10000…”
– Donawon pic.twitter.com/M2GG8oHGr2
— @𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗷𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗯𝗼𝘆 (@OneJoblessBoy) May 30, 2025
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