Spotify completed five years of operation in Pakistan towards the end of February, and as we’ve come to expect, they marked the occasion by sharing a bunch of new stats about the growth of local artists on the platform.
Overall, listenership in the country has increased by more than 750% between 2021 and 2026, while the total plays for Pakistani artists have risen by 670% in the last half-decade. The number of domestic acts on the platform has simultaneously grown by 75%.
During the same period, local listeners have created over 15 million user-generated playlists and on average, are streaming music by 140 different artists annually. Some of the top editorial playlists, meanwhile, are ‘Hot Hits Pakistan’ (190k saves) and ‘Pakka Hit Hai’ (81k saves), which showcase contemporary smashes, and ‘Icon Pakistan’ (23.9k saves), which compiles classics. Newer artists from the region have been spotlighted on ‘Radar Pakistan’ (11.9k saves) and ‘Fresh Finds Pakistan’ (11k saves).
“From emerging voices to iconic legends, there’s a real momentum behind Pakistani music today,” says Rutaba Yaqub, Spotify’s artist and label partnerships manager for Pakistan. This can be seen from the list of the top five most-streamed artists of the past five years, who are a mix of contemporary stars and veteran acts: rapper Talha Anjum, singer Atif Aslam, producer Umair, vocalist Hasan Raheem, and qawwali legend Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. They’re just some of the stars featured in Spotify’s commemorative ‘Made In Pakistan’ playlist.
The lack of women among the top acts is something Spotify has taken cognisance of, and addressed through a local version of its ‘Equal’ playlist, which is dedicated to tracks by female Pakistani artists.
