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Valentine’s Day listening in Nigeria tells a quieter story behind the public display of romance.
New data from Spotify shows that men accounted for over 60 per cent of streams of heartbreak-themed music around the Valentine period, suggesting that for many male listeners, the season of love is also a time of emotional reflection.
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According to Spotify’s Valentine listening trends, men were responsible for more than 61 per cent of heartbreak-related streams in Nigeria, even as romantic playlists and love songs circulated widely during the same period.
The pattern points to how men are engaging deeply with emotional music at a time when public expectations often frame Valentine’s Day as purely celebratory.
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The data suggests that Nigerian men are not only listening to heartbreak songs in isolation. Men also made up about 61 per cent of streams of love-themed music around Valentine’s, indicating that the season carries mixed emotions for many listeners. Women represented just over a third in both categories.
Rather than choosing one emotional lane, male listeners appear to be moving between affection and vulnerability, using music to sit with both feelings.
Young listeners are central to this shift. Spotify’s data shows that among Nigerians aged 18 to 24, nearly 60 per cent leaned towards heartbreak-themed listening on Valentine’s Day, while about 40 per cent gravitated towards love songs.
Highest levels of heartbreak listening
Urban centres recorded the highest levels of heartbreak listening, with Lagos leading, followed by Abuja, Port Harcourt, Ibadan and Benin. The concentration in major cities suggests that young men in urban spaces are using music as a private outlet to process disappointment, longing and emotional tension around relationships.
Valentine’s Day also emerged as a peak moment for shared listening. Spotify recorded 14 February 2025 as the most active day for collaborative playlists on the platform, with users creating shared “Blend” playlists to exchange music with partners, friends and crushes. Afrobeats, street-pop and R&B featured prominently in these shared playlists, reflecting how emotional listening is increasingly being shared rather than kept private.
According to Phiona Okumu, Spotify’s Head of Music for Sub-Saharan Africa, the Valentine listening patterns point to a broader emotional openness.
READ ALSO: Money bouquets, spa dates, Lagos getaways top Nigerians’ Valentine searches — Google
“Valentine’s Day in Nigeria is no longer a single-note romance moment. We are seeing listeners embrace love and heartbreak as equally valid emotional realities, and use music to move through both with honesty,” she said.
Taken together, the data suggest that behind the flowers and public displays of affection, many Nigerian men are using music as a quiet way to process vulnerability during Valentine’s, listening to heartbreak songs even as love remains part of the season’s cultural mood.
