LAGOS, Nigeria: Spotify has filmed performances by Nigerian singers Tems and Runtown in Lagos for its Surround Sound series, with release dates for the two music films still to be announced.
The streaming company said the shows took place at Livespot in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital, on September 25 and 26, 2026. Selected subscribers to its paid Premium service attended after receiving invitations based on their listening behaviour.
Okay News reports that Spotify said there was no public ticket sale for either performance. The company described Surround Sound as a live format launched from sub-Saharan Africa that records full-length music films with artists performing close to their audiences.
Tems revisited her debut extended play, For Broken Ears, with songs including Ice T and Damages. Her set also included earlier singles Mr Rebel and Try Me, alongside later songs such as Love Me JeJe and What You Need.
In remarks supplied by Spotify, she recalled how she began making Free Mind.
“I remember making Free Mind on my bed, on my laptop, experimenting with chords and seeing what stuck. The first two chords sounded so good, and it ignited melodies in me. Those melodies I made on my bed are what is in the song right now,” Tems said.
Runtown performed the following night, opening with Lagos to Kampala and Gallardo. His set included For Life, International Badman Killa, Unleash and Kini Issue. He performed Mad Over You during the set and returned to it to close the show, according to the company.
Spotify said its September 2026 analysis found that 21.6% of listeners who played For Broken Ears in January 2022 also listened to it in August 2026. It said Mad Over You appeared in more than 3 million user-created playlists at the time of the analysis.
Okay News previously covered Spotify’s Nigeria Music Global Impact List.
Rifumo Mdaka of Spotify said the company used listening activity to select Premium subscribers in Lagos for the shows.
“The live room is intentionally intimate and has a fixed capacity,” Mdaka said. “We use listening signals to reach selected Spotify Premium listeners in Lagos directly rather than running a public ticket sale.”
The films will be titled Surround Sound presents Tems and Surround Sound presents Runtown. Spotify said it would announce release dates closer to launch.
