Nigerian music stars Temilade Openiyi, popularly known as Tems, and Douglas Agu, known professionally as Runtown, headlined Spotify’s two-night Surround Sound showcase at Livespot in Lagos, bringing selected Premium listeners into an intimate live setting on September 29, 2026.
The Spotify Lagos showcase was designed to place artistes and fans closer together, with performances staged in an in-the-round format that allowed the audience to experience the music from close range.
Spotify said the Surround Sound series was launched from Sub-Saharan Africa as a live performance format that connects artistes with listeners while also capturing the shows as full-length music films.
Unlike conventional concerts, the Lagos event was not open to public ticket sales.
According to Spotify’s Format and Video Strategy Lead, Rifumo Mdaka, selected Premium listeners were invited directly based on their listening behaviour on the platform.
Mdaka said the approach was intended to create a more personal artist-fan experience while maintaining a setting suitable for high-quality performance filming.
Tems took the stage during the first night, drawing from different stages of her career for a set that moved between early recordings and more recent releases.
The Grammy-winning singer performed songs from her debut EP, For Broken Ears, including Ice T and Damages, alongside earlier releases such as Mr Rebel and Try Me.
She also performed later songs including Love Me JeJe and What You Need, giving the audience a musical journey through several chapters of her career.
The intimate setting allowed Tems to engage directly with the audience, with the singer inviting fans to sing along during the performance.
The second night belonged to Runtown, who brought his own catalogue of Afrobeats hits to the Lagos stage.
Runtown opened his set with Lagos to Kampala and Gallardo before performing For Life, International Badman Killa, Unleash and Kini Issue.
His performance of Mad Over You became one of the night’s notable moments, with the audience singing along as the artiste delivered the popular track.
Runtown returned to the song for a second performance to close the show, extending the interaction between the singer and the audience.
The performance also carried a personal significance for Runtown, who revealed ahead of the show that it marked his first performance with his band in 10 years.
The singer said he was looking forward to reconnecting with his fans through the experience.
For Spotify, the format represents an effort to move beyond conventional streaming by creating physical experiences around the music its listeners consume on the platform.
The invitation-only approach also meant that the audience was made up of listeners whose engagement with Tems and Runtown’s music had already been reflected in their Spotify listening behaviour.
The performances were filmed as part of the Surround Sound series, with Spotify announcing that the shows will be released as Surround Sound presents Tems and Surround Sound presents Runtown.
The streaming platform is expected to announce the release dates for both music films at a later stage.
The Lagos showcase also highlights the growing relationship between Nigeria’s music scene and global streaming platforms, as artistes increasingly use digital audiences to build new forms of connection beyond traditional concerts.
For fans who attended the two nights, however, the appeal was more immediate: hearing familiar songs performed at close range, sharing the room with the artistes and becoming part of a carefully filmed live music experience.
With Tems and Runtown bringing distinct eras and styles of Nigerian popular music to the same Surround Sound format, Spotify’s Lagos showcase offered an intimate celebration of two established voices in the country’s contemporary music scene.
Culture4 years ago
