Afro house leaps from 10th to 2nd on Splice in two years [IMS Ibiza 2026 Report]

Afro house has rocketed from 10th place on Splice in 2023 to 2nd place in 2025, according to the new IMS Electronic Music Business Report 2025/26. Notably, the genre logged an 82% year-on-year jump in searches on the producer platform, making it one of the fastest-growing sounds of the year.

The IMS report, authored by MIDiA Research’s Mark Mulligan, uses Splice search data as a forward indicator for what producers are actually building with. Meanwhile, Afro house ended 2025 with 1.3 million searches, second only to trap at 1.4 million. In turn, the numbers confirm a genre-level shift that fans have already felt on dancefloors.

Crucially, Afro house’s rise has played out across the wider scene. Keinemusik, Themba, Black Coffee, &ME and Da Capo have all fuelled its crossover. Equally, Coachella and Tomorrowland programming have leaned in. The Splice data now puts hard numbers behind the cultural momentum.

Reggaeton also cracked the top ten for the first time, landing at eighth. Drill fell sharply out of the top ten to 12th. Furthermore, the Splice top ten now looks measurably different from its 2023 shape. Trap, Afro house and house hold the podium.

Still, the 10th-to-2nd climb in two years is unusual. Few genres have moved that fast on producer search rankings. In short, Afro house now sits at the centre of both festival booking decisions and producer plug-in downloads.

Moreover, the report flags regional scenes as a long-term growth driver. Finally, Afro house’s ascent proves how fast a regional movement can reshape global electronic music search patterns. Read the full report here.