Spotify expands in Africa
Spotify, the world’s most widely used audio streaming service, is set to launch in 40 African countries this year after being unavailable across most of the continent since its creation in 2008, reports Tom Collins from Nairobi.
Most Africans have been unable to download Spotify either on Android or iOS unless they live in or are visiting South Africa, Morocco, Egypt, Algeria or Tunisia. The Swedish media giant is now targeting a diverse range of markets including Kenya, Ghana and Zimbabwe.
The NYSE-listed company, which has more than 345m monthly active users, says it will “offer a world-class audio listening and music discovery experience to listeners”.
The launch is part of a global expansion into 85 new markets across Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, the company said on 23 February.
“Launching in these new markets is a key next step to fulfilling our ongoing commitment to building a truly borderless audio ecosystem,” said Alex Norström, chief freemium business officer at Spotify.
Wide range of packages
The firm is offering a range of packages and functionalities to suit local market conditions. In Kenya, for example, listeners will be able to subscribe to Spotify Premium for $3 per month compared with $15 in the UK. Students will be able to purchase Premium for $1.50 per month and it will be possible to pay all subscriptions via the mobile money service M-Pesa.
The challenge will be bringing the little-known service to wider attention in Africa and populating the platform with enough African content to appeal to users.
Spotify has had some level of brand recognition on the continent as a service that is widely used by travellers. It is not uncommon to find users that have downloaded the service while travelling abroad or used a proxy to download it while in Africa. But most listeners in Africa use a wide range of other methods to listen to music including Africa-founded streaming services, YouTube, CDs, memory sticks and phones.
This is shown by the relative lack of plays on Spotify for enormously popular African artists that are less known outside the continent. The most popular song by Franco, the late DRC Rumba musician, has only 350,000 views and the profile comes without a description of the artist. Nyashinski, one of Kenya’s most popular rappers, only has 106,000 listens on Spotify for his latest release.
Local competition
Phiona Okumu, Spotify’s head of music in sub-Saharan Africa, says the service will revolutionise the audio experience in Africa.
“African creators have always pushed boundaries, innovating and creating incredible sounds, and starting from today we are giving them access and the opportunity to connect with a global audience of fans,” she says. “By bringing in a best-in-class product and a localised experience made for Africa, we will contribute to boosting the growth of the local streaming ecosystem.”
The move offers competition for Africafocused streaming companies like Mdundo and Boomplay. For more on streaming and the African music industry, see pages 58-60.