12/07/2024
African music streaming platforms you need to know
By CM
8 Sep 2023 - 11:13
Published under the Creative Commons Licence CM
Streaming is a hotly debated topic within the music industry, mainly because of
headlines about low pay-out rates of streaming providers and therefore low revenue
for artists. However, there’s no denying that music streaming is a rapidly growing
market, with a global increase of 39% in 2014[i]. It therefore seems unwise for an
artist to not explore it.
Plenty of musical content is already available for streaming on platforms like Youtube
and Daily Motion, but these platforms often don’t provide a comprehensive licensing
environment like dedicated music streaming platforms. It therefore definitely seems
wise to make content available, at least on stores that pay decent revenue to artists.
Besides simply creating revenue, there are other benefits for artists to being present
on streaming platforms. It also opens up possibilities to reach new audiences.
Considering that approximately 2.5 billion people worldwide don’t have bank
accounts and 2 billion of them are using mobile technology[ii], in places where easy
mobile payments have become a reality, huge new markets for the music industry
have emerged. The rapid growth of smartphones (especially Android phones) now
enables the recording industry to reach markets that it previously could not monetise
through physical retailing or other channels.
Through streaming, people in developing countries now have the possibility to
consume music at affordable prices, because costs for smartphones and data are
steadily decreasing. Latest statistics show that streaming will replace most music
downloads in the near future, a trend which is already in progress in most ‘first world’
countries, as subscription services already now account for the majority of digital
revenue in 10 territories[iii].
Next to global players like Spotify, Deezer, Google Play or Apple Music, there’s a
seemingly ever-growing number of streaming music services available, many of
them African. This article introduces 10 that focus mainly on pan-African or regional
African content. It tries to rank them according to specific criteria. For an artist, the
revenue and the number of active registered users are probably the most important
factors. For consumers, the affordability and amount of music offered are the main
criteria. I have therefore considered equally the amount of revenue per stream,
number of purchases, registered users, monthly traffic and the amount of music on
offer.
1. Simfy Africa (South Africa)
Simfy Africa was launched 2010 in South Africa and is wholly owned by Exactmobile.
It has a catalogue of 27 million songs across all genres. However, local music only
makes 5% of their catalogue. The streaming service is available in Nigeria and
South Africa, where users can try the platform for two weeks free of charge, and
thereafter need to chose one of the subscription packages, which range from R25 to
R60 per month. The artist gets paid a proportionate share of subscription revenue or
a proportionate share of the ad-revenue. The payout rates fluctuate each month,
depending on how much revenue was generated and how often music was
streamed, so a clear answer on revenue to an artist per stream can’t be given.
2. Spinlet (Nigeria)
Spinlet is a privately held company which was formed 2006 in Finland and bought by
Nigerian investors. It was launched in 2011 in Nigeria and has regional offices in
Lagos as well as the USA and South Africa. It hit 650 000 subscribers in 2013 and
targets to have 50 million by 2016. Currently Spinlet has 635 400 monthly unique
visitors, who can choose from a library containing 50 000 local artists (according to
2013 data). Artists or aggregators can upload music to the site and receive 90% of
the money generated from selling it, with 10% going to the company. The payout per
stream is currently about US$0.0038. Genres on the site include Afrobeat, gospel,
dancehall, Fuji, Highlife, Hip-Hop, Hiplife, House, Jújú, Kwaito, Reggae, RnB and
Traditional.
3. Tigo (Tanzania/Ghana)
Tigo is the leading telecommunication company in Tanzania, with over 8.5 million
registered subscribers on their network. It is owned by Millicom, an international
company with commercial operations in 44 African and Latin American countries. It
launched its music stream in Latin America in 2013 and has since become
Colombia’s largest streaming service. Since October 2014 it has been available in
Ghana. Tanzania followed in early 2015. Tigo Music offers a catalogue of 36 million
songs in cooperation with Deezer. It aims to support locally-produced music and
regularly adds local African content to its library. The revenue for the artist could not
be found but as the music is streamed from the Deezer library it is likely be what
Deezer pays, which is around US$0,0168 per stream (according to July 2015 data).
4. Mdundo (Kenya)
Mdundo is an audio content sharing platform that allows users to upload, download
and stream music. It was formed 2012 in Kenya. By 2015, 6000 artists had signed
up to the platform. It has about 60 000 monthly unique visitors and as of early 2015,
some 250 000 people had downloaded music from the site. Customers can
download for free within a limit, or pay 300 Kenyan shillings (around $3) a month for
unlimited access without adverts. Mdundo pays 70% of the revenue to the artist, but
does not guarantee a fixed amount per download. Usually the revenue to the artist is
to date around US$0.038 per download/stream. In 2014 more than US$18000 was
paid to copyright owners, mainly made from advertising.
5. iRoking (Nigeria)
iRoking is a free Nigerian streaming service offering streaming of selected music
from a range of African labels and artists. It was founded in September 2010 and
has its headquarters in Nigeria with a branch in UK. According to 2012 data it has
100 000 users and a library of 35 000 tracks containing mainly Afro-Pop, Gospel,
Jazz, Afro Beat, Juju and hip-hop from Nigeria’s biggest artists. This site reaches
over 20 000 people a month, of which 38% are reportedly based in the US.
6. Vuga (Nigeria)
Vuga was formed in Nigeria in mid-2013 and a beta version was launched in the US
in 2015. The platform publishes and distributes African music content via any
connected device, through the use of specific metadata and computer algorithms.
The catalogue currently contains about 65 000 songs, with over 1000 new tracks
added monthly. A cool feature is that information about every individual song that
goes on the Vuga platform includes detailed information about the artist too. Vuga
currently offers music from about 600 artists to their roughly 5000 users (1500 of
them active). The music streamed on the site is for free. Music genres on offer
include Afro-pop, hip-hop, R&B, reggae, jazz, soul, Juju, Afrobeat and Fuji. These
are consumed by 7000 unique monthly visitors, mainly from the US, UK, Nigeria,
Kenya, South Africa and the Netherlands.
7. Mziiki (Tanzania)
Mziiki is a free music streaming service from Tanzania. It was unveiled by Spice VAS
Africa, a subsidiary of a Singapore-based digital content company. Some 1500 local
and international artists have already joined. It has 800 sub-Saharan artists signed
to exclusive distribution deals and looks set to expand. Mziiki’s catalogue contains
mainly African content across all genres, as well as some international music. It
currently has more than 100 000 regular users, largely due to the fact that all the
music is free (for the time being, at least). Mziiki will soon transition to a two-tiered
model, with ad-supported free music and user subscriptions.
8. Mkito (Tanzania)
Mkito.com is a Tanzania-based company that launched in 2014. To date users can
download 90% of its music catalogue for free, with the other 10% requiring payment.
To earn revenue, Mkito is supported by ads, primarily short messages before a track
is played. Mkito has over 290 000 unique viewers and 35 000 regular users since
launching, thanks in large part to artists promoting the platform.
9. Orange Room Music (South Africa)
Orange Room Music was founded by Mashigo Group. Orange Room Music is an
online music streaming and download service designed specifically to distribute,
promote and monetize music from independent artists and labels across Africa.
With a focus on amplifying African talent and sounds globally, it offers musicians
a platform to upload tracks, albums and music videos while retaining ownership
rights and earning royalties. Orange Room Music is giving away free money when
you signup
10. Orin (Nigeria)
Orin was founded by NETng, a Nigerian company. First discussed during the
Nigerian Entertainment Conference(link is external) in 2014 and launched in 2015,
the platform aims to provide 100% African music content on a streaming platform
with a social feel. Orin’s library consists of over 5000 audio tracks and 1000 videos
(as of April 2015) but aims to expand this to 100 000 tracks within the next 12 month.
The service is 100% free to use (for now), although it is planned to stream for
probably $3 a month in the future. Revenue so far is made purely from advertising.
Royalties are paid to artists, although the exact amount paid out is unclear.
11. Las Gidi Tunes (Nigeria)
Las Gidi Tunes was founded by Femi Ashafa in 2014. It streams free music from
Nigeria and surrounding African countries. It incorporates social networking
elements into the user experience, so users can create and share playlists, access
each other’s playlists and also interact with other users. LasGidi Tunes is free to use.
To utilise the service, users are required to sign up by email or their existing social
media accounts.
[i] http://www.ifpi.org/downloads/Digital-Music-Report-2024.pdf(link is external) [ii]
http://www.e-commerce-magazin.de/fachartikel/fallbeispiel-musik-streamingdienst-
spinlet-setzt-auf-mobile-payment-dank-skrill(link is external) [iii]
http://www.ifpi.org/downloads/Digital-Music-Report-2024.pdf(link is external)
