Nigerian Hausa songs lead music streaming App

Africa has been attracting international audio streaming firms like Sweden’s Spotify and Apple Music, keen on capitalising on growing internet users and rising demand for legal content.

Users of Mdundo, a music streaming app jumped 40 per cent to 7 million in the six months to December with some of the most popular downloads which include music in the Hausa language in Nigeria and gospel music from Kenya’s most populous ethnic group, Kikuyu.

Mdundo now aims to reach 18 million users by June 2022, Martin Nielsen, the app co-founder said.

To hit that goal, it is focusing on Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Ghana and Nigeria, offering a platform that does not require high data consumption or storage space, he said.

Demand for local music is also driving growth.

 “It is not about the top ten artists… it is really amazing to look at this local music,” Nielsen said.

Music fans who use illegal sites, 93 per cent of the total according to Mdundo, are also switching to sites like Mdundo, which share their income with musicians.

Artists have flocked to the site, to take advantage of the growing audiences and a piece of the growing revenue pie. Mdundo has 90,000 African music artists.

“We have a way to commercialise our music,” said Kenyan musician Nviiri who paused from strumming his guitar in his studio to check how his music is doing on Mdundo.com via his mobile phone.

Mdundo, which is free to users and makes money through advertising, pays musicians every time their song is streamed or downloaded, sharing 50 per cent of cash from adverts with artists.

Nielsen said he is not losing sleep over competition from bigger rivals like Spotify on the continent.

“It is confirmation that we are not crazy. That is a really strong validation that African music is headed in the right direction,” he said.