The number of people streaming and downloading music from online streaming platforms is relatively increasing, thanks to digital transformation.
According to Mdundo.com, an African online music service provider, use of smartphones, internet penetration and increased premium products have boosted music consumption in Kenya and Africa at large.
Mdundo said it had seen an increase in unique monthly users on its platform.
The firm also attributed the growth in numbers to enhanced partnerships with telecommunication companies.
During the six-month period to December last year, the platform reached 23.4 million unique monthly users, a 15 per cent increase since June 2022 when it had 21 million users.
Speaking during the firms half year performance results announcements, Mdundo's CEO Martin Nielsen noted that most of the active users were from Nigeria followed by Kenya which had 3.5 million users during the review period.
“This is almost a 30 per cent increase compared to the same period in 2021,” Nielsen said.
Nigeria had 25 per cent of the total active users, Kenya 15 per cent while South Africa and Tanzania came in third and fourth respectively with 14 per cent and 12 per cent.
Nielsen further noted that the increase in active users had also seen their revenues grow during the review period despite being a loss running firm.
The revenues grew by more than Sh115 million, an increase of about 161 per cent compared to the same period in 2021.
“This on the back of increased returns from subscription and advertising fees,” he added.
Advertising revenue closed the first half of 2022/2023 at Sh77.9 million compared to Sh41.6 million in the H1 of 21/22, an increase of about 89 per cent.
Paying subscriber revenue accounted for Sh38 million in revenue, an estimate of about 33 per cent of the total revenue for the financial period.
Mdundo pays 50 per cent of revenue to rights owners, which amounted to Sh60 million during the review period.
The firm noted that about 80 per cent of the music listened and downloaded in Africa is African music.
Nielsen called on more local artists to embrace the online platforms for their growth as the audience demand and consumption is in their favour.
Kenya he says, consumes about 56 per cent of its own produced music.