Kenya: Smubu streaming app reaches new milestone

Speaking to Disrupt Africa, Smubu co-founder and CEO Jad Aizarani said the figures constituted an unbelievable achievement.

“What makes us different is that our vision is built on working closely with artists in providing them with a fair share of the revenue for every single download on our platform,” he said.

“The platform is technically built to provide statistics, potential revenue and track download numbers and streams. Day by day, we work to unlock the potential of African artists' creativity by allowing them to live off their art by cooperating with them to fight music piracy.”

Aizarani said the company – which hosts music from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda – had set up offices in Uganda, Tanzania and West Africa to be in close proximity to its customers.

"We are initially focused on East Africa. The music here amazes me and my team, and we genuinely believe that we can push it internationally,” he said. “We’re here to stay and make a difference in the music game in Africa. We hope that Smubu becomes a home for all musicians emerging from Africa.”

Smubu's biggest competitor in Africa is Boomplay Music, which last year clocked 29 million user registrations and 10 million installations.

However, Smubu's compression tool, which reduces data consumption, seems to appeal to consumers in countries where data costs are considered high.

It is also possible that the company will penetrate the Tanzanian and Uganda markets with relative ease.

According to a PwC report, the Tanzanian internet market is "extremely healthy" and overwhelmingly led by mobile, where operators have accelerated their investments in data network expansion to meet user demand.

Similarly, the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) reported early this year that mobile internet subscriptions had increased by 38% from June 2018 to September 2018.