Spotify is coming to North Africa

At the time, the company spoke about a possible expansion into other African countries.

"Africa is exciting for us and we want to be in more countries but we have to look at which,” Spotify's managing director of Europe, Middle East and Africa Michael Krause told Forbes in March. “We want locally relevant stuff so that people feel at home. If you just launch an international product, It is not something that we want to do.”

The plan to set up shop in the Middle East and North Africa was made public after an internal mail was seen and referenced by Music Business Worldwide. Spotify, according to the publication, is seeking advertisers in the region for a Dubai launch. The Swedish company is charging $200000 for each spot available.

Spotify has also recently made a call for an editorial position in Dubai and a senior editor for Arab music culture. The company is still keeping the news under wraps: When asked for a comment by both Music Business Worldwide and American publication Variety, a representative offered no clear answers. 

“Spotify’s ultimate goal is to be available in every country, but we don’t currently have any news to share on a launch in the Middle East,” said the spokesperson. 

The global streaming leader with 83 million subscribers is not so tight-lipped about a new feature that makes it possible for independent artists to upload work directly to the platform. The new feature appears on the Spotify for Artists dashboard where it enables artists to track their streams and observe the demographics of their fan base. With a few clicks, artists are able to put up new music on the platform and select their own release dates. They can also pocket royalties monthly. Spotify has said it won't demand commissions from artists for uploading work.   

"Artists receive 50% of net revenues from the songs they upload, and Spotify also accounts to publishers and collection societies for additional royalties related to the music composition,” said Senior Product Lead for Spotify’s Creator Marketplace Kene Anoliefo. 

"We started off by working with artists who are both deeply engaged in our platform – so they use Spotify for Artists often –  and they also release music often. We used the test with them to shape the tool and make an upload process that we think is really easy, transparent and flexible. It’ll enable artists to use the tool to upload music through Spotify for Artists whenever they like. There are no barriers or constraints. And they can upload as often as they’d like. And as many times as they like."

The feature is certain to get the attention of record labels, as many had tried to prevent Spotify from launching the option. As it stands, artists will be able to present their own work directly without labels, which have traditionally regulated music releases. They will also be able to get paid directly by Spotify without a record label middleman cutting their revenues. The upload feature is on an invite-only basis and is currently available only in the US.