AfroCharts streaming service surpasses 4 million subscribers

Novati revealed the figure in an interview with Techpoint Africa, published this week. The US-based Burundi-born exec launched AfroCharts as a free ad-supported service on web, iOS and Android early in 2020. In January this year, the platform added a premium subscription service, which costs $1.99. The platform allows emerging and unsigned artists to upload their tracks directly onto the platform and monetise through streaming. About 7 000 artists have joined the platform, according to Novati.

The service is available in 54 countries across the continent and focuses on untapped and developing markets. AfroCharts says its artists get paid $20 for every 5000 streams.

“African listeners and artistes still feel like they’re left out of these other platforms,” Novati said. “I wanted to find a way that will make it easier for the artists themselves to share their music with the world and help the listeners to find the music that they want quick, fast, and in a cheap way as well. That’s how I got into AfroCharts.”

AfroCharts has a team of 11 active members who work alongside Novati, including CFO Bobola Odebiyi, as well as general managers in Nigeria, Zambia, Ghana and South Africa.

The company’s strategy for growth includes striking partnerships with music distributors, local music labels and management companies, “not only to get more artists but to also reduce the possibility of copyright violations now and in the future,” according to a statement.

Novati added: “There’s this company in South Africa that just launched a new product. What they’re trying to do is an all-in-one platform, pay-as-you-go model. To do that, they need products, which are music and video. One of the things we want to do is to offer them access to our music library where they can offer to their users and then pay as they listen.”

Streaming is a major source of revenue in Africa. According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, recorded revenue in the Africa and Middle East region soared 8.4% mainly due to activity in the Middle East and North Africa (37.8%), with streaming contributing the most with a 4% increase in revenues.