Kenya: Songa appoints new general manager

The music streaming expert was the East Africa regional director at Boomplay Music where he helped expand the business significantly. His appointment comes at a time when Songa is grappling with comparatively low subscriber numbers and a litany of user complains.

Udeala was previously the East Africa head of business for Spinlet, a streaming and download platform focusing on African content. He was also the head of business and content for music aggregator Africori in East Africa.

“I am very passionate about the Kenyan and African music industry," Udeala said. "I want to help establish Songa as the leading platform for local, African and international music in Kenya and on the continent. I also want to open the platform up to all local artists so they can upload their music and create an opportunity to earn revenue.”

Since its launch in February this year, Songa has carried out a spirited campaign to gain a wide subscription base with some degree of success. Udeala's appointment is expected to boost capacity at the company as it establishes market share in a highly competitive sector.

With access to about 30 million Safaricom subscribers, the Songa app is seen as having great potential for success. It currently boasts about 100 000 users and Udeala says the company is planning to streamline its services across Kenya.

"We are planning to launch a new version [of the Songa app] this month aimed at low-end smartphones,” Udeala, who holds a bachelor of arts degree from the University of North London and a master’s degree in strategic marketing from the University of Greenwich, said. “The new version will be twice as fast, use only small amounts of data and we will also respond to consumer demand for a lower-priced product. These are very exciting times I am looking forward to it."