Expand into Africa

[omcshea33]

I've read comment's from Spotify explaining that there is no Viral 50 or Top 50 by country for any African countries because spotify hasn't expanded there yet. 

That response is weak at best and it does not "resolve" my concern or question. Africa is home of Afrobeats. It houses a HUGE music industry that has taken off globally since 2016. Due to the 1,215,770,813 people living there (second largest continental population in the world) the industry has been booming in its own right long before and is responsible for influencing many artists of countries you currently cater to. That Spotify has managed to expand to indonesia, the netherlands, lativa, honduras and a list of other smaller countries but has failed to expand into a single area of a major music hub and genre is disconcerting. 

For your reference, some facts from IFPI in the Global Music Report 2017: Annual State of the Industry.  http://www.ifpi.org/downloads/GMR2017.pdf
-334.2% Streaming revenue increase in South Africa last year.

-Apple has already launched in most of the larger African territories

-As handset and data prices continue to come down, this growth should accelerate across the continent, which represents a huge opportunity for digital music services

I'm not even remotely African and this upsets me.  Music commuincates culture and shares experiences across boundries otherwise impenetrable. As a worldwide distributor of music Spotify has promised "Music for Everyone". If you are missing Africa that definitely isn't true. All your job descriptions end with "We strongly believe that diversity of experience, perspectives, and background will lead to a better environment for our employees and a better product for our users and our creators. This is something we value deeply and we encourage everyone to come be a part of changing the way the world listens to music". Do you believe that you are accomplishing this by leaving out a group of 1,215,770,813 people?

I look forward to a better response as to why there are no African Countries listed in Spotify yet.


 

[MattSuda]

Good news!

Spotify is now available in many more countries in Africa

You can read more information about Spotify's launch in new markets in this news article: Spotify Expands International Footprint, Bringing Audio to 80+ New Markets