Finally, Spotify might be repenting of its African region snobbery exploring the African music markets after an ad which was published by their London office, showed that they are currently in need of a Senior Editor/Music Programmer for South Africa. Considering that this move has been teased and unteased for over 2 years, this ad might just be Spotify’s idea of an official statement, declaring their expansion.
This is yet another indication of the robust potentials of digital music business in Africa and understanding the positioning of our music markets, Nigeria is very likely to be up next.
Spotify in Nigeria would be a great delight to all music consumers, musicians and the music industry in general but the experience would not exactly be brand new. Despite the Music Streaming Giant’s strict availability by location, many local musicians still have access to the platform and have been steadily getting financial and non-financial benefits through licensed third party distributors. Music lovers on the other hand, when seeking more variety than the local options, resort to backdoor routes of masking IPs and location Ids to boycott the ever so annoying feedback of Spotify is not available in your country.
As we brace ourselves for the possible Nigerian touchdown with the advantages of easier access, a much wider array of options, more international exposure for local and indie talents and possibilities of higher payout systems, it is quite important to pay attention to these 2 little devils that might spring up as concerns- high data cost and subscription rates.
These of course would pose no problems if Spotify is coming equipped with plans to collaborate with Telcos for special data rates exclusive to their service, and are willing to drastically reduce and localize pricing for their paid services that starts from about $9.99 in the U.S.
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