TechCabal once asked “Will Spinlet and others survive the coming onslaught from global giants – Deezer, Spotify, Google Music and others?” Spinlet, Iroking and other music services created to deliver African music have been vying for local (continental?) supremacy, even as the global giants continue to encroach.
International music-streaming service, Spotify, may be the next to move into Africa through a partnership with the African telecommunications company Vodacom, according to a Bloomberg report. Spotify has already successfully infiltrated Europe, expanded to much of North and South America, and some parts of Asia, having launched in places like Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines.
Bloomberg reports that Vodacom, owned by Vodafone, which has networks in Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, Nigeria and Lesotho will be offering Spotify subscriptions, including limited free data to stream music, to its wireless consumers.
Spotify’s move is coming at a time when the competition between subscription-music services is rising. Deezer has the advantage of early entry, and a growing collection of local music. But the market is still largely untapped so there might be plenty of room for Spotify and Deezer to compete healthily in the streaming service space. At least until other global players enter, or the local services get their acts together.
