Music Streaming has already overtaken downloads and physical sales in Europe and the Americas. In Kenya, downloading music is the dominant mode of accessing music files though CDs still bring in more but ….streaming will definitely go huge in 2018 and ’19.
See, thanks to digital disruption, modes of accessing music media will continue to change but what is constant is the need to give fans and listening audience a better service.
Downloads encourage file sharing and thus piracy but if streaming services tweak their platforms and allow more ease in fans curating and sharing playlists, I guess music streams will serve consumers better. However, streaming has downsides such as the fact that you don’t own the music but rather you’re granted (un)limited access on signing up for either a free or paid subscriptions And, on a global stage, some streaming services are signing deals with artists and labels in exchange for exclusive content, so as to increase membership and/or platform dominance, in the process, hindering timely and universal access to releases.
Our Kenyan services like Mdundo,Akv and Wabeeh allow users to stream though this is kinda bad for artists since they are rarely paid for such. Mdundo paid Ksh. 0.34 per download (though if you include streaming via their app, this may reduce drastically) but for the industry to grow the artists must be well compensated….AND I can authoritatively say that the age of streaming is upon us, the music fans, creators and retailers.
Aipate 
AKV http://akv.co.ke/all-songs only allows for a 1minute sample of the Music. Ours is to encourage sales. Kenyans need to support their own by paying for Music. There is no greater support than Monetary support to Kenyan Musicians.
It is true that there are many avenues for free (stolen) Music BUT we must realise that it is NOT only WRONG it is unfair. It is like going to work and your employer refuses to pay you!
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And its good akv is mindful of artists.Offering previews just to promote sales is decent. Big streaming services like Spotify are still not turning in profits, while at the same time, it underpays artists. Youtube rates are even less. But going by figures, Spotify pays at-least $ 0.006 (60 Kenyan cents) which is still higher than what Mdundo offers for both streaming and downloads combined. But I kind of sympathise because Mdundo, for example, has seen an increase in downloads but the number of advertisers are still small. From 1 bob, now its slowly dropping to 30 cents. Advertisements must increase but for that to happen, the platforms must ensure they receive so much traffic. You guys AKV, must also find ways to encourage purchases, then get the big names like Sauti Sol use your service. Generally we all still have a long way to go.
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[…] has been talking about the onset streaming since 2016 (refer to this article). Today we full streaming services in Kenya. Songa and Boomplay are now getting traction. The two […]
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