On Monday, February 22, music streaming platform Spotify announced expansion into 80+ new markets around the world including Rwanda, Angola, Ghana, Jamaica, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania and Zimbabwe, among others.

The announcement was greeted with optimism by many Rwandans on social media but more so, musicians and music producers, who believe that the music streaming service will be a good source of revenue for artistes.

Spotify is a Swedish audio streaming and media services provider, which was launched in October 2008. The platform is owned by Spotify AB, a publicly-traded company on the New York Stock Exchange since 2018 through its holding company Spotify Technology S.A. based in Luxembourg.

Many Rwandans took to social media to express their feelings, some saying that it has been long overdue, even though some people have been able to access the platform through proxy means.

At a time when concerts are still off limits due to the Covid-19 pandemic, artistes getting an opportunity to have their music streamed and get paid for it is such a timely development that players in the music industry have welcomed it with open hands.

"Among other things, it will help in maximizing streams, ensure direct payments of generated income without using third parties,” says Pius Rukabuza, known as DJ Pius, who is also a singer and manages other artistes under 1K Entertainment

"Artistes can now sell their music before releasing them in Rwanda (pre-saving) on Spotify,” DJ Pius adds.

Singer Alyn Sano, who has been one of the most hardworking artistes in the last year or so, believes the addition of Spotify is an opportunity for artistes to make extra revenue, adding to the already existing platforms.

"I just heard about it. For real it is a big deal because we are going to start getting revenues from the platform just as much as we were on other platforms like Mdundo and Youtube,” the "Joni” singer said.

Nigerian singer Burna Boy, who is among the stars that announced the entry of Spotify on key African markets, said that the platform will be very important for up-and-coming artistes who see what their elders are doing, learn from them and want to do even better.

"If the younger generation sees that the older generation is doing something and that they are successful, then they get to be interested in that thing and then they probably come out and do it better than their Elders,” Burna Boy said.

The "On the Low” singer said that Africa has abundant talent, all they just need is the backing, referring to his own experience when he started out, uploading his music on different platforms and people all over the world picked interest. 

"If everyone in Africa had Spotify and everyone experienced different music and different cultures, I mean it is important because the world deserves to have access to that,” Burna Boy said in his promo video.

Lee Ndayisaba, the founder of Cloud9 Entertainment and current manager of singer Bruce Melodie, said Rwanda getting on Spotify is a big deal

"It is big. First, as a country, this is good that we are getting recognised as we should. Second, people don't have to circumvent country restrictions to access the platform. It's a good step in content democratisation,” Ndayisaba says.

The same sentiments are shared by singer Yvan Buravan, who also thinks artistes will be able to generate some revenues through the music streaming platform.

"Yes, it is a big deal for our music, because its business to artistes and a way of support from fans to their artistes. And besides all that, its growth and expansion for the Rwandan music industry,” says the "Low Key” singer.

Gospel singers excited

Gospel artistes also have an opportunity to stream their music on Spotify. Singer Aline Gahongayire, says she is ‘super happy’ that Rwandan music can now directly be streamed via Spotify, while Patient Bizimana also says that being on the biggest streaming platform will elevate Rwandan music.

"This is a huge opportunity for us as artistes. Spotify as one of the biggest streaming platforms in the world will help our music to be sold online without going through third parties as we were doing before, thus getting paid directly,” Bizimana says.

"For me, it is also an opportunity to think about how to expand my music internationally in terms of the language I sing in so that it can be heard beyond Rwanda and be recommended to many people across the world,” he adds.

An opportunity to grab

Jean-Paul Nduwimana, aka Noopja, an investor in the entertainment industry and proprietor of Country Records, says that Rwanda getting on Spotify is a chance all artistes should grab with both hands.

"First of all, I can say that it’s another opportunity for Rwandan artistes and the whole music industry in general. Nowadays, the digital market is one of the best ways for artistes to sell their products,”

"On my side as an artiste and studio label owner, I am really happy. I encourage artistes to make their music and start selling it digitally. I don’t know well how Spotify pays, but from what I hear it’s one of the best platforms that pay well for streaming music,” Nduwimana adds.

However, music personality and founder of AFROGROOV, Eric ‘Soul’ Kirenga Karengera, says that though it is a big deal, there are other requirements that must be put in place for people to reap the benefits. He also believes that ‘small artistes’ stand limited chances.

"Big deal is relative, because we have weak legal framework, policies and regulation as well as limited support infrastructure when it comes to music and musicians,”

"It may be a case of adding Rwandan artistes to the list of international artists being exploited by Spotify. Let's not forget this is a B2B streaming service that mainly benefits big corporate structure with huge catalogue, big leverage, already deep pockets and top tier artistes with a gigantic fan base,” Kirenga says.

The experienced music curator believes those already big are the ones mainly benefiting from the music streaming services.

"As for Rwandan artistes, the more educated and digitally literate they are, the better tooled up they are to use the service to their advantage but make no mistake,”

"Spotify is not a cash cow that will pay you just because you put music there. Artistes and their teams will need to do some serious homework to be able to reap any benefits,” advises Kirenga.

In recent years, Spotify has been able to improve its mobile app design, usability, streaming quality, and music sharing capabilities, ultimately making it one of the best music streaming platforms in the world.

As of December 2020, the platform had 345 million monthly active users, including 155 million paying subscribers but that number is expected to grow with the addition of 85 new countries, making it available in 171 countries worldwide. The platform generated about $7.8 billion in 2020.